Winter Feeding?

[wingnut]

Easy keeper: a horse that seems to gain weight by simply breathing air!

Hard Keeper: a horse that could be fed the most high calorie, fattening grain/hay/supplements possible 24/7 and still looks like they aren't being fed.

I have 5 easy keepers and one hard keeper.

 

[mrsj]

Rabbitsfizz - you are in the UK like me, what feed do you use, just out of interest? Would love any recommendations!

 

[Matt73]

The vast majority of my guys' diet is hay/grass. They each get around 4 flakes of grass hay (with a tiny bit of alfalfa in some/day (not sure of the weight...but pretty much what they want). They get a ration balancer (32% protein) morning and night. The two weanlings get 1lb. total and the girls get 1/2lb. total. I don't change much in the winter aside from a bit more hay. No hay bellies here

I love the simple feeding...but there are as many ways of feeding as there are horses in the world...

 

[MajorClementine]

Here are some more stupid questions...

I live in Oklahoma. Right now my mini is feed Purina Mini Food. I have a pen that he stays in at night that prob has 1/4 acre of grass. We built a run-in for him which is 8x8x8 which is in the pen. In the morning I feed him 1/2 cup of purina and then let him out to graze freely on about 3 acres of grass. In the evening I feed him 1/2 cup purina and put him in pen. I have water in plastic tub by pen and am just using a small stainless steel bowl to feed him the purina. I have been stocking up on square bales of hay. Do I feed hay after first hard freeze? I have no idea

. How much hay do I stock up on. We haven't had a hard freeze yet. Probably won't till Nov. sometime. Last frost is usually April 1st. What do I put the hay in do they have hay feeders? Ha, I know everyone will get a good laugh out of these questions.... I just found out what a flake was 2 weeks ago.... Do I give him a flake in morning with purina and at night? Or do I give him a flake 3 times a day? Or do I just leave a ball out...prob not.... he might get fat? What do I need to do????? Does he need a blanket? I have pine shaving in run-in. Thank you soooo much for any help!

It's never stupid to learn something. I figure 1/2 ton of hay per mini to get through the winter. I usually end up buying a full ton so I don't have to worry if the winter is extra long or extra cold.

I buy grass hay rather than alfalfa hay. I only feed alfalfa if I'm working my horses on a very regular basis.

I would introduce him to hay before just putting him on hay only.

You can put your hay in anything. I like the big rubber feed buckets because they are heavy, durable, and hard to flip over. Check any feed or livestock store.

I feed my minis about 2 pounds of hay in AM and PM with a 14oz can (empty fruit can) of feed in the evening. This has worked for me for 2 winters now. There are people here who would say I don't feed them enough but I think every horse is different. Just watch his weight closely and make sure you feel him to see what's under that winter coat. They can look chubby and be very thin under that hair. I've heard to feed 2% of their weight but not sure if that was once or twice a day. I'd rather have them a little chubby in the spring than shave them and find out I wasn't feedng enough.

 

[Minimor]

Here is how mine get their hay:

Some of mine do still get hay taken out to them 2x a day but over 1/2 the herd is on free choice hay now and after this weekend I plan for 3/4 of the bunch to have round bales. The remaining 1/4 will still get fed twice a day as usual--the only reason they won't have round bales is I cannot get the bales into some of the paddocks.