Fall/Winter Feeding

[Jenny]

With fall creeping up quickly, do any of you start increasing your mini's hay in the fall? Is it smart to start increasing hay now so it's not so drastic in winter? How much does everyone feed hay in the winter in terms of body weight %? It's usually around -25˚C at night in winter here.

 

[chandab]

I'm in NE Montana, so pretty cold here in winter. I don't increase hay til at least October, sometimes November (we don't bring the cows home from fall grazing til November to start their hay). Depending on the snow and temps, sometimes in Dec, Jan and Feb I feed free choice hay and just drop a whole bale in their feeder; otherwise I just fork hay over the fence 2x daily. [Depends on the temps, but in winter I probably feed 2-2.5% of bw daily in hay.]

In the past I've feed soaked beet pulp in winter as an added mid-day meal; but as beet pulp is hard for me to get and what I can get is getting ickier every time I try to buy some, I don't think I'll be feeding it any more. I do have some timothy hay pellets, and I'll feed those soaked on cold days to help get more water in the horse; same with the mini tim/alf cubes when I can get them.

 

[wingnut]

I don't change much this time of year, here in Maryland. The nights are cooler but the days can stay fairly warm. Their coats for the winter have been growing since early/mid August so they are good in that way even with temps dropping into the lower 50's, sometimes even into the upper 40's.

Depending on temps, I start upping the hay amounts daily in November. I generally just keep a supply of hay in front of them. I don't worry about how much it ways or how many flakes it is. I want them to have a constant source of forage in front of them. Also in November, I open the pasture to everyone once I think we're past the fall high sugar season in the grass. I will get more consistent with feeding grain to my hard keeper but the others will continue to get just a ration balancer as their "feed".

With this "method" we have weight to take off in the spring but I'm fine with that. I find I don't have to blanket anyone, with the exception of the hard keeper and even she only needs to have the occasional blanket during the winter months. I have blankets if I need them but they don't get much use.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I live in the northern interior of the province and we get some pretty extreme winters (some years are comparatively mild) I do not increase my horses food at all unless it is bitter cold and then I just offer them access to more hay. My horses do not drop weight in winter unless I actually diet them into it (sometimes I allow too much grass in the summer and they go into winter a bit chubby) and grow enough hair that they stay very warm even when it is quite cold out.

 

[Mona]

I actually don't start feeding hay until the pastures are pretty much bare. Then I feed about half of what they would normally get in the winter. Once the snows come and ground is covered and there is absolutely nothing left for them to graze, I start giving full winter ration.

 

[Jenny]

Thanks for all the replies!

So my guy currently gets 4 hours on really short, not very good pasture. (It's just for him to have something to nibble on during the day.) In the winter it will be covered with snow, so he won't have any grass. Would he be fine if I didn't increase his hay, or would he need more? By the way, he's a little chubby right now, but not super fat.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

He will be fine as long as he is getting between 1 and 2 % of his proper body weight in hay. Mine usually get 2 hours on grass in the morning and then enough hay that it takes 2 hours to eat in the evening. In winter they get about 1.5lbs each feeding plus 1lb of ration balancer. They stay in really good weight on that amount but some horses need more or less (I also feed them in small hole hay nets to make it last)

 

[AnnaC]

Going into the winter months carrying a bit of extra weight will not hurt and will help to keep him warm. Also remember that eating and digesting hay is what will keep him warm in the worst of the weather, so I would think very carefully about restricting the amount that he has available. Here we have loads of grass all year round and my minis live out, but once the snow falls we provide the big round bales ad lib so they have hay available 24/7. They never seem to over eat and I am happy knowing that they are as warm as they can be under the circumstances.

I do have one stallion and two elderly girls who are stalled overnight, and they too get their hay ad lib, plus they are fully fed and have a balancer, but then the 'golden oldies' do need (and deserve) that extra cosseting!!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I base my feed amounts on the individual horse and only gave an approximate amount since some get slightly more and some less. I have seen far to many obese minis in our area to ever allow free choice feeding of mine. Its more work to do it my way but better that than health problems. Different areas require different methods of care to keep the horses at their healthy best. My vet is very happy with the way my horses look year round, and even rationing their meals I must be careful that the weight does not get out of control. I wish I could feed mine as you do AnnaC but unfortunately the scale is my horses best friend most of the time.

 

[Marty]

I'm an increaser! I fee hay year round in the first place besides feeding 2 x a day.

Soon as we start having cold nights, I'll be increasing their hay for sure. Its going to help keep them warm and they will need the extra cushion. I make sure that no one gets wet also. Shelter shelter shelter, good hay and warm water is important.

 

[Jenny]

Thanks Reignmaker Miniatures, AnnaC, and Marty!

I can't free feed him anyways because he eats soaked hay cubes. I think I'll up his food a little bit just in case, and if he starts to get too fat, I'll just cut down a bit. He also has nice warm barn that's VERY well insulated. I'm planning to soak his cubes in warm water too when it gets cold. It's supposed to start freezing at night here soon!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I think your decision is very sensible Jenny. If you watch him you will know if he is eating to much or too little. Keep in mind tho that you will need to actually use your hands to feel if he is gaining/loosing weight once his full winter coat comes in. Even after owning minis for years it is still safer to do a physical check to see where they are at rather than trying to judge what is hair and what is horse

They can look pretty chubby under that coat and not need to diet at all.