What should I feed a foal/yearling that really is a skeleton on legs

[rocketdog69]

Yesterday I acquired a young coloured cob colt foal/yearling. It was either that or he might die!!!!! Bless him, he has the most gorgeous face, just looked at me, said hello and that was it.

Believe me he has bones I never thought a horse had, no muscle at all, and cavities where muscle and fat should be. If you clipped him you would probably say this boy needs putting down!

He tripped up and fell over in the paddock and couldnt get up without me dragging him up!

I gave him some chaff with a handfull of mix, a bit of garlic and some "winter glow summer shine" He has my old donkeys rug on and is eating hay and nibbling at grass quite happily.

Today he seems much steadier on his feet and much brighter!

Any ideas on how to help him along.

Thanks

 

[mattilda]

I have not had a horse that young for many many years now but at least the spring grass is starting to appear so that will help. I would say make sure he has ad lib hay at all times and some easily digestible feed. Baileys No 1 is good and maybe conditioning cubes or mix of some description. I'm sure someone with better knowledge of babies can come up with a more helpful reply. Good luck with him it sounds as if he has landed on his feet with you!!

 

[scotsmare]

Introduce feed slowly.

If you can get him some Bailey's stud balancer / Dodson and Horrell Suregrow and either a chaff / Alfa A and a bit of sugar beet that should help him along.

 

[jrp204]

Has been wormed? i would actually get the vet to check him over and give you a worming programme if its not up to date.

 

[AmyMay]

No hard feed. Absolutely ad lib hay then in a few weeks you could move on to haylage, and then think about hard feed.

Speak to your vet about when would be a good time to worm him - but I would imagine that using something like a 5 day panacur guard may be recommended. Absolutely do not use Equest Pramox because this would be too strong for a week animal.

You should also cross post this in Breeding - as you'll get some excellent advice from there.

 

[mrdarcy]

Firstly well done you for taking him on. I rescued a yearling filly in September 2008. This was her the week after I brought her home:

She was so thin it took your breath away and full of rain scald and mud fever.

The thing you have to watch is feeding them too much - their digestive systems can't take it and you risk damaging growth spurts that can cause all sorts of issues later in life. So the aim of the game is don't panic, don't try to put too much weight on too quickly. Now you have him home he's no longer in any danger of starving.

I started her on haylage (very dry stuff much more like hay than high protein haylage) - bare in mind it was the end of September and very wet so we had little grass in the fields. I also started her on a small handful of hard feed a day - I fed Winergy Growth as I already used their feeds with my other horses.

I built the hard feed up slowly and broken down into three feeds a day until she was on one scoop three times a day (all done with the advice of the nurtionists at Winergy). I also started adding Equivite Body Builder in very small amounts.

You have an advantage in that spring is around the corner so you can make use of the spring grass, which will mean you'll need less hard feed than I was feeding. But again be careful - the worst thing you could do is turn him out in a big field lush with spring grass. Again build up very slowly.

Anyway this is my filly now:

You'd never know to look at her now that she'd ever been so thin. She's also the sweetest character and adores human beings. Rescuing her and watching her start to bloom has been very rewarding. Take lots of photos now and along the way to remind yourself where he started. Before you know it he'll be looking amazing I'm sure.

 

[kellyeaton]

ab lib hay very small feeds 4 times a day of young stock mix alfa and sugar beet and maybe some pink powder. spaek to your vet about the worming side keep him nice and warm as well! keep us posted on him!x

 

[Rollin]

Well done your resuce looks glowing. Good advise re growth spurts.

I wish you both well.

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

cecildog - no help at all but just wanted to say well done for rescuing him, hope it all goes well and please let us know how he gets on.

gedenskis_girl - your filly looks fantastic well done on all your hard work.

 

[rocketdog69]

Thanks for the advice. I shall certainly take on what you have said. I think he's much worse than your filly, she looks lovely now by the way! He's so hairy you cant see how bad he is.

I was gobsmacked tonight, I put my hand down his chest between his front legs, never felt a bone like that before!

He's so gorgeous though!

 

[Colleen_Miss_Tom]

Echo amymay .... Don't start feeding hardfeed just yet .

Get your vet to give him/her a good going over .

Once you are introducing hardfeed I would start on a yearling mix .

Easy does it .

Good luck , make sure to post before and after pics

Col x

 

[Pixxie]

introduce it slowly, but definitely i would recommend dodson and horrell suregrow. i did my work experience at the national stud and thats what the weanlings were fed on and they did so well on it. that and plenty of forage but introduced a little at a time. dont over complicate things for a young tummy

x

 

[ihatework]

plenty of good quality hay/haylage.

speak to your vets about what is best to worm him with

I would then give him a handful of suregrow and a handful of alfa oil 3-4 times a day, you have to be careful not to overload his system just yet

 

[fatpiggy]

If he really is that thin, please do not try giving him ad lib hay or grass straight off - it could cause all sorts of problems. Give him a slice of hay every two or three hours and nothing else. Then in a couple of weeks time, let him pick at some grass on a leadrope for short periods. Increase both of these steadily - don't worry about hard feed, horses are designed to eat grass-type things, not cereals. Don't forget that healthy youngsters are a best off being a bit skinny - you don't want to add DJD to his problems. I was like a bootlace when I was a kid, so thin I couldn't give people piggy backs, despite getting lots of good home cooking. I just ran about all day and ran it off.