hi. I will be posting pictures later today, But for now I have a question. All my hay has fescue. I had reserved non fescue timothy hay( 50 bales) for the pregnant girls but the folks sold all but 20 bales out from under me, which I can not get until next week as they are unavailable. I have decided on a stradegy..what do you all think.
for the 32 inch..i would guess maybe 300 pounds? 1- 1.5 % of body wt..3-4 1/2 pounds of feed a day
other is over sized..guess 35 or 36 inches and stocky. . guess of 400 pounds? so 4 to 6 pounds feed per day
I am going to figure about 4 1/2 to 5 pounds of feed Each per day...
how does this sound for per horse per day split in 2 feedings
1# 7 oz timothy cubes
1# 8 0z chopped timothy alfalfa (chris cox forage blend from lacerne)
1 # 3 oz beet pellets
7 ounces omalene 300 mare and foal growth.
My vet warned me about jacking up too much grain based mare and foal as she does not want large babies.
will also be throwing a little long stem hay/..right now it does have fescue..next week it will not.
Does this sound like a decent maintenence feed for 2 minis due late May early June..or in J's case whenever?
Doesn't sound like too bad of a mix, however, lets make a few adjustments to hit each's likely weight. Non-pregnant weight for the 32" mare is probably around 250#, so into winter and pregnancy 300# probably isn't too far off. Non-pregnant weight for stocky 35-36" mare is probably 325-350#, so 375-400# pregnant isn't too far off. With pregnancy, they should definitely be getting at least 1.5% of their bodyweight daily, and perhaps with winter even 2%.
Looking at Purina's feeding chart, and while they recommend Omolene 200 for pregnant/lactating mares, we can extrapolate to Omolene 300#; and I'd go with at least 1# each to be sure they are getting their minimum mineral/vitamin needs met. Beet pulp is high in Calcium, so I wouldn't go over 1# daily, or you have to start adding a phosphorus source to balance that Ca; not to mention 1# beet pulp that has been soaked makes a hefty sized meal (even 1/2# per meal then soaked makes a pretty good meal for a mini).
32" mare - we'll go with 300# to be sure she isn't shorted during pregnancy and winter (1.5%BW):
1# omolene
1# beet pulp (I'd even consider dropping htis down to 1/2#).
1.5# timothy cubes
1.5# tim/alfa chop
35-35" mare - we'll go with 400# to be sure she isn't shorted during pregnancy and winter (1.5%BW):
1# omolene (perhaps a bit more, like 1.25#)
1# beet pulp
2# timothy cubes
2# tim/alfa chop
If you don't want to go with that much Omolene (which is the minimum amount suggested by Purina), then you would have to top dress with a vit/min supplement like their 12:12 mineral or go with their ration balancer type product (I think its called Natures Essentials or something like that, I don't feed Purina, so not sure of all their product names).
If you plan to soak the timothy cubes (I usually have to soak my cubes, as they are too hard to feed dry), you could soak them with the beet pulp pellets. No need to soak the chop or omolene (although, if your horses aren't used to beet pulp, sprinkling the dry omolene over the beet pulp would likely help them eat it).
I'd also recommend a slow feeder of some sort for their long-stem hay, so they don't blow through it in no time. There are many kinds out there. The Hay Pillow is really nice, and she came out with mini size the first of the year:
http://thehaypillow.com/
Here's a pic of my mare's trying out hte hay pillow:
I have two mares I have to attach theirs to the fence or they throw it over the fence, but otherwise they work pretty good. [i can't attach the gelding's to anything or they destroy them.]
There are also nibble nets and busy snackers (I think that's right on the second one); they tend to be safer than regular hay nets.
