Leaving behind pills and powder supplements

[shadesofbay3]

i have an older mare that i board. many evening i go to see her and most of her feed is gone with the exception of her allergy pills and a powder supplement that she needs to take for her skin that doesn’t come in grain form.

the barn manager says she always finishes by morning but i would love if she could finish it all at once and not be picky.

i know i could easily add on some unsweetened applesauce or molasses and call it a day but she has cushings so i’m looking for something to add in to make it more palatable for her? or should i consult my vet?

[BatCoach]

Try adding a splash of water or canola oil to to her feed, then mix the powder & pills in. The moisture will make the powder stick to the grain so she can’t sift through it.

[greywithchrome]

Do you soak your food? If not, start. And I agree about adding an oil to help it all stick together.

[cnd8]

A “glug” of corn oil to make it all adhere to the grain.

[JB]

Is the feed pelleted or textured?

You don’t even need to have the feed soaked. You just need it a little wet. How that happens depends on what the barn feeder is willing to do. A splash of canola oil - cheap and not as high in Omega 6 as corn oil - would be a lasting “stickiness” over a splash of water, but water might be just fine if the meal is on the smaller side.

Normally I wouldn’t care what oil if it’s just a splash. But with a metabolic compromise with Cushing’s, I’d want to stack the odds as best I could. Canola is a happy medium for price and omega ratio.

[WildGooseChase]

I have an older mare that is the same way. I wet down my horses grain just enough to get things to stick, but not soaked. I wouldn’t use oil or applesauce, as it goes rancid quick in the heat. So if she doesn’t eat it right quick in the warmer months, she probably won’t eat it at all.

[xQHDQ]

My horse won’t eat his powered supplement either. I dissolve a peppermint candy (like Starlight mints; on sale after the holidays) in a bit of water, add in a small handful of sweet feed, and toss it with the feed and powder left in his feed tub. He’s pretty good about that.

If I add the peppermint water to his full meal, it isn’t enough volume to conceal the entire supplement and gets the bucket all sticky.

[theresak]

I do the canola oil and powdered supplements with an extremely picky eater. I mix each serving in a bucket with a spatula and do a week’s worth of baggies at a time. My barn won’t do anything other than scoop and dump or open a bag/tupperware and dump. I keep the oil in the tack room where it doesn’t get too hot in the summer and doesn’t freeze in the winter. I buy 2 gal at a time from Costco and it hasn’t spoiled so far.

[Hayburner]

I would not use canola oil, it sounds if the horse already has some inflammation, Canola oil is high in Omega 6 which can be inflammatory.

Try flax oil or a blend with flax oil in it. You need a higher amount of Omega 3 to 6 with a horse with skin issues/inflammation.

[Shagyas_Rock]

I use a little splash of apple juice. Works perfectly on all three of mne.