Measuring Feed & Adding Fats

[Little Wolf Ranch]

QUESTION #1

I was thinking about it and I was wanting to know those of you who say they feed X amount of cups of feed per horse per day - do you use a measuring cup that you would use in the kitchen? And if so, how many cups would equal a pound?

QUESTION #2

My newest miniature horse, Timmy has not faired too well with changing homes as he went off his feed and became depressed and in result lost a good bit of weight. In advance, no he doesn't have worms (we are worming him heavily just in case some slipped by), teeth are good as far as I can see and he isn't "sick" otherwise. He was in good weight when purchased but became depressed (he was really attached to a neighboring stallion) and wasn't an eager eater. Now he has picked up his eating habits again and has a new best friend here, so wer are hoping he will pick back up in weight.

As a result, I have now put him on 1lb. (measured out by a feed scoop) of 12% feed (only feed available in my area at this time) twice per day and he is allowed good quality fescue hay for half of the day (boys go out during the night, non-pregnant girls go out during the day and while he is not on hay, we allow him to graze on the green grass in our yard.

I am now wondering what extra fats I can add to his diet that are inexpensive. We have been advised before by our Vet for underweight horses to use corn oil but how much should a mini get per feeding per day? I do not like commercial weight gain brands as personally they have never worked for me.

Would love advice and opinions!

Thanks, Katie

 

[disneyhorse]

1. To figure out how many cups are in a pound, or visa-versa, you will have to actually WEIGH it on a scale. I have a little six-pound scale at the barn specifically for this purpose. Yes, you use a measuring cup that you would use in the kitchen for baking and cooking. However, you will find that a "cup" of beet pulp does NOT weigh the same as a cup of oats, and so on. Therefore, you have to weigh it as moist or dense feeds will be more per cup than lighter, looser, drier feeds. A cup of water will weigh more than a cup of feathers, right?

2. There are lots of high-fat supplements you can try. Rice bran, soybean (or corn) oil, soybean meal, or commercially prepared high-fat feeds are available to horses. If you want to try the oil (soybean is a little more digestible than corn oil, but both are good additives to their regular feed and grain) I would start with one ounce and then work up to two ounces. I like to buy gallon or half-gallon jugs of oil, and then buy one-ounce dispensing pumps to screw onto the lids. That way it's easy to measure a pump or two, and you don't make a mess either. Just pump right into the bucket of grain or hay pellets.

Adding alfalfa pellets to your guy's diet may be a good move, too. They soak up oil pretty nice as well, as does rice bran

Andrea

 

[Marty]

Katie if you go to Walmart in the cooking section, they will have a little weigh scale for about $13.00 last time I checked. Or if you have a Staples or Office Depot, you can get a little postage scale.

I put the food I want to weigh in a little ziplock bag and put it on the scale so that gives me accuracy. You need to measure each kind of food you have separately; a pound of pellets will weigh differently then a pound of sweet feed etc.

Timmy probably has ulcers as most horses do. Every time a horse is relocated I feel it is very hard on them to settle in, must harder then we humans tend to think, so you might take that into consideration. You can also stick your fingers in his mouth and see if they feel sharp to you. Even if they don't, a dentist or your vet should check out the teeth just in case the former owners didn't get them done properly.

Best wishes.

 

[~Lisa~]

I had a scale in the barn but it broke so I have put 1 cup of feed in baggies and take it to the grocery store when I go and weigh it there on the produce scales

 

[Becky]

I measure using a cheap kitchen scale that I got at Wal Mart as Marty said. Using whatever form of container you choose (cup, coffee can or whatever), put that on the scale and and set it to 0. Then you'll know exactly how much your feed weights.

I'm starting to use stabilized ground flax seed as a fat supplement. Not only for weight gain, but also the Omega 3 fatty acid benefit.