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Feeding a Yearling??

24K views 20 replies 12 participants last post by  Peggysue 
#1 ·
I bought a yearling two weeks ago and I'm having some trouble finding a feed program for her. She lost a considerable amount of weight on the trailer ride to CT, so she's looking a bit ribby. I had her on Purina Ultium Growth, but I wasn't thrilled with that so I switched her over to Sentinal Grow and Excel. She's only been on that for a few days so no results yet but what else can I give her to help her beef up and develop properly. I've read the best diet for yearlings is high in protein. I was looking for a multi vitamin, what does everyone think of Sunshine Plus? I'd also like to put her on ground flax, is it okay for babies to have that? Can she have the same amount as an adult horse (1/2 cup for maintenance, 1 cup for weight gain). Right now she's getting about 15 lbs a day of good, first cut orchard / timothy mix hay and two lbs a day of Grow and Excel. I'm working her up to more grain, but it's new to her so we're starting slow. Thanks!
 
#3 ·
I would take it easy on the grain. Sentinel is a good feed especially for the youngens'. You wont see results on her for about two weeks...just give her lots and lots of hay and her daily rations of grain and you will see an improvement. Is she on good pasture? If not, is there any way to get her on some? The best thing for any thin horses is lots and lots of free range forage...pasture and hay put the weight on...not grains.
 
#4 ·
free choice forage and a good vitamin/mineral supplement... is all they really need...

you only gave the Ultium a week... it takes about 30 days for a horse's system to "reset" to a new program
 
#6 ·
If you're feeding her the recommended levels of the feed you have now, then you don't need any extra vitamins. Just feed her free choice quality grass hay or mixed hay (or Timothy), provide a salt block, and plenty of turnout (preferably 24/7). Young horses need room to run and a friend or two, so their bones and tendons will strengthen and develop properly. Bring her in to eat once or twice a day, then turn her back out. Stalling youngsters is never a good idea.

Young horses go through growth spurts. It is completely normally for her to look "ribby" every once in a while when she hits a big one. Just increase her food a little or add some fat her diet and wait for her weight to catch up to her height. Be patient and don't over feed her. A fat baby can be detrimental to growing joints as well.
 
#10 ·
Agree with others that you don't want to 'beef her up'. Grain(I know it's traditional) is not generally a healthy feed for horses and they don't cope with high starch/sugar rations. If you are going to feed it, it's vital to feed little & often - tiny meals at least 3-4 times daily, which will help her get the most out of it and minimise the health risks associated with it.

Yes, young horses tend to need more protein than older horses, but too high protein is a big prob too. Depending on what you feed her & where you are/what is in the pasture/hay she gets, she *may* be getting adequate balanced nutrition without a supplement, but then again, despite what it may say on the packaging, she may not.

...So on those 2 notes especially, I agree with those who recommend you get onto a good equine nutritionist or such. I personally subscribe to a fantastic service & program called FeedXL.com that I can't recommend highly enough! They are fantastic value, esp. their nutritionists on call, ready to answer any queries, and have actually saved me money, along with frustration, confusion & ensuing headaches on the tricky subjects of nutrition & feeding.
 
#11 ·
She's currently in a run in situation, so she has 24/7 access to turnout when she wants it but absolutely so chance of pasture. I'd love to move her to someplace with grass turnouts, but that's not in the cards right now. The reason I was asking about the Min A Vite is because I don't feed her the recommended amount of grain for her age (6 lbs a day??!! No way). I switched from the Ultium because I never really wanted it in the first place, I really liked the Sentinal because it's low starch and just seemed like a better feed. I got caught up when she showed up, the feed store was out of everything except Purina so I just grabbed a bag of the Ultium to tide me over until the Grow and Excel came in, then I switched her over. My main concern is she seems to have lost more weight since she got here. She gets about 1/2 of a bale of hay a day. The bales are first cut timothy / orchard mix. It's not fantastic hay but it's good for CT, we've had some bad hay crops the past couple of years.

I'm not so much concerned about putting weight on quickly, just putting the weight on period. I got nervous because she looks thinner. I went through the same situation with my gelding last year, he lost a lot of weight where I was boarding him. I moved him, he gets free choice hay and grass, one cup a day of Sentinal LS Performance, and 1/2 cup a day of flax and he is a WHALE. He only gets the grain so I have something to mix his supplements into. So now I have a fat gelding I'm trying to take weight off of, and a thin baby who needs to gain some.

Can I give her the flax anyway? I really like the flax for the omega 3's and would love to add some shine to her coat.
 
#12 ·
They get ribby when they grow. My yearling grazes for 5-7 hours a day, has free choice hay and gets Blue Seal Hunter (higher protein) and is still slightly ribby right now, but she's doing serious growing.

I'd much rather see a fit/slightly ribby yearling than the hunks of young horse in the yearling quarter horse halter ring...
 
#13 ·
Get her on free choice hay if you can - Constant trickle amounts of forage are important for all horses, but more so for babies. I'm with most of the others, I would have her on free choice forage, a vit/min supplement or ration balancer, and then only add calories if need in the form of low starch/low sugar feeds such as Speedi-Beet, oils, copra, lupins, etc.

It is far healthier for a youngster to be a bit ribby than a bit fat, so don't be too concerned unless she actually looks like she is starving. Over feeding youngsters is rife nowadays and is very, very bad for them.
 
#14 ·
Ditto to My Beau. Stress also often causes horses to lose weight, so it may be a case of just letting her settle in & the weight will come back.

Why have you got your fat gelding on a high calorie 'performance' ration?? I'd get him off that for starters and instead feed something like Hygain Zero to mix the supps with. I'd also be feeding hay in a slow feeder & consider getting him off the grass, or using a grazing muzzle or such to cut down his intake.

The Grow & Excel feed looks OK, altho I am hesitant of feeds that contain corn and molasses.
 
#16 ·
My gelding gets the LS Performance because he is a picky spoiled brat and refuses to eat any of the "diet" food I buy for him. I figure it doesn't make a difference anyway, he's only getting a cup a day.

Can someone explain to me exactly what a ration balancer is? I hear about them all the time on this forum but don't personally know of anyone who uses them.
 
#17 ·
Yeah, generally speaking, 1 cup per day of anything shouldn't make much of a dent, BUT it does depend whether he's IR or anything, as many IR horses can't tolerate ANY sugar spikes without adverse effects. IR is also a very common issue, especially among overweight horses, so I would be wary of this at least. If he's got any 'growth' rings on his feet or any 'fat pads' I would take this as an indication his diet needs to be more carefully managed.

Ration balancers are the popular name for 'complete' feed supplements that are generally pelleted feed. They are also usually grain based, so again, not necessarily the best choice for fatties & depends if the horse is IR or such whether they are appropriate. But they are far higher in nutrients & better balanced(tho they all different & tend to get what you pay for) than 'complete' horse feed and therefore you generally feed way less of them than you'd have to to get a decent amount of nutrition into a horse with a 'feed'.

I personally have a couple of rather round(not obese, but certainly not fading away) horses, of whom one is also incredibly fussy, and I've chosen to feed a 'ration balancer' to them, to get the best nutrition into them without adding too much in the way of calories & carbs. After diet & feed analysis(thru FeedXL.com) I chose KER Gold Pellet because it seemed the best by far and palatable to my fuss pot and he only needs 60g(1/2 teacup) per day. It is expensive per 20kg bag, but at that rate, it's actually quite economical compared to cheaper bags, and after analysis, discovered I only have to feed bit more than half what it says on the pack too.
 
#20 ·
Thanks for the info, Peggysue. I read the link you posted, and I really like the sounds of the Buckeye Grow and Win and that's the one that's most available in my area. For their feeding recommendations, a 400 - 600 lb horse should be fed .75 lbs a day, and this will cover all of her nutritional needs, correct? So I won't have to feed her a multi vitamin?
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#21 ·
True nutrition wise she will be covered ... hopefully she is an easy keeper and won't need extra calories... but if she does just pick up some rice bran or alfalfa pellets and add those in
 
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