Feeding a weanling

[colorfan]

I have just purchased a weanling. After dreaming for a few years I have taken the plunge. Now that I have her home I have many questions.
After searching and reading several threads on feeding I thought I would just ask my specific questions starting with how much to feed.
Feeding a weanling is a bit scarier for me than feeding a grown horse because I feel things can go wrong fast and too much/too little can affect them long term.
She is really underweight in my opinion. From the far side of the stall (10’) I can easily see her spine definition and you can easily feel her skeleton, not just the last 3 ribs. How QUICKLY can I increase her feed? Currently I am feeding her 4x a day. Day one she started with 1 cup of Step 1 , 2x increased to 4 feedings the next day, the next day increased the size of each feeding to 2 cups. We are on day 4. So today she will get 2lbs 10oz of step 1. My cup scoop weighs at 5oz if level so I heap each one slightly so 3 scoops =1lb
She also gets a 1/4 flake of green 50 alfalfa and a flake of good hay, which she doesn’t clean up. I am concerned about giving her too much too quickly.

When I read the feeding chart of how much the feed bags say to feed if I estimate her current weight at 500lbs she should be getting 5lbs.@day. I have never fed that much to my 16h mare in work, it just feels like a lot of feed.

*I am feeding the Trouw Step feeds as they are what my feed store carries and have used them for years.
**I do have a vet appt for her but it is not until the end of the week.

[JB]

How old is she? Assuming she’s at least 4 months, especially at least 5 months, giving time for the digestive system to really start maturing to eating “adult” foods, then it’s easier.

Are you actually weighing the amount in your scoop? I ask because a lot of people assume that a scoop that has 1lb, 2lb, 3lb, etc, lines on it, is accurate for everything - it’s not.

If you’re taking 2-3 weeks to wean onto the full amount you intend to feed, that should be fine. Watch her manure to make sure it stays firm-ish

Feeding amount:

A weanling and young yearling has around the same nutritional needs as their adult self, but on much less forage. That’s why feeding amounts for horses under 24 months are higher per 100lb body weight, than the comparable adult.

5lb isn’t a lot of food even for an adult, so definitely don’t compare an easy keeping adult to a fast-growing weanling in terms of calorie needs.

[JB]

Did not mean to hit Reply:

To put all this into context of actual numbers, the National Research Council (NRC) Nutrient Requirements for horses, has the following for an 1100lb adult in moderate exercise, vs the below ages of a young horse who will mature to around 1100lb:

Protein:
adult 768gm
6 month old 676
12 months 846
18 months 799
23 months 770

Calories:
adult 23,300
6 mo 15,500
12 m 18,800
18 mo 19,200
24 mo 18.700

Not all nutrients are as close to the adult needs outright, but are similar on a per-pound basis, but with a lower forage intake

[colorfan]

JB, she is 5 months old. Yes, I am actually weighing the feed, I have a scale in my tack room.

(A weanling and young yearling has around the same nutritional needs as their adult self, but on much less forage. That’s why feeding amounts for horses under 24 months are higher per 100lb body weight, than the comparable adult.) some day I will learn how to do quotes…
Got it.

So I should follow the directions and work up to what the feed bag says.

How quickly should I do this? I don’t want to give her too much too quick.

[goodhors]

Old school here, but I would never feed the quantity of grain recommended on the bag. They are in the feed SELLING business, lose money if you give horse more forage instead of their Magic Grain Mixes. Horses are made to eat forages with lesser amounts of grains. She does sound thin, could be stress of weaning, poor food before purchase, not managing the food with young digestive system.

Have to say your rapid increase in volume of grain fed will probably cause problems. Her body has not had to manage that foodstuff before, does not have the digestive ability to handle it in only a week! Sudden food changes, big volumes of new food is asking for trouble. Like turning thw winter hay fed horse onto lush green pasture, you may founder horse with the rapid change!

Getting your minerals and vitimins balanced is very important, they do affect young horse growth. Rich alfalfa with calcium, but no equal amounts of other minerals, can lead to Epiphisitus, tight tendons putting baby up on her toes. Getting too much weight on her body is hard on her leg bones, small hooves at this young age. A less rich hay than alfalfa might be a better choice, giving her as much as she will clean up between feedings. Less grain should have her eating bigger amounts of hay.

When husband the Farrier was working he saw the bad results of young horses fed according to “the experts, feed company recommendations”. They had a lot of issues, were overgrown size bodies on tiny legs, injured often. Not made to be that weight so young. Many did not do well once matured either, broke down when put into work. Owners thought they were doing their best by these youngsters, but actually harming them with too much rich food.

Funny how the “much less” well-fed young horses managed fine, though not the picture horse on feed sacks. They grew being consistantly thinner, but no body problems either. Nice coats, bright eyes, weight in proportion to legs and hooves. Matured into sound working animals with (barring injury) long work lives.

JB gives lots of great advice, but we (agreeably) differ on feeding in how to raise young horses to their full potential. Mine get very little grain, lots of hay, stay slender until 5-6. They take long times to mature to full size of 16-17h, big bodied horses. They stay sound when mature into their 20s, working hard.

[colorfan]

goodhors, so you think I am already increasing her feed too much? She is only getting 1/4 flake of alfalfa a day, plus all the reg hay she wants.

[JB]

@goodhors

Old school here, but I would never feed the quantity of grain recommended on the bag. They are in the feed SELLING business, lose money if you give horse more forage instead of their Magic Grain Mixes.

The feeds are formulated to fill in gross gaps left by average forages, with the amounts to be fed based on the age and weight and workload of the horse.

Horses (of any age) who need appreciable calories beyond what the forage they have access to is providing, benefit from feeds meant to be fed in the 0.5-1.0lb per 100lb range

Those who don’t need those calories, benefit from ration balancers.

Not everyone can provide forage of high enough quality that it meets all the horse’s calorie needs.

Not all horses can, or will eat enough forage to meet their calorie needs.

@goodhors

JB gives lots of great advice, but we (agreeably) differ on feeding in how to raise young horses to their full potential. Mine get very little grain, lots of hay, stay slender until 5-6. They take long times to mature to full size of 16-17h, big bodied horses.

We’re not so different. I’ve personally raised 2 foals. Other than the first one coming to me on 12 (12!!) pounds of Purina Equine Junior, and a case of physitis to go with it, they’ve eaten ration balancers at most. They stayed slender until 5-6 when the started getting adult bulk weight, then became really easy keepers who couldn’t/can’t even have a ration balancer while the grass is in, and need muzzled as well.

Most foals I have tried to help, only need ration balancers.

I talk a lot of people out of going straight to the high feed rate/high calorie content regular feeds, and starting with a ration balancer and not being afraid to see a few ribs.

@colorfan

goodhors, so you think I am already increasing her feed too much? She is only getting 1/4 flake of alfalfa a day, plus all the reg hay she wants.

You need to go by weight. I recommend no more than 30% of the total forage, from alfalfa.

If you have a Winter’s supply of hay, get it tested through www.equi-analytical.com The 601 test is fine

[goodhors]

Yes, I think you are going too fast with the feed increases. Little horse needs a little volume to start with, spend several days at that measurement before increasing again. Her digestive system needs to develop stomach flora that can manage the new foods. That takes time, more than a week or two.

How much does a 1/ 4 flake of alfalfa weigh? How much weight on the other hay flake and what kind of hay is it? Flake is a volume measurement, with the varieties of hay weights being far apart. Some balers make huge, thick flakes, while a different make of baler produces much thinner flakes.

Do you have any special mineral issues in your area? Locally we are Selenium deficient, so we have to supplement it along with Vit E. Selenium is a helping mineral, touches reproductive system, muscles, but gets sweated off, never stored in the body. So it is a daily need here. Other areas have excess Selenium or iron, have to not over supplement those minerals. Learning and knowing your area is all part of keeping her diet balanced so she grows well.

You mentioned seeing the last three ribs, which is something to keep in mind as she improves. Babies (until 4yrs here) are meant to be slender, athletic looking with the flash of ribs during play. No other athletes expect to compete hauling any extra pounds, and do well. Race horses are fit, slender, as are endurance horses. After age 4yrs, horses start “bulking up”, maturing in body depth, bigger bone and hooves to carry mature weights.

Another question is do you have pasture, places she can run and play? Asking because free play helps build muscle as her better diet improves her body. Babies play hard for short bursts, then lay down to rest. Arena work tends to be more than brain is ready for after 10 minutes. Ha ha She will build more muscle, give bones the impact work for strengthening, without you pushing her. She quits when tired, doesn’t overwork herself.

[goodhors]

JB, we ARE saying much the same things! Just speaking from our different locales and experiences. I know from past posts you have different type hays available to you, than what we can get here. Quality of the hay makes a big difference in benefits to the young horse and any other supplements that might be needed. I have been asking about the ration additives, not many feeding it up here. The feed company reps are all recommending hay testing before starting it, so balancer you use has what is needed to help. You are, not just feeding any type balancer, getting diet skewed worse .

[goodhors]

JB, we always try to go with “less is better” from our experiences raising foal, watching others in husband’s Farrier practice bringing up babies. Those owners fed the best of everything, supplemented the mares, foals had issues that followed them thru life. Childhood with Grampa and other locals that bred and raised foals without supplementing, no extra money for that! His young horses were sound, tough in work, never had issues like are common here on COTH. Buying the scruffy horses we could afford then, meant they often were thin, not grained, unbroke, but sound. We trained them, had good pasture, never fed much grain. They were projects to resell, make a profit on, to buy a better resale project! They never seemed to have any leg issues, health issues. They got ridden for miles and hours, did not breakdown even after years of use. We sold them locally, kept track of them for years.

We have raised about 30 babies here over the years, both bred here or purchased. We had one get Epiphisitus from feeding alfalfa, quickly switched her to first cut, not real good grass hay. No grain at all. She came back down in short order, suffered no lasting effects, was a good eventing horse when mature. But that really put us off alfalfa!! Husband out horse shopping in Colorado saw the bad effects at several horse farms using the recommended diet from Colorado University. Young horses fed the high quality, irrigated alfalfa , kept in small pens, could not even run. Had a variety of leg issues to the experienced eye, before they had even been ridden! Owners following “expert advice”, trying to be good owners with terrible results on the horses. These were horses from very good bloodlines, we knew their siblings, so it was feed based, not breeding quality. None came to live with us.

Our babies grow slowly, are slender, show the ribs on turns. They run in pasture, play hard with other horses, learn to keep feet under themselves, slow down for poor footing. Where all the parts of their body are when moving, changing directions. They get all the mixed grass hay they will clean up before the next feeding. Only inside part of the day, avoiding summer insects or overnight in winter. Not babies in stalls stuffing their faces all the time. Trying to keep it somewhat “natural” on a small acreage. We stall them because it improves their manners, is good training in accepting restraint. They never quit growing, it just is slower than heavily grained young horses. Genetics determines size unless starved. Ours all get tall eventually, without volumes of grain. We feed our own grain mix and are happy with the results. People ask what we feed, change over and love the results on their horses. This is even feeding much less grain than previously! It is less expensive than manufactured mixes, no misc contents to wonder about. I got the recipe from Dr Tiznik years ago at a feed clinic. Learned a lot from him!

[candyappy]

@goodhors

Old school here, but I would never feed the quantity of grain recommended on the bag. They are in the feed SELLING business, lose money if you give horse more forage instead of their Magic Grain Mixes. Horses are made to eat forages with lesser amounts of grains. She does sound thin, could be stress of weaning, poor food before purchase, not managing the food with young digestive system.

Have to say your rapid increase in volume of grain fed will probably cause problems. Her body has not had to manage that foodstuff before, does not have the digestive ability to handle it in only a week! Sudden food changes, big volumes of new food is asking for trouble. Like turning thw winter hay fed horse onto lush green pasture, you may founder horse with the rapid change!

Very good advice.

To be honest I rarely gave my weanlings anything more than a handful of grain to carry the supplement I fed . They got all the good hay they wanted.

I also didn’t wean them that early. I let them self wean as my mares held extremely good weight.

[SusanO]

I don’t think any expert would recommend keeping babies in small pens or living in a stall. I know there are the “feed and lead” babies that want fast growth but I don’t consider this as “expert” advice. I would be very suspicious of buying a young horse that grew up in places that did not have large turnout for foals. But just low nutrition is not the answer either. People around here that used to breed got caught up in the " low protein is best diets" got foals with OCD. It is better to have slow growth and lean frames but they still need the necessary nutrients in the correct ratios to grow up trouble free. And lots of room to roam.

[colorfan]

@goodhors

You mentioned seeing the last three ribs, which is something to keep in mind as she improves

I said all her ribs not just the last three. Yes, we are selenium deficient also, that is always supplemented. At the moment she is not in pasture as I believe in quarantine for a couple of weeks before I introduce a newbie to my herd. Then she will be in a pasture situation.

Fair point on the alfalfa hay, will start weighing her hay also.

[colorfan]

@JB

If you have a Winter’s supply of hay, get it tested through www.equi-analytical.com The 601 test is fine

I have had to buy hay from 4 different suppliers this year so am going to forego the hay test (which I usually do do)

Thinking of the difference between a balancer and a feed, if both are fed that is a lot of pellets in a day. If I just feed the balancer that will be less volume for her.
But she is really thin, maybe the thing is to top dress with a bit of oil.

[JB]

@colorfan

I have had to buy hay from 4 different suppliers this year so am going to forego the hay test

Do you have it all in the barn? If so, you can still test, you just need your 10% samples to be 10% of each of the 4 different sources.

@colorfan

Thinking of the difference between a balancer and a feed, if both are fed that is a lot of pellets in a day. If I just feed the balancer that will be less volume for her.
But she is really thin, maybe the thing is to top dress with a bit of oil.

You can certainly start with a balancer and some oil, but I’m not a fan of oil for babies, especially since she’s barely past her foal digestive tract.

You could split the difference and feed a 1/2 serving of a low NSC growth or senior feed (Triple Crown Sr is a great foal feed), and a 1/2 serving of a ration balancer.

[colorfan]

All my hay is in the barn. Yeah, I suppose it would average out over the winter.

I will have to see where I can get Triple Crown. thank you.

[JB]

@colorfan

I will have to see where I can get Triple Crown. thank you.

it doesn’t HAVE to be TC, but TC Sr is a great low NSC feed that is suitable for growing horses (its GA is nearly identical to the old Growth formula). If your store has a low-ish NSC growth or Sr feed, that’s fine, and you can do the split with whatever brand that is, and their ration balancer if they have one.

[colorfan]

All the various 'Step" feeds are available. I will do some checking, thank you.