Timothy pellets.... Quantity? Useful for weight gain?

[cyberbay]

We have a skinny elderly horse in the barn and we are trying to put weight on him (too late, but his trainer wouldn’t budge and didn’t think he was thin even back in August ). So, timothy pellets were recommended, but the bag doesn’t provide any feeding parameters, and the feed company hasn’t been helpful. We have him on 8 oz. morning and night.

Would anyone know how much to feed each day? Does it need to be soaked?

This horse has other health issues that, per the vet’s direction, preclude other weight-gain feeds, like beet pulp, etc., etc., so that’s why we’re trying the timothy pellets…

Thanks!

[candyappy]

At only 8% protein you are not going to benefit from feeding it, especially at 2 cups a day. You feed it pound for pound as you would feed hay ( as per info on timothy pellets-- website)

Can this horse eat hay? Excellent quality hay is your best option if he can.

You would get more benefit from feeding alfalfa hay or going with alfalfa pellets( 16% protein) . If chewing is an issue then soften them .

Can this horse not have senior feed?

[bitranchy]

Very frustrating the feed company has been of little help!

Admittedly, I am no feed expert. Standlee carries timothy pellets and provides some guidelines on their site, though the GA may be different for the brand of pellets you are using. I think their suggestions, though, are based on the pellets being a replacement feed as opposed to a supplementary feed. How much hay is the horse being fed daily? Any grains, supplements, etc? 8 oz AM and PM works out to 1 lb of additional forage a day.

I would soak the pellets.

[walkinthewalk]

I feed Standlee brand Timothy pellets to my insulin resistant horse — for the sole purpose of getting his needed supplements into him and he only gets 1-1/2 household measuring cups 2X/day:)

Will the vet allow the horse to have rice bran? Equine rice bran is 22% healthy fat. You would have to call the maker of the rice bran but I’m pretty sure a horse can have up to four pounds daily, maybe more

You have to be sure to buy equine rice bran that is:

1. Stabilized so it doesn’t turn rancid.
2. Is calcium fortified to balance out the potassium. “Balance out” isn’t what I’m trying to say but my brain is on food overload:(. Calcium and phosphorous have to be correctly ratioed to each other:)

As other posters have commented, keep quality hay in front of him and add a bit of alfalfa:)

also, being up in years, he may simply have digestive issues that keep him from keeping weight on. If his teeth are in good order, you might consider putting him on “Succeed” for a couple of months.

http://www.succeed-equine.com

i have used this with great success on more than one horse. It is an all natural product. The one I buy does not need a prescription:)

I am not one to blanket horses but I did blanket my elder Arab during his last two winters — he was a hard keeper and burning calories to stay warm was not something he could afford to do.

Best of luck keeping weight on the Old Gent:)

[Gestalt]

I’d always soak pellets, even a young horse with good teeth could choke. I’ve used alfalfa pellets for weight gain in addition to the regular amount of hay. Two lbs morning and two in the evening, can you top with a handful of senior feed for additional flavor? (my old dude gets Senior Safe Choice by Purina)

[horsenut_8700]

In much larger quantities they would help add calories. To compare- my geriatric TB eats free choice 2nd cut grass bay ( probably 20#/day), 6# Triple Crown Senior, and another 5-6# of alfalfa pellets to maintain weight.

[mroades]

we use timothy pellets to keep weight OFF the easy keepers, so they think they are getting some food lol (especially the little ponies)

[pony_baloney]

My elderly gelding is now getting soaked timothy pellets since he can’t chew hay anymore. He’s gained a nice amount of weight on four servings at two quarts each (one large scoop four times a day). He actually prefers it to his food and will eat it first. When soaked it makes a pretty large amount.

The amount the OP is feeding is what I gave to mix his supplements as a snack.

[JB]

Hay is hay when it comes to calories. Hay pellets get fed in whatever quantity is needed for the situation.

Without knowing the rest of the diet it’s really hard to make any suggestion as to how much of this to feed. 8oz - is that volume or weight? If weight, then that’s 1lb, which is about 800-900 calories - pretty insignificant. If that’s a volume, as in, 8oz = 1c, then 2c probably isn’t even 1lb, as most pellets are in the range of 3c/lb IME. That’s what my alfalfa pellets are, that’s what my RBs are, with close enough accuracy for this purpose.

Why can’t he have beet pulp? What are his “health issues”? I wouldn’t consider beet pulp to be the best weight gain product, as it’s usually soaked, which makes its volume really large, and the less calorie-dense something is, the worst if tends to be for weight gain.

[lorilu]

I have recently had luck putting weight on my elderly 29yo who lost it during the summer (she has heaves…and was just diagnosed with Cushings)
I switched her to Purina Active Senior and added a big scoop of soaked alfalfa minicubes 2x/day, and a fat supplement (Seminole Ultrabloom).

A friend who runs a rescue puts compressed alfalfa bales out and that really helps put the weight on her rescues when they come in.

[hoopoe]

pre and probiotics help increase feed efficiency ( digestive efficiency) no matter what food you feed. I would add it to the program

My last barn fed very high quality whole timothy or timothy mix and all the horses were rosy…

[Snowdenfarm]

Second the stabilized rice bran! I use Equi-Jewel by Kentucky Performance Products. I also feed timothy cubes as a base for supplements. The amount I give has never had an impact on weight gain/loss. Then again, my horses all have their teeth and can eat hay. If he is not able to properly masticate the hay, cubes probably will help.

[WildandWickedWarmblo]

My horses eat timothy hay to keep weight off and to help prevent colic.
Use rice bran or alfalfa in any form. Soak pellets but don’t soak hay.
There are a lot of good suggestions on this thread.

[cyberbay]

Thanks, everyone! Horse cannot have senior, or alfalfa. Cannot do beet pulp, or Dengie-style hay or rice bran. (Can’t recall why, but the vet is the final say on diet choices.)

So, from what I am gathering, the amount of pellets need to be increased dramatically! From my weenie 2C./day to more like 1-2lbs./day? (And we did start a while back to soak them…). We have a scale so can measure.

[JB]

@cyberbay

So, from what I am gathering, the amount of pellets need to be increased dramatically! From my weenie 2C./day to more like 1-2lbs./day?

To whatever amount it takes.

Like I said above, most likely it’s about 3c/lb, so you’re around 2/3lb right now. I almost guarantee you’re looking to 2-4lb as you starting point to settle with to see if he gains weight, and enough weight, before increasing more.