When to start feeding a fatty??

chickeninabun

chickeninabun

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I have a fatty! Weighs in around 560kg and is 14.3hh.

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She is in the fatty field, which has very short grass and some thistles. She mopes about and nibbles what grass there is all day.
I am planning on leaving her out 24/7 this winter.
My plan, through the winter, is to give her hay overnight and a little feed of Hi-Fi Good Doer, to give her vits and mins. When do you think I should start doing this??
I haven't started bring my other pony in yet (she comes in because she's soft and ancient!), as it seems quite mild at night, but will probably start this weekend.
Any ideas, or tales of what you do, would be most welcome!
x
 
I have a fatty and I feed her hay and good doer all year round. If you don't put enough fibre through them their body will hold onto the weight, so it's important to feed extra fibre if they are on a fatty paddock.
 
I don't have a fatty, but he is 'cuddly' (Could do with loosing a little bit!
I wouldn't start haying yet - you want to use winter to get her close to a healthier weight, so don't start haying until you notice she is loosing weight (I would suggest weight taping regually).
I would start her H-Fi good doer now. Vits and mins are always useful.
 
Hi Fi Lite is best as it can be fed safely as a hay replacement if need be. I would weigh tape each week to moitor progress as you want her to loose weight but at a safe rate. She needs to have fibre going through her system regularly so if in doubt pop some hay out but make sure you weigh it to make sure she is not having too much...most good doers will eat what is there for them rather than what they actually need!
 
My very fat fatty has been having a tiny scoop of Happy Hoof each night since he arrived 2 weeks ago, just to hide his anti-itching medicine in. He's being worked twice a day now and lives out 24/7, so he has a big field of good grass and I think that as it gets colder I'll start giving him a haynet overnight. He's already noticeably slimmer than he was when I got him, although we have a loooong way to go yet!
 
One suggestion....what about something like the dengie big field licks? I have my fatty living out in an old pasture field (pretty low quality grass but fibrous) and supplement that with the field licks which are designed to supplement a fibre diet.
 
A little feed of Hi-Fi Good Doer won't give her enough vitamins and minerals. You need to feed a low calorie balancer like Top Spec Anti Lam or Baileys Lo-Cal. Tiny amount of feed but has everything in it she will need.

You could soak her hay for a few hours, drain it and rinse it well and then she could have it pretty much ad lib. That will give her lots of fibre to ensure her hindgut is moving etc but without the calories.

She is a beautiful horse, I really like her.
 
Agree that the amount of Good Doer fed is probably not enough to give the full amount of vit/mins as the recommended amount for a horse of that size is at least 1.5kg a day, which is about 5 Stubbs scoops full, as Dengie say that one scoop of Good Doer weighs 300g.

Alternatives would be a balancer as suggested above (preferably Lo Cal for a fatty) or a vit/min supplement such as Equivite or Benevit in a handful of HiFi Lite or something like Dodson & Horrell Equibites which are vit/min supplement in form of horse treats so easily fed to horse at pasture.
 
Thanks everyone. That's great advice! I had read that Good Doer, fed at the reccomended rate, will give her all the vits and mins she needs, but if that means feeding a giant bucket full a day then might stick with Hi-Fi Lite and just add a supp.
I never thought about keeping the forage going in to keep the gut working and the calories burning. Suppose it's a bit like us humans, that if you don't eat enough you don't loose weight because the body goes into starvation mode.
Might start with the soaked hay shortly tho. Although she might be moving to another field, when all her companions, bar 1, come in for the night, so I think that'll be richer grass so might won't need much hay then.
I wish I could ride more, especially twice a day, which would do her the world of good, but with these dark nights and dark mornings, I can only ride on a weekend!
Thanks to everyone who said she is beautiful! She is! I know am very lucky to have found her.
x
 
i would feed her soaked hay when there is no grass left and i would have her on hi fi lite in stead of the good doer because there is less calories in it and just ad your vits to that if she is not having the recommened amount of the hi fi!
 
[ QUOTE ]
i would feed her soaked hay when there is no grass left and i would have her on hi fi lite in stead of the good doer because there is less calories in it and just ad your vits to that if she is not having the recommened amount of the hi fi!

[/ QUOTE ] Even if you feed the recommended amount of the Hi Fi Lite you still need to add a vit/min supplement because Hi Fi Lite is not supplemented! Good Doer is a supplemented feed, Hi Fi Lite is not!
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