Who has experience with forage and haylage? Lucerne Farms, Chaffhaye, and the like.
My red gelding was doing really well over the summer but is starting to look unthrifty now that the weather has turned.
Hay is in short supply and dear, plus I don't have a truck. I'm adding timothy pellets in addition to his grain and regular hay ration....would be nice to have something to fill a feed tub with at night and let him munch.
bagged forage/haylage
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kimberley mine
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sulphurfire
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Shammy Davis
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kimberley mine
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Thanks Shammy.
Yesterday I gave the red one some for the first time. He munched for about five minutes, would go to actual grass, and if he realized I was watching would try to eat the pellets (very cute). I left them in his yard, and when I arrived this morning they were gone.
Today I gave him a mixture of soaked hay pellets (about 3lbs), beet pulp pellets, and 2 cups of calf manna, soaked into mush with some oil topping it off. He doesn't prefer it to hay or grass, but would eat it slowly, working on it for over an hour (and the mixture was only half way gone at that point).
If he eats it, and if he takes his time with it, that could be a good thing.
Yesterday I gave the red one some for the first time. He munched for about five minutes, would go to actual grass, and if he realized I was watching would try to eat the pellets (very cute). I left them in his yard, and when I arrived this morning they were gone.
Today I gave him a mixture of soaked hay pellets (about 3lbs), beet pulp pellets, and 2 cups of calf manna, soaked into mush with some oil topping it off. He doesn't prefer it to hay or grass, but would eat it slowly, working on it for over an hour (and the mixture was only half way gone at that point).
If he eats it, and if he takes his time with it, that could be a good thing.
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Shammy Davis
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You might try soaking flax seeds (24 hour minimum is recommended to produce the oil or bring to a boil and let stand for an hour) and using it in concert with soaked shredded beet pulp. The Omega 3's will beef up a horses immune system amongst other positive health characteristics. This is my daily regimen. If a horse appears to be going off its weight I supplement with vegetable oil and/or rice bran. Rice bran is more economical, but you get quicker results with vegetable oil. I also use soaked alfafa cubes to calm the stomach.
Here's something else to think about.
http://animalscience.ag.utk.edu/Horse/p ... -23-03.pdf
And maybe this.
http://www.horsetech.com/when_to_use_a_probiotic.htm
OTTB's are often prone to all sorts of problems. Once they leave the special circumstances of the track and become horses again, it is often difficult to find a care and feeding program that maintains ther peak health. I've certainly had more than my share of OTTB's that have been difficult to manage. I have one now. It's an uphill battle everyday. Gastric ulcers are a primary cause of nutrient deficiency and unthriftiness. Don't forget the teeth.
Here's something else to think about.
http://animalscience.ag.utk.edu/Horse/p ... -23-03.pdf
And maybe this.
http://www.horsetech.com/when_to_use_a_probiotic.htm
OTTB's are often prone to all sorts of problems. Once they leave the special circumstances of the track and become horses again, it is often difficult to find a care and feeding program that maintains ther peak health. I've certainly had more than my share of OTTB's that have been difficult to manage. I have one now. It's an uphill battle everyday. Gastric ulcers are a primary cause of nutrient deficiency and unthriftiness. Don't forget the teeth.
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kimberley mine
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Shammy Davis wrote:OTTB's are often prone to all sorts of problems. Once they leave the special circumstances of the track and become horses again, it is often difficult to find a care and feeding program that maintains ther peak health. I've certainly had more than my share of OTTB's that have been difficult to manage. I have one now. It's an uphill battle everyday. Gastric ulcers are a primary cause of nutrient deficiency and unthriftiness. Don't forget the teeth.
His teeth were done in late April/early May, and I've made some other changes to his diet that until it got cold had him in good flesh, and especially in the last two months he's been feeling really well. He has always had some ribs showing, which is more of a conformation thing because everywhere else was in good flesh--he's just really, really well-sprung.
I noticed yesterday that he's starting to look a little bit hollow just behind the withers, which was the first place he started to lose the weight last winter. More hay, beet pulp, and oil fixed it last time--only this year hay is so very expensive, and the quality we can get is hit or miss. Sometimes it's great, sometimes it's not. If I'm going to pay a lot of money for this, I'd rather give him consistent nutritional value of consistently high quality (the pellets are bright green and smell fantastic) rather than coastal hay, and avoid the risk of impaction that comes with coastal.
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xfactor fan
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kimberley mine
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Just an update.
After a month of adding timothy hay pellets to his normal ration, for a total of about 5 1/2 pound extra pellets per day, the horse has noticeably gained weight, especially along his topline and just behind the forearm.
I didn't tape him, just palpated the various areas where he'd gain. The hollows behind his withers are gone, he's starting to get good cover over his tailhead, and the buttocks between hipbone and tailhead are filling in.
Xfactor--he gets blanketed when it gets below 50 degrees. This past week we had a couple of 70 degree days, and he went nekkid.
After a month of adding timothy hay pellets to his normal ration, for a total of about 5 1/2 pound extra pellets per day, the horse has noticeably gained weight, especially along his topline and just behind the forearm.
I didn't tape him, just palpated the various areas where he'd gain. The hollows behind his withers are gone, he's starting to get good cover over his tailhead, and the buttocks between hipbone and tailhead are filling in.
Xfactor--he gets blanketed when it gets below 50 degrees. This past week we had a couple of 70 degree days, and he went nekkid.