Feeding a Yearling

[LeosPocoDan]

My little filly Cinnamon is getting on the chunky side, mostly because she was tipping the big horses buckets and getting what drops, but we have fixed it so she can't do that anymore.

She has free choice coastal out in the pasture that she can munch on whenever, and I have been giving her a pound of SafeChoice 12% a day. Does this sound about right for her age? Some people tell me to just feed her oats, that she doesn't need feed, but I feel she needs the nutrients since she is still developing.

Also, should she be getting a different brand of feed? We just feed her the SafeChoice because that is what my QH, and Paint geldings get, but I have seen specialty feed for minis that I could buy for her.

 

[Leeana]

Its really important to keep good nutrition in these yearlings. I think Safechoice is a good grain, but i personally do not think it would "do it" for a growing yearling, but that is just me. I have always thought of Safechoice as more of a maintance feed.

I feed Omlene 200 (a 14% grain) to my yearlings and it works great, they stay filled out and maintain a good steady weight just fine. Of course, i also have a few suppliments, beet pulp, ext ext that i add in to all that too that is not really "needed" but for the show horses i add that in.

 

[Minimor]

Our yearlings are on oats only, no pelleted feed; they did get a bit of foal pellets (16%) as weanlings, but even then oats was the major part of their grain ration. They also got some mare/yearling (14%) pellets this spring, just up until our one show earlier this month; since then they are back on oats only. THey also get free choice hay (alfalfa/grass mix) and mineral block (the made for horses kind) and on that diet I have absolutely no concerns about any developmental issues.

These two yearlings are getting quite a bit of oats, and it keeps them in nice shape--oats gives them energy without making them fat--my show colt was in nice condition even before I started working him this spring--he just needed some work to muscle him up.

 

[Jill]

I would look to put her on a higher protein complete pellet, such as Purina Equine Junior or a complete Senior Pellet (this is what mine get).

 

[uwharrie]

I am glad to hear someone else is feeding yearlings the Purina EJ. I have had my two youngsters on it for about a month and can already see a difference

I would look to put her on a higher protein complete pellet, such as Purina Equine Junior or a complete Senior Pellet (this is what mine get).

 

[LeosPocoDan]

I bought some Purina senior feed today at the feed store for her, they were out of Equine Junior.

How much would you recomend feeding her?

 

[ThreeCFarm]

If you contact the company, their nutritionists can tell you what the minimum amount is to feed your yearling that will still allow the horse to get everything it needs.

 

[Jill]

I'd probably say 3-4 cups 2x a day as a bench mark. However, I've never fed free choice hay and our horses are on dry lots, so it's just a guess.