Feeding a Yearling??

[minishowgirl]

My yearling looks to be a good weight but im wondering if shes getting enough nutrition. She gets a handful of Trotter pelleted grain at night, half a flake or 3/4 of a flake of hay at night, and shes on grass most of the day. Is this enough for her?? She is pretty tall for being just a yearling, shes taller than any yearling ive seen. Does this seem like enough nutrition for a growing girl??

 

[mydaddysjag]

She needs way more grain. Big belly from lack of protein, too much forage and not enough grain.You can see in her neck and shoulder, she is thin, and is lacking muscle. Shes butt high, so may need more nutrients vitamins and minerals to keep her growing at an even rate. For yearlings I like more fat than what trotter has, I like atleast 6%. Can you get blue seal hunter? It would be their better option for a pelleted feed for her. If you have to stay with trotter, thats OK too, hunter is just made for growing horses and is a little more ideal for them.

I would up her grain slowly over a period of about 10 days until she is up to 4 cups twice per day. Wait about 30 days, and take pictures to compare to this one. I see my horses everyday so sometimes its hard to see how much of a difference has been made without taking pictures.

 

[minishowgirl]

ok Ill give her more grain. Last time I uped her grain she got a big belly. If I put her on a growing supplement would I have to up her grain as much?? I was thinking either Calf Manna or grow colt.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Don't worry about a growth supplement, she needs to be on a jr. feed. I agree she needs more grain.

 

[minishowgirl]

So more grain and less grass and hay?? Last time she got a lot of grain she got a big belly. Id rather not switch her grain but if I have to I will.

 

[mydaddysjag]

Start with just upping her grain. Yearlings often get that belly when they are not given enough grain. Half a flake of good quality hay is good. I would only allow her on the grass a couple hours a day if you dont want her to have a big belly. You want soft hay, nothing real stemmy or weedy. Coarse stemmy hay seems to cause a pot belly too. Grow colt wont make a difference condition wise. Calf manna is nice (I feed it) but it doesnt take the place of feeding the right amount of grain. I feed it in addition to grain, its a nice finishing touch on weanlings and yearlings. I would up her grain, she needs it twice daily and much more of it.

My starting point would be not leaving her on grass so long, I would split her feeding of hay between morning and night (1/4-1/2 a flake am, and 1/4-1/2 flake pm) and build her up to the 4 cups of grain. A quart of trotter weighs 1.45lbs according to blue seal.

Blue seals feeding reccomendations for trotter are 0.70lb - 1.00lb per 100lbs of horses body weight. I would bet your girl is around 200lbs. For 200lbs of body weight for a yearling blue seal reccomends feeding 1.4lbs - 2lbs of trotter daily. The handful your feeding her is probably once a couple ounces.

If you are stuck with trotter it will probably be alright if you up her feed to the right amount. 1 handful a day isnt enough to make any difference, honestly, at that amount you might as well not be feeding it at all. I can about promise you that if you cut her back on the grass and up her grain to the reccomended amount for her age and weight that she will fill out, grow more evenly, develope more muscle and that big belly will go down. You might have to decrease or increase the grain a little after 30 days, but 4 cups twice a day is a pretty good starting point. I always take pictures of the horse from all angles the day I start a new feed, and then again in 30 days. Its suprising how much they change and we dont realize when we look at them everyday.

 

[minishowgirl]

Will do. Just out of question what would happen to a yearling that didnt get that much??

 

[mydaddysjag]

Pot bellied, uneven growth (butt high), may not reach full potential, lack bloom, bones and joints may not be as strong if they do not reach adequate nutrition during the growing years, I went against my own know better and put a high strung yearling on a low carb feed with calf manna for about 8 weeks ago to try to calm him down a bit. He looked ok the first couple weeks, then I noticed he got butt high, his topline started to go to pot, and hes getting a belly, and his coat isnt as nice. Switching him right back to the other feed along with his calf manna, Im sure Ill see a big difference within a month.

 

[disneyhorse]

She looks very well cared for! She could use more protein. Also make sure she's getting dewormed regularly. Some yearlings do go through the uglies despite our best care.

 

[minishowgirl]

Thank you everyone. She gets dewormed regularly. I always thought that horses naturaly grew uneven. Guess you learn something new every day.