|
|
Veteran
Posts: 155
 
| I am having the worst luck putting weight on a broodmare I purchased a few months back. I have her on pasture all the time. Any suggestions on best way to fatten her up before winter hits? |
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 600
Location: Oklahoma & Texas | Keep her on free choice pasture or grass hay plus add alfalfa hay twice a day 2 to 3 flakes if she'sstill nursing one..iif not 1 to 2 flakes twice a day and either nutrena mare n foal or ultium growth by purina twice a day per label.. |
|
| |
|
Expert
Posts: 3147
 
| Have her teeth checked and dewormed first order of business. Is she still nursing? How old is she? If she has some age on her or teeth not in good shape you need to be feeding something easy to digest and nutritious. Good quality alfalfa hay beats good quality grass hay any day for putting weight on. A horse can only utilize fats at the rate of 10% of total feed consumption. I had a 26 year old emaciated gelding get back to great body weight in the dead of winter feeding him steam rolled oats (not crimped)-they're kind of like eating oatmeal-chew some and swallow. I didn't have access to alfalfa and he couldn't handle grass hay-it would just ball up in his mouth and he'd spit it out-no teeth. I feed a pelleted feed (alfalfa base) now. Water consumption is very important as impactions can occur easily with pelleted feeds. The more often you can feed daily the better.
|
|
| |
|
  Neat Freak
Posts: 11216
Location: Wonderful Wyoming | someone mentioned getting teeth checked and deworming, but also check ulcers. I owned a mare that had them terrible. She was a silent worrier. She was so bad we sold her as our place just wasn't what her princess mentality needed. She wanted a stall, we have big open pastures. She came from Lazy E lol.
To get weight on one, I have had excellent luck with soaked beet and alfalfa pellets. I love THE Muscle Mass for all horses, it is great for broodmares. I have brought back some really thin ones and some hard keeping old geldings with it. Picks up that top line and fills them back out. It also has vitamins, minerals and a amino acids. |
|
| |
|
 Veteran
Posts: 287
| Barley hay if you can find it. I sound like a broken record cause it's my real curing suggestion but it works with no muss, no fuss. I feed it to everything from the 2 year old colt, 17 hand ulcerious OTTB, 21 yr old OTTB and the broodmare that had twins that drug her down badly. All of them are hog fat and slick on 2-3 flakes twice a day with no grain. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 4625
Location: Desert Land | I have a broodmare that gets a bit drug down when her weanling is a couple months old. This year she hasn't been as bad as she was in the past. She gets free choice teff grass and alfalfa 2x a day. I feed her soaked beet pulp, rice bran and senior feed. Always make sure their teeth have been done, they've been wormed and pull blood if they are up to date and you are really feeding them up and you're not seeing a change. |
|
| |
|
 Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4553
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | I know of an older lady who feeds crushed corn to her oldies 4 times a day. She gets it close to powder form so the horses don't have to work at chewing it and they look nice and plump. This might be an option for you. |
|
| |
|
Regular
Posts: 55
| If you can, get a blood test done. Micro and Macro minerals effect feed absorption and even the highest amounts of Protein, Fat, Etc. can not be carried if the minerals get out of balance. There are lots of supplements but if you get a test done and you get the mineral situation taken care of properly I feel you get the quickest/least expensive results for weight gain.
Edited by Betweenhorses 2014-09-24 12:41 PM
|
|
| |
Folks on-line