Feed chart for winter- Sound ok?

[Ashley]

Burrrrr had to turn the heat on last night! With that said I am finalizing my winter feeding and getting the old guys at there peak grain.

So this is what I have, does it sound good?

Lokey- 30 year old 900-1000 pounds.

Total for the day he would get

15 pounds alfalfa pellets

18 pounds senior feed( recommended is from 18-27)

40 oz weight builder

2 pounds beat pulp(dry weight)

Shygirl is a 25-30 year old mare. Not sure on weight I would say 1000-1200 pounds.

Total for the day would be

18 pounds senior feed

40 oz weight builder

2 pounds beat pulp(dry weight)

 

[leigha]

Wow do you feed hay on top of all that? I know with my old guy I make sure he has hay in fron of him at all times through the night to help his body stay busy to help with heat loss.

 

[chandab]

I'm just amazed that Lokey can even eat over 4% of his BW in feed per day, that's a lot of feed. Do you have to soak it all, or can he eat some of it dry? Have you tried a Probiotic product? I put my guy on one a couple months ago and it really helped him (he could still use a few more pounds, but this is the best he's looked since last summer).

My senior gelding (about 1000#) can still eat some hay, but his diet has increased greatly this last year: He gets several different bagged feeds totalling about 9# daily plus grazing and free choice hay. [He gets a mix due to the lack of horse feed availability around here; the one I can get easily, he isn't fond of, so I go out of my way to get some he likes to encourage him to eat what he doesn't care for.] And, he doesn't care for wet/moist feed; so I can only soak the beet pulp or he won't touch any of it (he hates soaked hay cubes, so I crumble them to hopefully prevent choke).

Burrrrr had to turn the heat on last night! With that said I am finalizing my winter feeding and getting the old guys at there peak grain.
So this is what I have, does it sound good?

Lokey- 30 year old 900-1000 pounds.

Total for the day he would get

21 pounds alfalfa pellets

20 pounds senior feed

40 oz weight builder

2 pounds beat pulp(dry weight)

Shygirl is a 25-30 year old mare. Not sure on weight I would say 1000-1200 pounds.

Total for the day would be

20 pounds senior feed

40 oz weight builder

2 pounds beat pulp(dry weight)

 

[krissy3]

It seems like a lot of alfalfa pettets to me, but my senior is a 30 year old donkey about 400 lbs.our winters are usually -20 degreese C in the night. I blanket him , and check between the ears hocks chest and rear for heat , if its not toasty I add a fleece liner and sometimes another artic blanket ...donkeys dont have undercoats to lift the top hairs up making insulation. I give in winter, good grass hay almost all day long, I also change the bedding to half shavings half straw so there is always something to chew on and keep the body warm. I do give a basic mixed grain with oats corn, wheat flax etc. its very basic for Donks and small horses-ponies but has the required vitamins for non working horses and is made by Hyponia , one of the top grain Co. here ...and only about 3 cups a day max. Minerals are a must here because of our soil ,1 tsp per day, I use a weight measure and every week monitor their weight , if they need more I add a corn pellet , its the whole corn stock and cob ground into a pellet, I soak in warm water to make a soup , this way I know they are getting water too. My hard feed is not more that 4 cups a day total per horse , and sometimes less. I am more into keeping my animals warm by leaving the stall door open so they can go out and walk around to get warm. Blankets are a must on the seniors, and good hay-straw...I would stick the hard core graining to the horses that are athletic. Try upping the grass , or adding a good mountain grass to his diet, I believe Alfalfa should not be more than 20% of a horses diet. Equine senior I used with J flex in California on my 20 year old Quarter Horse and it was great for her, Omalene too .

 

[loveminis]

Should this be on the miniature horse forum ?

 

[osu_barrelracer]

I agree...that is A LOT of grain a day. Are you feeding hay?

We have several older horses here...let me give you an idea of what they get:

18 year old Apendix jumper...still heavily rode and competed on.

AM: 5lb 14% pellet; 2flakes Bermuda Hay

PM: 5lb 14% pellet; 2flakes Bermuda Hay

Supplements: Yeast, Flax

18 year old AQHA brood mare (Just weaned a foal and currently cooking my Chasin Firewater baby!!!)

AM: 6lb 14% pellet; 2flakes Bermuda Hay

PM: 6lb 14% pellet; 3lb Alfalfa pellet; 2flakes Bermuda Hay

22 year old Thoroughbred-type retired jumper.

This mare is a hard keeper, this is what she needs to stay in good shape:

AM: 6lb 14% Senior pellet; 3lb alfalfa pellet; 4lb beet pulp (dry)

PM: 6lb 14% Senior pellet; 3lb alfalfa pellet; 4lb beet pulp (dry)

All of this has to be completely soaked to a gross nasty soupy substance..but she likes it! She gets more of the added beet pulp and alfalfa pellets because, while she does graze, she doesn't really get much grass or hay intake.

23 year old Miniature brood mare.

AM: 1 1/2 (roughly 2 cups) 14% pellet; Free choice hay and pasture

PM: 1 1/2 (roughly 2 cups) 14% pellet; Free choice hay and pasture

This mare only gets this in the winter. She looks AMAZING right now, and has only been on pasture and with free choice minerals.

All of these horses are turned out on really good quality, sprayed and fertilized Bermuda pasture. During the winter they have free choice Bermuda Hay (sprayed, fertilized and tested) as well as free choice minerals.

Its important not to over feed grain. While it is easy enough to do, horses just aren't designed to handle large quantities of grain. If we have a hard keeper, we try to up the fiber (beet pulp) as well as the hay or hay alternative, and keep the grain at a manageable level for them.

 

[Ashley]

The senior is rated out to be 20 pounds a day(per the bag). The alfalfa for his weight should be 17-25 pounds. He has hay in front of him at all times but he can no longer eat it. IF I dont soak it he drops 3/4 of it out of his mouth.

Shygirl gets hay, hence no alfalfa pellets. Lokey is getting all of that less 10 pounds alfalfa and he is always begging for more.

They both have free choice hay in the form of a round bale, grass hay.

Loveminis- I ask because I know several have big horses and some have good nutrition background.

 

[loveminis]

I understand Ashley

but not on the forum.

 

[Marty]

Ash, not quite sure but all we used to have to do when posting on the mini forum regards to a big horse is put BHR (big horse related) in the title.

This is just my humble opinion of course which may not be worth jack but I don't know what is going on there with your guys Ash but this seems to be an incredible amount of grains for these horses to even think about digesting. You are saying 40 pounds per day, and then some? Even 20 pounds a day is nuts. I think anyhow. We talked about this before and I think I remember that you are weighing out your feed which is super, but maybe you need to stand back and profile them really good too? I don't know, I'm at a loss but feeding so much, so many pounds would scare the heck out of me. How about getting a vet exam maybe? And what about a teeth check? You probably have done that but maybe you need it again. Also, it could just be a lot of pure sloppyness. My old Sonny I swear drops plenty out of his mouth, but he has always been a slob in that department too. But back to the feed, 20 pounds of grain and 20 pounds of alfalfa per day is just way too insane for me to comprehend. Something there is really out of whack. ASh the last time you posted pictures of your horses they looked very very good by the way.

Maybe you could feed him by using a feed bag. I've done that with two sloppy horses in the past as well and it really helps the slobs. You slip the feed bag on, a strap goes over the top behind the ears and then they will perch it on top of a fence post or something in the stall to be able to reach the bottom of it and it really works. Then just go out and remove the bag when he's done eating. The bag will get really stinky but oh well, you can try it and it will work. Be sure you keep them really warm with great blankets, I think you do that anyway.

Here is Sonny taken this summer at 27 years old, his teeth aren't the best, and I'd be scared to tell you how many pounds of senior feed he gets, you'd think I'm starving him.

 

[Ashley]

Yes teeth and health exam were done this spring. The vet will be back out this fall as I need to get one of the other horses teeth done. I was given a good reveiw on Lokey this spring and told not to change a thing.

The weight sounds like alot but it is per the bag. Also if you scoop it out, the seenior is only 2 scoops a feeding, and the alfalfa is only 1.5 scoops per feeding (yes I do weigh it out).

I also posted in the the forum and alot of people dont even come here and I actually wanted feed back.

Heres are pics from a few weeks ago, on there current food plan.

 

[krissy3]

They look a little thin to me ... but the food seems like a lot.. Corn gives a lot of energy , and fat...can you get corn based pellets ? So I think i understand that he CANT eat hay. So all hay is being substituted with a hard food... in that case if he wants it then ... well so be it . And does the vet think its an OK amount? what about getting a nuitritionist to have a look at him. Do you blanket him... he will keep his calories if he doesnt have to keep himself warm during the night. You might be shocked by how many calories they burn to keep warm in the winter. I feel like I overfeed in winter , but they actually look thinner in the winter with the furry coats then in summer when they get virtually no hard feed while they have pasture . Your horses dont look overfed, they look like they are very hard to get weight on .If your not blanketing them , I think its the first thing I would do. and by the way i dont mind that you are posting here.

Are the teeth really OK? .. I would get a dentist to re check the teeth , it would really help him to be able to chew hay.

 

[mydaddysjag]

May I ask what senior feed you are feeding? That ammount of grain seems to be begging for a colic. Is the 20lbs the amount your supposed to be feeding if you feed it as a complete feed (as in you dont have to feed it with hay)

I feel for you, my senior mare was on a HUGE amount of grain, especially in the winter. We ended up finding that she could eat 2 scoops of an extruded feed (I forget the weight, its been almost a year since i owned her, but I do remember it weighed a lot less than say 2 scoops of equine senior, because it was extruded, and "puffed" like a rice krispy) with free choice 2nd cut hay for breakfast, then midday we have her 1/2 scoop alfalfa cubes soaked with 1/2 scoop beet pulp shreds topped with some oil (at first we had to throw a handful of sweetfeed in it to get her to eat it, but she learned to love it) then again, 2 scoops feed at night.

If you are dead set on feeding that amount of feed, please do it in numerous feedings per day. Id say at least 4, or I will almost bet you end up with a colic.

 

[Ashley]

I refigured the amounts to night and I was a bit off this morning, guess its lack of sleep being I have had 2 days off work in the last month.

Yes his teeth were done this spring. He doenst have much left, is starting to lose them and they dont really meet to grind anything.

The mare we just got a few weeks ago and was thin. I am working on putting weight on her, but thing once she gets there I could back her food down a bit. I need her teeth done this fall as I dont know the last time they were done.

Yes the gelding is blanketed all winter long.

I will go back and edit my measurements.

The mare can not have corn, not sure why was just told my her previous owner not to feed it to her.

I want to try and break it into 3 feedings a day, but with work it really hard to do. The gelding has been on this same diet for well over a year. However, I switch him from hay to hay pellets this year per the vets advice since he cant chew anything.