all of a sudden picky eater

[tricetta]

I have a yearling filly who has been on equine Jr./omolene 200/oats along w/ hay and water.

She ate everything in the past but is now picking through and eating only the omolene & oats, will not touch the equine jr.

She seems alert and fine,

BUT i'm worried she isn't eating all her grain, and she will start loosing weight. the temps are in single digits here.

Has anyone had this problem where their baby just refuses to eat certain grains they have always eaten before?

Also, how many people feed beet pulp in the winter? Do you give it wet or dry? Around here it is really cold !!

judi

 

[chandab]

If it is just the equine jr she isn't eating, then I'd check the product and make sure it hasn't gone bad. They can pick out subtle difference we don't notice.

Also, you'd be better off to pick either Equine Jr or Omelene 200 and not make a mix. The products are formulated to fed as is (balanced for the lifestage or work load its designed for), if you mix in this and that you change formula and could unbalance it (it really doesn't save you money in the long run).

Equine Jr is a complete feed, so you wouldn't have to feed hay with it, or at least not as much hay.

Omelene 200 is a fortified grain mix, so needs to be fed with hay. [This is a sweet feed, so a little bit like candy, at least taste-wise.]

Oats are mostly a calorie source.

I do feed soaked beet pulp in winter, I feed it once a day at about noon. Everybody (6 B-size minis, 1 A-size) gets 1/3# dry measure (about 4-5 cups soaked). [My senior half-Arab gelding gets 1# dry measure, then soaked, makes about 2/3 of an 8-qt bucket.] I can only get the beet pulp pellets, so do soak it; they can cause choke, not from swelling, but due to product size and shape. I've heard of people feeding the shreds dry, but as I can't get them, I do not know much about them.

 

[lilnickers]

Hi Judi ! I have had a few(usually 9 mos.-2 yrs.)start to get picky.I feed a sweet feed called Superior sold by Agway Feeds. They actually will pick around all the pellets and only eat the grains(corn, oats,sunflower seeds,etc.), OR eat ALL the pellets and leave the grains. This will last for a spell, and then they go back to cleaning it all up. Maybe it is new teeth coming in or they just don't like aa certain texture for a while. No one has ever showed signs of being sick.

, just the pickiness.(I just throw out what they leave behind-and I mean it is STILL there the next day!)

I have no advice on the beet pulp, as I have never fed it.

Karin

* I missed you by MINUTES at the state fair show ! Will catch up with you next year

 

[mizbeth]

I have had weanlings go off their feed before. In fact all of them did not too long ago. I did not know what may be wrong and thought perhaps they ate too many acorns in a new pasture I turned them out in. They ate their alfalfa but would not eat the strategy. I changed to a different bag of strategy thinking that one tasted different to them. I did put them all on sand clear/metamusil and finally added omalene to their feed. They started eating then. I have no idea what that was all about, and could be right in thinking it was their being out in what their is of pasture now and had not been there before?

Another friend of mine had hers go off their feed too for a few days. My babies are * H.... l bent on digging holes, like a dog. I don't know what that is all about either. Odd, never had that happen before and they have been is soft soil for some time now. Well not these babies of course, but other babies I have had. They run and play all day and dig holes at night.

Is anyone else having problems with horses, young ones digging holes? Not in a stall but in large paddocks with plenty of room to run?

** It is my understanding that you do not need to feed hay or other feed with Equine Jr., as it is a complete feed. With omalene I feed hay and sometime add oats to that.

B

 

[Marty]

When Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys told Mike Love he wanted to change the type of music they were putting out, Mike's reply was "The fans love our music the way it is, don't mess with the formula"

So it can be said for prepared feeds and grains.

I would not be mixing the concoction you are mixing: Omelene, Equine Jr. Oats. I'd say to you., "pick one"

To mix all those things together, you are really tampering with an already balanced formula and throwing it off and all out of whack, and most likely not helping in digestion area either. You are feeding 3 kinds of things that are super loaded with sugars. That is way too much stuff and not needed at all.

I feed Equine Jr. to my babies too. That's plenty or sugars right there and they do get free choice hay with it also especially now in the freezing of winter when they need forage. Just pick one; omelene, equine jr, or oats, and stick to it. Just one!

That being said, if you select oats, oats should not stand alone and would require a supplement of daily vitamin, or free choice minerals, or ration balancer such as Purina Born to Win

Don't forget the salt block and good hay which is palatable.

 

[muffntuf]

Could just be teething, could be they have had all they want right now of that grain they aren't eating. I have seen all my horses at one time or another go off their grain, most of the time it is teething. As soon as they are back being comfortable, they will dig in again.

The worst stretch was a stallion I had turning 3 1/2 - he was teething like forever - hard to keep weight on him this summer, but we did find a tooth cap that would not come off on its own. I had the vet look twice as he missed it the first time. I just knew something was wrong.

Just keep an eye on the baby(ies)

 

[Rambler]

Another friend of mine had hers go off their feed too for a few days. My babies are * H.... l bent on digging holes, like a dog. I don't know what that is all about either. Odd, never had that happen before and they have been is soft soil for some time now. Well not these babies of course, but other babies I have had. They run and play all day and dig holes at night.

My stallions and geldings do this they have ripped up half of the one pen and have a big area in the other pen that they have ripped up! They are on grass round bale so it is not that there board they and have mineral blocks. I have never seen this before all my heavy & saddle horses are on the same diet and they have never done anything like it.

But I also have my 9 mon old filly that went off her grain and I am not sure what to do with her as she is needing some fat over her back. She also gets all she can eat hay as well as Tiz Wiz 16 with flax and oats. She was getting beet pulp but I pulled her off as it was ALL going in the garbage. Now she just picks at her grain but she is eating more now than she was before.

 

[mizbeth]

Debbie,

Do you think your filly could have a little ulcer brewing in there? When mine don't eat like that or what they should eat, or eat very slow and do not put on weight, I use probios and/or mylanta etc. That seems to perk them up and they begin eating again. Maybe that will help?

JMO.....................

 

[muffntuf]

mizbeth if you want to keep your filly off beet pulp but still need a little kick - work your filly up to 1/2 corn oil or equine fat supplement. This will add weight - it would be 500 calories.