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  Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
   
Location: NE Texas | I have a horse that is a very picky eater who I'm having to feed powder twice daily. He can sift through his feed and pick out the tiniest granule of bad tasting anything. I've tried applesauce, koolaid powder, syrup, dosing in a syringe with those as well. He'll not eat rather than eat his meds no matter hi wintry to disguise. He can even smell the pill in a hand full of treats. Does anyone have any brilliant tricks to get this colt to not turn his nose up? |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| I mix with cut up apples and carrots |
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Duct Tape Bikini Girl
Posts: 2554
 
| I buy big carrots, cut the side, and stash the Meds in the opening. However, I do have a young horse that has no interest in fruits or veggies. |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | I mix meds with caramel coffee syrup and dose with a syringe. A couple of them will grab the syringe out of my hand and try to suck their meds out. It covers up the taste and smell fairly well--they will eat it in their feed too, but to me it's easier to squirt it in their mouth and not have to make sure their bucket is licked clean. |
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Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | He won't eat carrots or apples either so that's out, but the caramel coffee syrup is interesting. Any specific brand, T4L? I may have to go get some in the am. I drink my coffee bitter and black, so don't have anything like that laying around. Thank you to all for the ideas. This dang colt is such a diva! |
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 Thread Killer
Posts: 7545
| For my picky eater? I just shove whatever medicine he needs down his throat. ;)
I kid, I kid. He'll eat anything if it's a mash. LOL.
Edited by Just Plain Lucky 2014-07-31 10:00 PM
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Location: TEXAS | soak some beet pulp and alfalfa pellets, allow it to absorb and "fluff" and mix in the powder
never fails for mine  |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 433
Location: The Lone Star State | I believe i can actually claim to have THE most picky eater on the planet. I have wasted countless $$ trying to get my mare to eat her bleeder/ tying up supplements. I have tried everything you can think of water, syrup, watermelon juice, apples(wont touch em) honey, healthy coat, rice bran oil, this has been ongoing for 5 years. And lo and behold just this very week i decided to try once again a new bleed supplement she might eat spent 160$ and of course she left it all on the bottom so i call the developer of the stuff and he said try with a little wheat germ oil( of course i laughed) but wth my as well try it and OMG she freakin liked the bowl clean! Every feeding each time not a fluke so try wheat germ oil and see if it works for your horse. Tasted and approved by the worlds pickiest horse! |
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Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | Beet pulp is a definite no go. He picks that out of alfalfa mash. Will eat alfalfa mash until he gets to anything suspect. Basically once he smells anything strange, he's not taking another bite of anything for hours....goes on food strike. Wheat germ oil is interesting. Might be something to try as well. I just wonder if it's enough to mask the smell as well as the taste? |
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 Don't Wanna Make This Awkward
Posts: 3106
Location: Texas | Is it a large dose? could you mix it into maybe 3-4 different syringes with something like koolaid or gatorade? Might be a pain but maybe if its more dilluted he'll go for it... |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | I buy a fresh bag of sweet feed and I mix a couple of hand fulls in their normal feed with the meds mixed in the sweet. Works really good for me.. |
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 Texas Tenderheart
Posts: 6715
Location: Red Raiderland | Hey Herbie, I also have a VERY pickey mare but I have found some unbelievable treats called German Horse muffins that she can not resist. Depending on the dose size, I am able to cut them in half and hide lots of meds in there. They are so moist and gooey once a horse starts eating them they cant resist! We odered something for the horses years ago and they came as a sample....so glad they did! If you are over in my neck of the woods come gets some to give them a try. |
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Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | Thanks all for the advice. Sweet feed is a no go, but those muffins might work, Kaycee. I'm going to try the coffee syrup this morning and dose it. I think dosing is the only way it's going to work bc this colt has a go go gadget sense of smell! Lol |
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 Expert
Posts: 2161
Location: NW. Florida | Try mixing a couple of ounces of apple cinder vinegar in their feed for a few days before you need to add medicine. Most horses love the taste of the ACV then you mix in medicine and they'll lap it up. |
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 Namesless in BHW
Posts: 10368
Location: At the race track with Ah Dee Ohs | Herbie - 2014-07-31 9:55 PM He won't eat carrots or apples either so that's out, but the caramel coffee syrup is interesting. Any specific brand, T4L? I may have to go get some in the am. I drink my coffee bitter and black, so don't have anything like that laying around. Thank you to all for the ideas. This dang colt is such a diva!
Ya think???!!! LOL He is at that, and MR Confidence ya know! I would try dosing him with the coffee syrup. That might just work.
What about maybe baby food in the dose syringe with his meds?? |
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Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | Got the coffee syrup....much more liquidy than I thought it would be but will try to make a paste and give it a try tonight. When I dose him with anything he goes on food strike for about 3 hours but cleans it all up by the next feeding. Crazy horse.....yes, MR CONFIDENCE, but here lately an enormous pain in the rump! Lol |
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | I'm lucky and can squirt anything into their feed and they will lick their feed bowl dry.
For my friends horse we would crush pills and mix with assorted beverages and give them a syringe full of it. It worked most of the time, until we tried regular lemonade and not pink lemonade... that was a little too sour for him and her horse kind of lost it. oops. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1543
Location: Wyoming | I forgot to tell you this when we talked.....Both Mike and LJ LOVE LOVE LOVE sunflower seeds, Dill Pickle to be exact. If Breanna puts Dill Pickle Sunflower seeds in her hand, Mike will eat anything to get at them. Maybe try that with that one pill....they are cheap and if he doesn't like them, feed them to the girls!! |
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Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
Location: NE Texas | kmt - 2014-08-01 3:41 PM I forgot to tell you this when we talked.....Both Mike and LJ LOVE LOVE LOVE sunflower seeds, Dill Pickle to be exact. If Breanna puts Dill Pickle Sunflower seeds in her hand, Mike will eat anything to get at them. Maybe try that with that one pill....they are cheap and if he doesn't like them, feed them to the girls!!
I remember you saying that. Might be worth a try.....at this point I'd try dang near anything to get it down him! Tell Ms. Mike I'm sorry for making fun of her and her applesauce, blahahahaha!!!  |
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Expert
Posts: 1543
Location: Wyoming | Herbie - 2014-08-01 2:45 PM kmt - 2014-08-01 3:41 PM I forgot to tell you this when we talked.....Both Mike and LJ LOVE LOVE LOVE sunflower seeds, Dill Pickle to be exact. If Breanna puts Dill Pickle Sunflower seeds in her hand, Mike will eat anything to get at them. Maybe try that with that one pill....they are cheap and if he doesn't like them, feed them to the girls!! I remember you saying that. Might be worth a try.....at this point I'd try dang near anything to get it down him! Tell Ms. Mike I'm sorry for making fun of her and her applesauce, blahahahaha!!!
Sunflower seeds just might be the answer! I don't get the thing with it being Dill Pickle...but thats the one they both like. And Miss Mike...she will chase you to get them, and she will tear the bag out of your hands!
I'm sure I already told her you were sorry for laughing at her....and she still loves you no matter what!!
Our Tango horse liked Frosted Flakes...so maybe try that. Maybe he will like it with milk? Tango didn't, he liked them straight out of the bag! |
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 Expert
Posts: 1526
Location: Texas | Put it in a syringe with the end cut off a little and mix the meds with a little bit of water and shoot it in their mouth. |
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Hungarian Midget Woman
Location: Midwest | Orange Soda..... pour that over the grain and powder and mix... my horse LOVES soda and licks it out of my hands. LOL |
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Cold hands and Warm Heart
Location: oklahoma | Molasses. I think mine would've eaten a brick with it on there, lol |
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Expert
Posts: 2531
Location: WI | Can you get an injectable form of the med? When it comes to meds, I feel WAY better giving a shot. |
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 Veteran
Posts: 253
Location: SoCal | I want to say we used Jello for our gelding. You could try it with it still as powder. Syrup has worked for us, the really sweet pancake type syrup. If you have access to grain, I've had horses that wouldn't eat bran, but would eat grain, so I'd put grain in water, swirl it for a few seconds, then dump in the bran and they couldn't refuse. The water would transfer over the flavor of the grain and they didn't know the difference, not sure what your colt really loves, but covering the smell is important. The soda is a great idea, and I've known many horses who like beer and other beverages, that could be another thing used to cover smell. |
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Getting picky eaters to eat meds