NSC and feeds - educate me

[kande04]

The calm n easy is 20% fiber, so can replace hay. Only problem with it is that they can eat it a lot faster, which is why a coarser feed (hay) would probably be better because the sugar intake would be spread out over a longer period of time.

I had my hay analyzed to make sure the amount my WB colt was eating supplied enough protein for a growing horse, and then fed a custom mineral supplement with it. He was on the thin side until he was about 5 or 6, which seems to have worked for him because AFAIK he’s still sound at 16.

[JB]

@endlessclimb

Edit: JB, it tagged you after I posted, but wouldn’t give me the drop down. Weird!

:lol: :lol: My 2-letter name causes a lot of problems LOL

Ok so good.I think once you get a hay net, placed appropriately, you should find her hay intake increases, and you can decrease the hard feed :yes:

[endlessclimb]

Well, her fecal came back today and that might explain why it was taking so much feed to keep weight on her - high count of strongyles. puke. Going go pick up some Quest Plus now…

Thanks for the education on NSC, my over reactionism, and the value of hay nets and forage over the easy-grain-route, all! Hopefully we will be on the straight and narrow shortly.

[IPEsq]

One word of caution with a hay net for this type, especially if you don’t use a slow feeder since you actually want her to eat up more… she might learn that any hay that reaches the ground is bedding and could become even more demanding. And while a normal hole net can help her pull more out to eat without being slowed down, it can also allow hay to fall. It took my horse going to a rehab barn where they had the patience and staff to literally feed him a flake at a time on the ground throughout the day until he learned to eat what was on the ground. He’d always been messy and so his breeders fed him in a net. And he was a dunker with the favorite mode of dunking being to drag as much as possible to the bucket then slurp on it over time. I believe his breeders fed him free choice in a large net and dealt with the mess but as a youngster he ate a lot of hay… and it was hard for boarding barns to be ok with the amount he would actually eat (it was something like 25+ lbs) much less that plus some wastage.

I also disliked nets for him because of his neck issues and once we put shoes on him too because he would try to get attention sometimes by putting his foot into things and then looking at you like oh heeey you probably should come over here…

You can use something on the smaller side like a Port-o-Grazer without the slow feeder insert. Low chance of her peeing/pooping on it, easy to dump hay into by the staff, and would allow her to eat with her head down.

Does she have any access to grass or is it just hay? I think I’d cut back to 6 lbs of the grain as a start and see if you can get her to eat more hay, and go from there.