pot bellied 4 month foal

[solupe]

Hi there,

Can someone please volunteer some advice of what can cause foals to get pot-bellied after weaning, is it usually worms or something else?

I would love to know, the could be's.....thanks

 

[lyn_j]

[SIZE=14pt]It could be worms. It could also be that now that he is eating on his own he needs more concentrates .... Lots of babies will eat hay all day and not enough grain if they have free choice. What I used to think was that a pot bellied baby needed less food when in reality they needed more calories and food. My weanlings here are getting 4-5 cups of a 10% fat 10% protein 7% fiber sweet feed, 1 cup dry beet pulp 1/2 c BOSS and 1/4 C flax with a pound of forrage twice a day each. One was born in march the other in april. here they are.[/SIZE]

Lucky born March 11

Jubilee born April 10

Both babies were wormed with safegard at 2 and 4 months and are on daily Strongid C2x.

No Bellies.

Lyn

 

[ChrystalPaths]

You'll get lots of varying opinions. IF the baby is wormed well and now weaned it is probably the hay belly. NOT the end of the world. OR it could mean she/he is not getting enough to eat like the third world coutry kids.

My Missy is 4 1/2 mos old, she is not completely weaned yet but is removed to have her am & pm feed in her own stall, she gets about 2 cups and I give her about 20/30 mins to eat it. She also gets a handful of hay but after her feed, goes back to mum and has the rest of the hay.

I use a soft grass hay and they get it am & pm unless like today it is pouring rain, then they get hay every 4-5 hrs. Again it is less rich grass hay. Babies get so bored and lonesome and eat to fill the gaps. I don't fret a tummy until they get to be about a year old.

 

[Jess P]

I am experiencing it with my boy too. It can be genetic, because my guy's father was the same when he was his age, and his half-brother was too.

As long as he is getting wormed and the proper feeding, do not worry about it, it probably will pass

 

[pepperhill]

You are going to get lots of input on this one. I agree with what you have gotten so far. It is a lack of nutrition, worms, or haybelly (are they eating too much hay due to a lack of nutrition?) It seems to happen right after they are weaned, but can hit any time in the younger horses. They do need more concentrated foods cuz their little tummies seem to get full too soon. I have trouble with my little guys leaving their feed bucket before they are done sometimes. Because of this, I have a free feed station set up in the corner of the shed that the babies can get to, but the moms cannot. I fill a bucket up with Omelene 300 (A Purina feed I really like) Whenever it gets low I fill it again. The babies go in and nibble on it, gradually eating more and more. I let this go on until they are 6 to 8 months old, or they are sold, whichever comes first. I start this when my first foal is about 2 weeks old. So far I have not had any problems with gorging, like you would if you tried this with adults. This is not the time to save $ on feed. Get a really good, quality feed for them. I just learned about beet pulp 3 weeks ago on this forum. It took a bit, but I finally found some in my area. I've only been using it for 3 weeks, but I think I can already see a difference. This system, along with hay of course, works well for my relaxed set up. I don't wean my babies until they are 4-5 months old, and the only shows I'm getting them ready for are the county fairs etc. I'm sure this program would be way too relaxed if your little one is destined for the bright lights, big city show ring. Then you would need to have things more consistantly measured so you could adjust it if there were problems. There are so many feeding programs out there. Just read through everyones suggestions and use the parts that work for your situation. Every one has different ideas and set ups. Best wishes! Linda

 

[lyn_j]

[SIZE=14pt]I wanted to add too that my weaners are in stalls NEXT to each other not together. They can touch noses, conversate.... whatever but they eat separately. If they dont finish their breakfasts before they go out, I still add the whole evening feeding because by the next morning all is gone. What they dont eat durring the day they have all night to finish. I feed them all as if they were going to be shown... that way when or if I decide to show them they will be ready and if someone who buys them wants to show then they are ready. If they dont want to show and want to just take them home and look at them then they can feed them however they want.[/SIZE]

Lyn