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Topic: What to feed to add weight? (Read 2833 times)
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Sadiegem
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Posts: 26
Proud owner of a true redhead!
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Hi guys, Tess is doing so well this year but keeping weight on her has been a struggle. I finally found a pellet that doesn't cause her to be high as a kite or one that needs to be fed in such quantities that she never finished a meal. Now I would really like to pack on some pounds. What do you suggest?
Right now Tess is getting (per meal, 2 meals/day):
4 lb of Poulin Challenger (14% protein, 6.5% fat)
8oz. of black oil sunflower seeds
3oz of ground flax seed (friend said it put on weight fast, I'm not seeing the difference)
4 flakes of hay (1/2 first cut, 1/2 second cut)
I am leery of adding beet pulp as I travel for a living and have to rely on a pet sitter and non-horsey husband for feedings when I am not around. It worries me that the pulp won't have soaked long enough to be safe.
I've already tried 'cool calories' and Tess ate it for a while but then decided that it wasn't much to her liking so I came home to a feed tub filled with that white powder every day. Did I mention that she's picky?
I would love any suggestions!
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Tannenwald Trakehner
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Posts: 935
TANZBRISE by Windfall out of Tariana
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Flax can do a lot, but there is not much weight gain to be expected by feeding only 3 oz of flax seeds...maybe 1 1/2 ounces of oil? Not that you should feed more flax than that--get the calories somewhere else.
You could feed a little more BOSS, which is also about 1/2 fat by weight.
Depending on what kind of hay you have and how much she will eat, you could increase the amount of that. I don't know what size your bales are, so 4 flakes doesn't say much. Our horses easily eat 25 pounds of hay a day, so compare the weights of your flakes.
If your hay does not have much alfalfa, you could add alfalfa hay or cubes. Some people say alfalfa causes their horses to be edgy but I have not found that to be the case. Alfalfa is good because it has a decent amount of high-quality proteins.
We feed beet pulp every day to every horse, and some say you can feed it unsoaked. We soak, though, because one of the benefits is the amount of water it carries into the horse's system. If your stand-in feeders just feed the pulp and then immediately start soaking the next meal, it should be fully saturated by the time the next feeding time comes around.
Some people use rice bran to add weight. I never have but haven't run into a situation where I needed it. That is another possibility.
Other than that, I would add oil. Up to a cup or two a day. On tougher keepers I find that it helps more than its calories indicate it should; I think it does something with the gastric emptying rates and helps the other food be digested and energy absorbed.
Some say smaller, more frequent feedings increase feed efficiency.
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Sadiegem
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Posts: 26
Proud owner of a true redhead!
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Thanks!
My hay flakes are pretty big, I haven't weighed them but they are pretty heavy (sorry for being so vague!). Tess usually eats the entire pile but some days doesn't so I'm not sure that adding more will work. I do go out and pass out more hay during the day if she has finished her breakfast.
I've already doubled the BOSS from one cup per meal to two but I could easily jump that up to three which would be 12oz per meal.
I'm concerned with the rice bran as that is the basic ingredient in cool calories which Tess was able to ignore in her grain (talented girl as it's a powder form). So that might not be an option for this picky girl.
I've had hay stretcher mentioned as an option. I'll have to look into that one some more.
I think I might go with your oil option. It isn't my favorite as it gets thick and cloudy in the winter but it may help and I do know that Tess will eat that up.
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Elizabeth
FEI
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Posts: 177
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If you have a picky girl, pelleted and oil/liquid based supplements are the way to go. Since you are already feeding pellets, you can ask whoever is feeding to wet the pellets, and Tess will not be able to "eat around" the supplements. Unless, of course, she refuses the whole meal, but I have not seen a lot of horses THAT picky!
Holly and Delilah were both eating a ton and not gaining weight before I boarded at my current facility. I have been there for two years - Holly is very pudgy and Delilah would be if she was not constantly going through a growth spurt  Both mares put on weight pretty quickly, to the point we had to reduce the grain over the summer. The girls each eat only one scoop of Strategy grain per meal, twice a day. I tried rice bran when Delilah was thin, but it made her poops really runny and she did not like it at all (ate around it, as your mare did with the powder). Hay cubes and beet pulp are very popular at my barn for the picky eaters who are hard to keep weight on. The horses that need to gain weight but are prone to colic get 1/4 cup of corn oil with each feeding as well. Whatever you decide to do, make sure the change is gradual or you could end up with a digestive system overload!
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Elizabeth
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Eileen
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Posts: 523
I LOVE Trakehners!
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I have used rice bran with success -- what I did find, however, was that not all rice bran is created equal. Major Name brands that add calcium to balance out the phosphorus in the rice bran do not necessarily use calcium that is absorbable. I tested the first brand (recommended by a vet) inadvertently. The horses coats were gorgeous, they had a roundness to their muscles that had not been there before. I thought they looked great. I ran out of their loose minerals -- they were going through them faster. I bought more minerals -- they were eating them faster than I could get them in. I was soon worried about them having too many minerals. I realized that even though I was also feeding beet pulp, they were not getting enough calcium and thus were trying to get it through the free choice minerals. I switched to Equi Jewel by Kentucky Research Center (I recommend the pelleted). Immediately, they slowed down on the minerals and soon were back to barely touching them. EquiJewell uses limestone for the calcium and is highly recommended as being very bioavailable. I have tried several brands now and found EquiJewell to be far superior for my horses. I have not tried the Cool Calories.
If you plan out your diet with all the minerals, fats, proteins, etc. in the right proportions. The rice bran can be very effective in helping in the weight gain and adds much more shine that I was ever able to get with the flax (I have tried ground flax, stabilized flax and whole flax). And my horses love the taste of the EquiJewell-- even my pickiest eater (also a hard keeper) scarfs down his rice bran. The powdered form is not nearly as appetizing.
Alfalfa cubes can really be helpful in weight gain as well. However, it must also be used judiciously. It can really make some horses hot and many horses do not tolerate it well.
Good luck and I agree with Elizabeth -- make your changes slowly..
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Sadiegem
Novice
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Posts: 26
Proud owner of a true redhead!
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Thanks guys!
Eileen, I have my local Farmer's Union looking for the Equi Jewel. Maybe that will be the right choice.
Do you guys think it is okay to feed beet pulp on an irregular basis? Basically, can I feed it when I'm home (5 days/wk) and then not feed it when I'm on the road (2 days/wk)?
I promise to make my changes gradually. Tess keeps me very honest, if there are large changes she won't eat! I have to sneak the new food into her feed tub very slowly so that she is used to the taste before upping the amount.
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Eileen
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I LOVE Trakehners!
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Sadiegem,
I believe you have to order Equi Jewell direct from KER.
Here is the website for the products for this area --
http://shop.ker.com/ker/dept.asp?dept_id=1000&shopper_id=200601152242291575
and the homepage so you can check for your area:
http://www.ker.com/index.html?try=Cookie
As to the feeding of beet pulp on an irregular basis -- 5 days a week is pretty regular -- I am not an expert, but I think it would be regular enough to keep their guts adjusted to it.
I wouldn't feed huge amounts and then have days when they don't get it. It seems to be a quite filling feed and if it is a major portion of their ration they may get pretty hungry on the 2 days they didn't get it.
You may have to feed less of it the first day back -- at least at the beginning of the program.
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Sadiegem
Novice
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Posts: 26
Proud owner of a true redhead!
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Thanks Eileen! And the price isn't too bad either. I've looked at rice bran in the past and it was very expensive.
lsprieser, how does the oil stand up in the cold? I've used corn oil through the winter and it gets very cloudy and thick. I wasn't sure if that compromised the quality of the oil so I would replace it during a very cold snap. I can't imagine that this is cheap enough to be replacing through the winter.
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lsprieser
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Posts: 43
Go, Bellinger, Go!
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I never noticed a freeze, but our feed room is well-insulated. The stuff put 250 pounds on Billy over the course of about a year.
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stryder
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Posts: 13
So much to learn!
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Sadiegem:
I wouldn't be concerned if the oil turns cloudy and thick in the cold. Lots of oils are solid at room temperature - think bacon grease, lard, butter. It's probably less likely to go rancid at colder temperatures. Good luck putting and keeping weight on!
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