okay, so one thing we’ve never talked about is Dexter’s diet. Dexter gets Nutrena Special Care (nsc 15%, 14%protein, 7% fat). He was on this at the surgical center (nutrena isn’t my favorite company) and due to ulcers and bouts of enteritis nobody including me wants to do big diet changes with him as long as he is gaining weight slightly and his coat is shiny and hooves look good etc. until he stabilizes.
He is is a tall 15.1-15.2 NARROW TWH that at his sickest taped at 750 lbs and was about a low end 4, high end 3 at that. He’s about 800 lbs now. He has never been an easy keeper. He gets 7 lbs of feed spread out over four feedings and 4 lbs of outlast gastric supplement spread out across four feedings. His feed is wet mash.
He has free choice Timothy alfalfa mix in hay bags, he gets an additional maybe pound in his manger with each feeding of orchard grass hay which he mainly plays with and wastes. He gets another 8 pounds of alfalfa at about 2 pounds between grain feedings.
Equiotic probiotics. 1/2 tube of gastrogard (on taper goes to 1/4 tomorrow) two hours of graze time on a Bermuda, fescue, lawn. 45cc of corn oil (based on hindgut coating studies I’ve read). He has a redrock block (mostly salt an I can add some trace mineral to the mix). He drinks about 15-20 gallons of my well water which I have tested often and is also filtered.
When his turn out times increased that he was out long enough to actually poop in his play pen, he turned straight to it, sniffed and started eating. I took it from him and he continued to worry with the area. Now he’s eating it in his stall as well. But it only seems to be the first pile or two after he comes in from the grass or right after his alfalfa.
Is he seriously just just trying to eat leftover grass and alfalfa? And any ideas what’s in there he’s hunting?
