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feed for a youngster

3K views 12 replies 4 participants last post by  jazzyrider 
#1 ·
my best friend has just given me a rather underweight 3yo qh colt. she had only had him a week and its a little unclear what he was being fed with his previous owners. from what we can gather he was getting a little hay and a hard feed that consisted of just chaffe and some seed mix (??) we have no idea what it was.

my friend put him on chaffe, copra meal and breeda pellets. i personally think at 3 he is old enough to go onto what we feed our other horses being chaffe, beet pulp, lupins and millrun. maybe minus the lupins. my friend thinks though that he should stay on the breeda/foal feed.

just wondering what everyone else thinks
 
#3 ·
a 3yo should be in a 12% feed to the max of 14% feed. you can't really make up for what nutrients he's lost before you've gotten him. I'd just make sure to do the transition slow and make sure what ever he gets until he's back to good health is quality feed.

my horse will be turning 5 this year, he's on a 14% feed as he is hard to keep weight on and needs the extra protine.
 
#4 ·
a 3yo should be in a 12% feed to the max of 14% feed. you can't really make up for what nutrients he's lost before you've gotten him. I'd just make sure to do the transition slow and make sure what ever he gets until he's back to good health is quality feed.

my horse will be turning 5 this year, he's on a 14% feed as he is hard to keep weight on and needs the extra protine.

the amount of protein means nothing without the amount being feed... you also want to watch the balances on the feeds as well as NSC which can cause DOD's
 
#5 ·
i know all about feeding horses i was more asking if he is old enough to drop the breeda (foal) food and go onto adult food. he will be getting the same feed as my other guys when he changes.
 
#6 ·
yes he should be fine depending upon what that feed is... what your sugar and starch levels on it and free choice hay is always the best option for any horse
 
#7 ·
Jazzyrider never said how much food she was feeding her horse, that is why i went into the protein levels. If she was feeding the same amount of foal food vs. adult food that is a recipe for disaster. a 3 year old is an adult horse for the most part, there for shouldn't be on a foal feed.
 
#8 ·
the % don't matter!! it is the total nutrition that matters... protein is bulding blocks for muscles and any extra is just peed out .. you have to figure total nutrition and balances ;)
 
#9 ·
The % does matter as does the nutritional content of a feed. If you were to read a feed label you'd notice that the more nutritional content of a feed the higher the % is. You wouldn't feed 10lb of a 26% feed would u. I was just trying to give my input and you seem to think my opinion doesn't matter. I was just tring to help jazzyrider out with her question.
 
#10 ·
it is the total % of the diet you need to look at and the amounts fed... the % alone means nothing!! that is what you seem to be missing or maybe we are jsut misunderstanding each other??

if you feed 6 lbs of 12% you are feeding .72lbs of protien
if you feed 3lbs of 14% you are feeding .42 lbs of protien
if you feed 1lb of 32% you are feeding .32lbs of protien

You don't want any feed you need to feed above about 5lbs a day of heck I don't even like to feed that much it is just not cost effective.. I would rather feed 1 to 2lbs of high quality nutrition with free choice hay then 6lbs of lower nutrtition feed ...
 
#12 ·
peggysue i do belive the comment of us misunderstaning each other is right. we both have valid points. all i was saying was in looking at brand name grains or age specific grains or complete feeds you have to watch the % along with the nutitional content and feed accordingly. I was just addressing the grain concern she had.
 
#13 ·
maybe i should have clarified. he will have free choice good grass and hay. his feed will only be made up to the amount required for his age and body type. plus he will have a complete supplement added.

thanks everyone for your advice and input. and thanks laurab for the link :) i have quite a bit of experience though with feeding malnourished horses. its kinda my thing ;)
 
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