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Post by gotkiger on Oct 28, 2011 19:05:05 GMT -5
Frodo was weaned off of Dollie on October 2nd. He has been doing great and has kept his weight well. Dollie on the other hand has continued to drop her weight. While I know she isn't a big mare, I really dont like to see the bumps of her spine, ribs, and points of her hips so prominately. She gets 2 flakes of alfalfa a day, one lb of both timmothy and aflalfa pellets, 2/3 C each of barley, oats, and a oat barley and corn mixture. She has been wormed and vaccinated and her teath were checked last year and they were perfect (vet said they looked like a 6 year olds teath and she was 12 and to have tjhem checked again in two years). Any suggestions on how to get a little more weight back on her?
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Post by DianneC on Oct 28, 2011 23:58:26 GMT -5
You've done the right things with worming and her teeth. There is a product called Fastrack that I like, its a probiotic or Equerry's vitamins have a lot of probiotics too. Platinum performance vitamins are pricey but great as well. You didn't mention vitamins but she should have some good ones. You could up her mixed barley and oats to a 2# coffee can full twice a day too. Horses should have about 15-20#s of hay total each day so you might weigh your flakes to make sure she's getting that. If possible add a third feeding mid-day or give her some free-choice hay. BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds) is great to add fat but make sure its not treated bird seed type. They put chemicals on some brands to keep them from sprouting in the garden. Ground flax meal would be a good alternative. If you buy the seeds and grind them in a coffee grinder they aren't too expensive but should be ground fresh or grind enough for one day and refrigerate it. Chia seeds are another great source of fat and since its dry there would be good. If it rains feed them in a shelter. These are all good things, the flax or chia have omega 3s and would reduce inflammation or the BOSS has omega 6 and would increase her immunity. Any of them will give her a great coat too.
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Post by gotkiger on Oct 29, 2011 12:05:44 GMT -5
I have seen the boss at my local store but it was for birds i believe... what brand do you use? i have to get anything at tractor supply company or online. I had no idea how much grain to give her so i just did a small amount. I started giving her grain while she was nursing Frodo because he was so big I didnt want her to get too drained. When I weaned him off of her I cut the grain and pellets in half. I also give her electrolites since she refuses to use a salt block and a product called bug check which has probiotis in it. I will get some vits and see if that helps as well. As far as her hay goes. She will barely eat two flakes a day sometimes. She will leave a bunch on the ground after picking out all the leaf and flower. That is why I gave her a bunch of pellets so that if she wanted more they were there... I actually free fed pellets to her at the end of her pregnancy because she wasnt eating any of the hay. I will have to check if my store has flax or Chia... i have only heard of flax before... my momuse to cook it for her mare and I remember it looked like snot, lol. Thanks Dianne
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Post by kimk on Oct 29, 2011 16:34:04 GMT -5
I personally would decrease her intake of alfalfa and increase her intake of a quality grass hay or timothy. I have found alfalfa to be harder on them and tend to take up more of their energy to process the excess protien and calcium than what it puts on them in return. Forage forage forage! I wouldn't over grain her at this time, since you want her to stop her milk production. Quality vitamins are a good idea, and proper mineralization. You might try loose salt ( available at Tractor Supply ) since she doesn'tlike a salt block.( I use Dynamite brand Natural Trace Mineral salt) Yes, flax needs to be either ground, or soaked. I soak mine, and yep, it kinda looks like snot!
Kim
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Post by gotkiger on Oct 29, 2011 23:34:22 GMT -5
She comes home tomorrow afternoon so that will be good. Once home she will be able to go out on pasture and eat as much fresh grass to her heart's content... it was bermuda at one point, lol. I wil be going to TSC tomorrow to get vits abd to try that loose salt... is it similar to the electrolites or completely different?
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Post by gotkiger on Dec 9, 2011 0:31:45 GMT -5
Ok so i have been doing grain for a little over a month to try to get dollies weight back up. It has worked a little but not a lot. She is still all bones and fuzz her neck is even starting to drop to a u neck. I have been trying to work her more to see if that will help and even turned her out onto pasture to give her all the extra forrage she can ever want. Does anyone have any other suggestions
Food up until last friday when she went out to pasture
1# oats
1# barley
2 large flakes (probably 3-4 normal flakes) alfalfa
1 scoop electrolites
2 scoops vits
1/2 # Timmothy pellets
1/2# Alfalfa Pellets
Now she is out to pasture instead of getting the flake alfalfa but she still gets her grain mixture. I am about to call the vet out to have her checked out because I am at a loss as to how to get the weight back on her. She is still full of life and her attitude and appetite havent changed. She is actually calmer now then before i bred her. I use to be abel to ride her with just a bare back pad but that is so uncomfortable now that i dont want to do it and even my Circle y saddle that use to fit her so well doesnt seem to be fitting right anymore. Any suggestions??
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Post by stormyranch on Dec 9, 2011 7:45:23 GMT -5
1 cup corn oil on her grain and 1 cup rice bran. Also I would put her on a senior feed. She is getting a lot of Alfalfa, sometimes horses can't digest it very well. Can you get a grass hay? If it were me I would cut out the alfalfa hay and five her 3 pounds of alfalfa pellets twice a day and 1 lb. of senior grain once a day with oil and rice bran. Also 1 butter cup of beat pulp soaked in water. I also soak my alfalfa pellets because I had a horse choke on them.
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Post by Michelle Clarke on Dec 9, 2011 7:51:39 GMT -5
She needs grass hay (all she can eat) - cut back on alfalfa right away; only 1 med flake per day split into two/three feedings. She needs more grain - up to 6 lbs. per day but you'll have to do it slowly. No more electrolytes, she needs a pink salt block/ Redmond salt. NOT the cheap red mineral block from the feed store. What kind of vitamins is she on?
This is really not enough concentrates to put weight on. Plus she needs fat - either rice bran and/or calf manna (which may be good for a month or so anyway). There is not enough fat in your diet.
Dollie is getting way too much stuff that passes through and gets the digestive system working too hard. The pasture is good to get what little enzymes she can. Probiotics would be a good start; I've never had any luck with Fasttrack, so pick some in liquid for from your grocer or health food store.
You can email me privately if you want - I'd like to see a pict so I can better help. ranchobayo@gmail.com
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Post by stormyranch on Dec 9, 2011 8:06:39 GMT -5
Have a veterinarian visit to rule out illness. A latent infection may be present.
Ask your veterinarian about the possibilities of ulcers.
Also a horse cannot get enough salt from a salt lick. She needs to be on Horse Gaurd. It has the amount of selium that she needs, plus other nutrients and vitamins. I would also like to see a picture to rate her on the Henneke scale.
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Post by lilnagy on Dec 9, 2011 11:27:45 GMT -5
We have an older mustang mare who is a hard keeper. She has always been very picky on the hay. I avoided senior feed for a long time because I read the label and it said low fat, but the vet said it is designed to be super easy to digest, and the horse will get way more from it, so we have done senior feed, with an added fat sourse for the past two winters, along with free choice hay. the fat source is called Empower, and it has rice bran and other good stuff in it. She has almost NO teeth, and is holding weight great. She cleans up the senior feed and empower, and picks through the hay. Hope your mare begins to do better!
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Post by gotkiger on Dec 9, 2011 12:52:15 GMT -5
First off thank you all for your responces.
She is off of alfalfa hay completely, and i am slowly increasing her grain. I give her a week with a new amount about 11 ounce increast to both oats and barley and a 1/2 # scoop of both timmothy and alfalfa pellets. She refuses to lick any salt block i have provided her (and i have tried three or four) that is why i was giving her the electrolites. When i take pictures she looks fat and happy but when you feel her you can feel she is not fat and happy. I will try to get some that show it but it is hard and even harder with her winter fuzzies. The vet will be coming out in a week or two for frodo and i will have them check Dollie again. They just checked her out about two months ago when I weaned frodo off of her, the day before actually, and said she was fine but that was before she started to drop the weight.
I can do the oil easily as she has had it before and ate it willingly. If i do either the rice bran or calf manna how much of either or both do i want to feed? and are there and problems with feeding the rice bran daily like with wheat bran (i have only done wheat bran before as a bran mash). I will be going to the feed store tomorrow so any info i can get before then would be helpful.
She was always a super easy keeper and i didnt have problems keeping weight on it use to be keeping it off was the problem. Sadly i dont have acces to grass hay and she wont eat it anyways. She is super picky when it comes to fake hay so that is why i have her in pasture now though she was eating the alfalfa fine
Right now she is getting the above mixture twice a day
the Vits are the Dumor brand. It is what is offered at my feed store so that is what i got until I can find something better for both her and Frodo. Frodo gets half of the grain she gets but I am slowely increasing his as well to make sure he gets everything he needs.
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Post by sbutter on Dec 9, 2011 15:51:07 GMT -5
Our Tbs can be very picky eaters and they let us know if they like something or not. Usually we will always offer grass hay until they refuse to eat it. If they have a lush pasture (irrigation) and alfalfa, they hardly ever touch the grass hay. As fall comes around, they really do appreciate the grass hay and we really bump that up. It could be as you change her diet that she might be more likely to eat the grass hay. Depending on where you get your grass hay from, she may not like a certain grower's grass hay, so if you have the option of taking some sample pieces from friends or family, you may find something she likes.
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Post by gotkiger on Dec 9, 2011 16:27:16 GMT -5
I dont know of anyone near me that even feeds grass hay. Im surrounded by dairys and therefore there is mainly alfalfa, we have oat, barley and wheat hay as well and I have even seen baled corn. We had a grassier bunch of hay that i tried to feed to her. She picked out all the flower and alfalfa and didnt touch the rest. I left it in there as the only thing i would give her so she peed on it so i would have to give her something else. Same with orchard and timmothy hay. She doesnt even really like the timmothy pellets but since i mix it in with the alfalfa pellets and her grain she eats it. I have free fed her timmothy pellets before and she wouldnt touch it, she actually dumped the bucket out onto the ground. She is very happy to be out in pasture though. I dont know what kind of grass is growing but she likes it and has done really well on just it before (no grain what so ever).
I actually stopped at the feed store today and picked up another round of pellets and grain and a bag of calf manna, they were out of rice bran. I have to get veg oil tomorow though. I got her another iodized salt pasture block, I am assuming that is what you meant by pink salt block. She sniffed it and walked away as per usual for her.
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Post by kimk on Dec 9, 2011 17:07:25 GMT -5
Be careful with corn oil, it blocks absorbtion of Vitamin A. Try to find loose mineralized salt. Most feed stores carry Stockmans.
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Post by Michelle Clarke on Dec 9, 2011 20:01:53 GMT -5
The Redmond salt has 84 natural minerals - that is the only blocks we feed here. You can find it at a lot of feed stores in the hunting section called "trophy block" or something like that. Just make sure it is from Redmond - it is pink.
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