Bloated tummies=not enough food?

[heartofwisdom]

Someone here asked for a critique and several people told them the horse needed more food obvious from the bloated stomach. I was really surprised. As a newbie I never realised a bloated tumy was a sign of being under fed.

My guys all have a bit of a tummy. I assumed they were fat. I'll get some current picture to post to get your opinion. I feed one cup of Omilean twice a day and 1 flick of hay a day.

Thanks,

Robin

 

[billiethekid40]

Yes, bloated tummies can mean a lack of protein in the feed. In other words, if their neck, butt, shoulders, etc are all still narrow and do not have fat pockets but the belly protrudes they likely need more protein in their diet. Think of the starving children commercials on TV, with the skinny children who have bloated bellies. Their abdominal muscles lack the protein to be strong and "hold things in" so they appear bloated, feeding more feed, or a higher protein feed can help. I'll let some more nutrition oriented people answer your question better though. Two cups of feed a day doesn't seem like enough to me though.

And of course we would LOVE to see recent pics of your little ones!

 

[Jill]

Yes, it can mean not enough groceries.

Just as Malenie says, you want to look at how their butts / hips, necks, shoulders, and chests look to help you evaluate if they are fat, or just bloated.

In my opinion, horses can be bloated from too little food, too little protein, worms, or too coarse quality hay. The amount you are feeding would be perfect for some horses, and too much or too little for other horses! It can be tricky!!!

And, the type of hay you are feeding also is a factor. Some hays are much richer than others and then through in the fact that a flake from one farm may weigh X amount but a flake from another farm may way Y amount.

I could not even tell you the amount of time I have spent thinking about what my horses eat. Honestly, I think I spend as much time thinking about what they will eat than what I will eat (and let me tell you, I do love to eat!).

Pictures would help people advise you what they think on the weight condition of our horses

 

[Michelle@wescofarms]

Agreeing with the other posts - I call them the Ethiopia bellies. I do find this to be true though - generally only in the younger minis. My older minis don't seem to get the starved African baby look, like the young (under 2) will.

First though, you do have to rule out worms, sand, and hay quality - if none of those are an issue, upping the protein via higher quality hay and/or supplemental feed seems to do the trick.

 

[wantminimore]

If getting a better quality hay is not possible what would you suggest for a good supplemental feed?

What % protein should a yearling be getting?

 

[sparkle]

Not sure what others do, but I give my yearling filly Poulin Development ("equivalent" to Purina Equine Jr). It is a 14% protein/4% fat feed. She gets @ 3 cups per day plus a handful of BOSS at each feeding (am/pm). She gets @ 1 flake hay per day and doesn't get much grazing. I don't know if this is what others would consider an adequate amount, please correct me if I'm wrong...I'm just saying what I do.

I know this pic makes her head look big (bad angle), but if you look at her tummy...IMO, she's okay. I haven't been working on conditioning her...this is from playing around in the pasture.