Feeding hay in dry lot

[kdhminis]

Hi I tried looking in the search area and so much other stuff came up I thought I'd ask all of you that have had your mini's for a long time - we are brand new at this. I read that regarding hay, of course it all depends on the type of hay, condition of mini, etc. but that roughly should feed 2.2 % of their body weight in hay. Does that sound right to you all?

We eventually will be turning our mini's out to a small pasture with grass once they get use to us catching them and knowing us, etc. - bonding!!! We did the girth/lentgh/height measuring to come up with what we think our mini's each weigh. Anything that you can share regarding feeding hay in dry lot, feeding hay in dry lot at night when they are on pasture during the day. I have also been giving each just a very, very small handful of pelleted feed. Our mini's are 11 year old mare with a 3 month filly at her side (filly is eating hay, etc. very well also); and a 3 year old mare. The mares are suppose to be bred to deliver next spring - still waiting for test results to confirm that. We have always had big horses and still do - so I know that alot of the things are the same, worming (but read labels to make sure okay for mini's); floating teeth every year, hoof trimming, etc.

If you know of good places for me to read up on mini's - please direct me also!!!

Learning alot of different things on this forum also!!

Thanks so much!

 

[disneyhorse]

2.2% may be a little high; most horses eat between 1 and 2% of their total body weight in feed. Performance horses, breeding stallions, and lactating mares are usually closer to 2% than a horse sitting around.

Andrea

 

[kdhminis]

Ok so if your horse was 341 pounds approximately would you just feed like 1 or 2 flakes of hay in the morning; and the same again in the evening? Plus a very small handful of feed in the evening? (while in dry lot)? This is the weight of the mare that foaled 3 months ago - she is in my eyes a little heavy. Reason questioning - my husband says I am overfeeding hay - and I sure don't want to do that and cause problems for our little girls!

 

[disneyhorse]

341 pounds??? Is this a mini? My mature 43" shetland ponies weigh around there!

As to the "flakes"... how much does an average flake weigh? Here, we have 110# three-strand bales, and the average flake is seven pounds!

You just have to go by the individual horse, there is no "magic" percentage. If she looks heavy, cut back a little and go from there.

ANdrea

 

[chandab]

Ok so if your horse was 341 pounds approximately would you just feed like 1 or 2 flakes of hay in the morning; and the same again in the evening? Plus a very small handful of feed in the evening? (while in dry lot)? This is the weight of the mare that foaled 3 months ago - she is in my eyes a little heavy. Reason questioning - my husband says I am overfeeding hay - and I sure don't want to do that and cause problems for our little girls!

All flakes are not created equal, weighing would be better than just tossing a flake or two twice a day. If you don't have a scale to weigh individual feedings; then if you have a weight on the bale, you can count the flakes and divide to find out how much each flake averages.

1-2% of 341 is about 3.5 to 6.75# feed per day for this mare; I tend to take the average and feed about 1.5% per day, which for your mare would be about 5#. This is not a strict amount, but a guideline to start from.

Most of my mares are 325-350#, I tend to feed 5-7# hay each per day; plus they get their ration balancer (amount dependant on work, the "idle" mares get the least amount, about 1/2#; the broodmares get the most, about 1#).

 

[Marty]

If you have a lactating mare and baby, I'd be feeding way more than a handful of pellets besides the hay. I feed my mares with baby at their sides plenty of good grains 3 times a day plus free choice minerals, salt block, soaked beet pulp and almost all the roughage they want. Also by 3 months old my foals have their own buckets early on to eat out of by then. Just my humble opinion. Everyone does it differently. Best wishes with your precious new minis.

 

[Miniv]

So......are you confused yet???

My suggestion would be to invest into a kitchen scale. It can be calibrated with a Rubbermaid dish tub which you can put a flake of hay into. As has been said above, every flake of hay can weigh differently. (Our flakes vary widely - between 2 to 4 lbs EACH!)

We feed on average our adult minis just out lounging around 1.5 percent of their approx. weight. A mare who is nursing, in their last trimester of pregnancy, or horses during the cold winter months, we up it to 2 percent and sometimes more.......So much depends on the individual horse.........It's good to do the "touch test" on a horse - especially when their fur is grown, about every week or two and adjust up or down, from the "rule of thumb". We've had individuals and also winters where everything was thrown out the window and we DOUBLED our feed! * The percentages are just something to begin with.*

I also tend to tack on the grain amounts on top of the recommended "percentages". Our mares who have nursing babies are currently being fed up to 4 cups complete pelleted feed twice a day. An older foal will be sharing that grain, so that needs to be accounted for. And as Marty mentioned, each group has a mineral/salt block available.

 

[bonloubri]

Welcome to the world of minis. This is a little off the subject but I noticed you mentioned about worming. Yes, minis need it too, however DO NOT use Quest brand wormer. This particular brand has been approved for minis but can cause problems if over dosed. Most other wormers can accidently be overdosed with little or no side affects. This is just my opinion.

Thanks Nathan, I edited my statement to reflect your comment.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Actually Quest IS FDA/Manufacturer approved in minis, its just not mini-owner approved.

 

[basshorse]

I'm birdwalking off your thread just a little, but you said you wanted info and mentioned worming, so I thought I would include this...

Worming

. I have had big horses for 30+ years...that's 30+ years of worming! Never had this problem before and I wish someone had given me a heads up when worming my minis...it took 7 years of owning minis before this occurred...

When I went to give my mini his oral paste from the syringe, I double checked the locking ring...as usual...and inserted. Mind you, over the years, I am used to getting 1/2 on me, 1/3 on the horse and a bit actually in the horse!

Anyway, this time I pushed the plunger and the entire syringe, 1500 lbs worth,

shot into my mini's mouth. (The syringe lock failed.) :arg! Panicked, I pryed open his mouth...not even a smidgen in his mouth, nothing on me, nothing on him.... All of it...straight in my poor little guy. I thought, OMG...what have I done to my little horse!!! I called my vet and the 1-800 number on the packaging. Fortunately, we are minutes from my vet hospital! There was some concern, but most thought he would survive without any adverse problems...which he did. The wormer company wanted the syringe back and offered to replace it for us. I told them, I reallly wasn't looking for anymore at this point! He'd had more than enough.

I also searched the LB threads and found quite a few people had experienced this too. .

To make things safer and avoid having this happen again, my 7 year old daughter has wisely suggested we now administer only what we need from a 2nd syringe. I wholeheartedly agreed!

I hope you enjoy your minis as much as we do! We have really learned a lot at this forum...

~ Becky

Note: If we had done this with Qwest... we would not have been so fortunate!

 

[billiethekid40]

Becky- To avoid the hassle of measuring out into a second syringe you can just set the lock to the right marker and wrap an elastic band just under it. Its easy to remove when you're done but won't budge while you're dosing. MUCH less hassle. (cause while overdosing most wormers won't really hurt them its an awful waste and a bit of a risk)

 

[basshorse]

Thanks for the tip! Will try that next time! ~ Becky

 

[basshorse]

About feed...

like others suggest, we weigh our hay. We find it way too easy to over or under feed the little guys. The 150 lbs horse gets 1.5-2 pounds of hay at each feeding (am/pm). The 250 lb horse gets 2.5- 3 lbs... All of this depends on the time of year and how much we are working them...I adjust up or down accordingly. We feed a nice grass hay, with a bit of alfalfa..very fine stemmed. ~ Becky

 

[kdhminis]

Thanks everyone for giving your hay feeding tips. I'm so afraid of overfeeding these little girls. I am going to purchase some books to read/study and discuss with my vet also. This Forum has been a great help so far - with lots of different advice on the same topic! But all of this "old stuff" for you that have been mini owners for a while - is brand new info that us newbies need to hear and learn!!!! Thanks for taking your time! I do know that several places I have read state that most mini owners underestimate the weight of their mini's and underestimate the amount of hay/feed they are giving them also.