His diet is… screwed up. It’s been tricky to find things he will like/eat in ratios that he will like/eat while getting enough calories to maintain and/or gain weight. After recent, extensive negotiations, he’s reliably eating 2 lbs 30% protein balancer pellet, 2 lbs 24% fat pellet supplement, and 4 lbs 14% protein/10% fat/12.5% fiber textured feed split into 2 meals/day. The fat pellets say they have 3.25% Omega 3s. He started to drop a little bit of weight going into winter and when I slightly upped his grain, he decided he hated ALL grain, so I helplessly watched him shed pounds while I worked to find something he would eat. He’s not dropped any lower than a BCS of 4 and currently appears to be gaining weight, but I usually like them between a 5 and 6 at this time of year. He also gets an additional 2000 IU liquid vitamin E and free choice access to a 3rd cut high% alfalfa/low% orchard mix while inside for ~8 hours/day. His pasture is currently what you’d expect a mildly overgrazed winter pasture to look like, and he gets about 1/4 bale square 3rd cut low% alfalfa/high% orchard mix in his field. I’m planning to add a little extra copper and zinc to his diet, assuming it won’t make him go off feed. I recently dewormed him with Quest Plus and am going to put him on Nexium as soon as it arrives in the mail. I’m considering adding some western alfalfa for even more extra calories, but I hate the compressed stuff and I haven’t found a good source for small amounts of 3 string bales. He won’t eat alfalfa pellets or cubes.
I clipped him with a #10 blade, so it was pretty short. I clipped a little later than usual because the weather cooperated for our fall shows and with the hopes that I won’t have to clip him again until February/March or at all.
