Feed question

[Hawks_Eye_Minis]

is alfelfa safe for minis? Ive always herd NOT to give them any under any circumstances but them since ive ben coming on here ive noticed a couple people DO give it to there minis? si is it benificial? how much would you feed? and pellets or cubes?

I have a 3 year old and a 7 month old that came from a crappy situation and idk what im feeding him now just doenst seem liek enuff he still has a pot belly even though hes ben wormed regularly since ive had him and hes getting fed safechoice 1/2 lb split into two feedings and he gets free choice orchard grass hay

Thanks in advance

 

[Double T]

HOnestly, I've been around horses my entire life and they've been fed alfalfa, never had a problem with it. I've owned mini's going on 11 years and all mine have been on it too, no problems. I did try grass hay one time and to say they went to heck in a handbasket is an understatement honestly, they looked BAD. So I went with my gut and brain and put 'em back on the alfalfa. Now granted, I don't dump a whole bale in there for them either, and they get about a 1/2 flake to a 1 flake a day per mini depending on the weather and other factors. but we get along fine with it. I do think (or someone once told me, when I said that I'd fed my horses Alfalfa all my life) that different areas of the country, posses different qualities, and some is supposed to be hotter than other bales from different parts of the country. But down here in TX ours has always been fine.

 

[Hawks_Eye_Minis]

Im from wisconsin arround me orchard grass was about all i could find unless i wanted to buy huge rounds so i would be adding in either pellets or cubes

 

[shelia]

How long have you had them? How tall are they?

I feed good quality orchard grass and purina feeds. I have fed safe choice and find most seem to do very well on it. I usually feed at least a pound in the morning and a pound in the evening. (unless they are a little overweight). Some get more than that. If mine needed to gain weight I would increase it gradually. maybe add a lunch feeding too. There are many things you can add to put weight on, but I would first increase the feed to the point where I wouldn't want to increase it anymore.

That is just my opinion and I am sure you will get a lot more.

 

[Hawks_Eye_Minis]

Ive had hawk almost 3 and a half years hes fine but my weanling is the one im iffy about how he looks...

Ive only had him for 2 1/2 months

Nemo is 26 inches tall hawk is 37 inches tall i know hawks arround 300lbs nemo im not sure i can pick him up but hes DEF not skinny by any means lol ill have to get some up dated picts of him

ANd all opinions are welcome

the first pic is when i first got nemo

And now

And this is hawk

 

[Matt73]

I have two bales of alfalfa that I'm feeding to my weanlings (as a sprinkling over their grass hay lol). I was looking at it to buy, but it's really really rich looking. I have fed a 50/50 hay and my horses did great on it, but I changed their "grain". They look the same on grass hay and on alfalfa, to be honest; but it may be my grain adjustment (less protein when on alfalfa/more when not). Plus, I fed a ton less hay when I had the alfalfa (like, at least half of what they are getting now). And I actually like that I can throw them pretty much what they want with mainly grass hay, and they are healthy looking, but by no means fat (especially in the winter).

 

[Hawks_Eye_Minis]

ill lok and see if just MAYBE the feed store has any alfelfa bales but ill be lucky if they do last time i was there they had hay that i SWEAR was straw nasty yellow and stalky

 

[chandab]

Your weanling would probably do better on a foal/growth formula feed rather than Safe Choice. He needs more protein and nutrients to grow, than an adult. Safe Choice might say its fine for growing babies, but til they are at least a full year old, I like to give them a growth formula feed.

 

[Hawks_Eye_Minis]

thats another reason im going to a differnt feed store the one down the road HAS mare and foal feed but the bags are ALWAYS moldy so they sugested to use safe choice and that hed be fine on it

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Alfalfa is a good hay especially for growing horses, I prefer a mix hay like alfalfa/orchard, but I totally understand with the shortage of hay its hard to find what you want. I would only use cubes or pellets as a last resort, I personally like giving them flakes of hay and that way they can eat all day. I had to give my show horses alfalfa/timothy cubes this year because my barn got destroyed and no where to put hay so had to go with the cubes.

IMO if you can find a Junior feed would probably be better then SafeChoice. I've used it before along with a friend of mine and we both got the same results where our horses got skinnier and the coats got duller. In fact Nutrenea had to do some research at the time because other people were reporting the same results. Also a 1/2 a pound of grain a day doesn't sound like a whole lot.

 

[shelia]

AWWW! What sweeties they are! Since I am not from your area I will leave most of the comments for those who are closer and more familiar with the hay that is available.

I would start him on a lunch feeding though. If you can. If you have time to squeeze in 3 meals a day for him that would be good.

It is too bad you can't find some good quality grass hay. I am sure he eats much slower than hawk too.

I thought he was going to be a wooly mammoth. I think he looks okay fom his pics, but it wouldn't hurt to try to get a little more weight on him for winter.

 

[Hawks_Eye_Minis]

well see ive had pretty god results with the safe choice with hawk way better then the purina mini horse feed i found...

this is what there website says they have for feed so i really dont know till i go there but still

http://www.hohlsfarmsupply.com/Pet_and_Farm_Feed.html

 

[chandab]

thats another reason im going to a differnt feed store the one down the road HAS mare and foal feed but the bags are ALWAYS moldy so they sugested to use safe choice and that hed be fine on it

These little guys seem to need more than full-size foals while they are growing, then once mature a bit less (of course, all are individuals, and some don't fit the mold). If you can't get the growth feed, then I'd add some alfalfa to the weanling's diet. Your adult mini looks pretty good in the picture.

I'll attach a pic of Dolly when she was a foal, as you can see she was a bit too chubby all-over, but very healthy and full of herself.





I don't have any decent weanling pics of her, as she wasn't weaned til late winter (mostly due to space constraints), so she was really fuzzy at typical weaning age.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

well see ive had pretty god results with the safe choice with hawk way better then the purina mini horse feed i found...

this is what there website says they have for feed so i really dont know till i go there but still

http://www.hohlsfarmsupply.com/Pet_and_Farm_Feed.html

I've had poor results with the mini feed to. I switched to ADM. I see they are a Kent dealer. I have used Kent with great success but had to change feed stores but wouldn't hesitate to go back to Kent. I personally liked the Dynasty Junior.

 

[Hawks_Eye_Minis]

ok cool THANK YOU for the help i really apreciate it ugh and another thing NO ONE knows anything about minis arround here my vets were completly clueless as to how much banamine or wormer ect they needed they said theyve never delt with anything so small......

 

[JMS Miniatures]

ok cool THANK YOU for the help i really apreciate it ugh and another thing NO ONE knows anything about minis arround here my vets were completly clueless as to how much banamine or wormer ect they needed they said theyve never delt with anything so small......

Well thats not very comforting. I believe it says on the banamine bottels it says 1 cc per 100 pounds, at least thats what I've read. Minis can't handle Quest very well, you have to be exact on their weight for the dosage or it can cause problems. Also avoid giving Bute to minis.

 

[chandab]

Well thats not very comforting. I believe it says on the banamine bottels it says 1 cc per 100 pounds, at least thats what I've read. Minis can't handle Quest very well, you have to be exact on their weight for the dosage or it can cause problems. Also avoid giving Bute to minis.

I've found the vets around here to usually way over-estimate the weight of my minis. While I do have mostly B-size, so they run around 325-350# in good weight (they are often a bit chubby so higher); the vets just usually say, dose at 500#. Well, that's not the best plan, as overdosing can be worse than underdosing, especially with drugs. [And, then I have a slight built 31" stallion that weighs 175# on a good day.]

 

[Hawks_Eye_Minis]

i wont use bute at all and or quest theres enuff other wormers out there then to risk it....

ANd we had to use banamine because when i got nemo he brought along strangles UGH we ended up giving hawk one dot on the bottle of it a day so now i have a HUGE container of it siting here and it expires in june.. so itll prob go to waste....

 

[ohmt]

I always recommend that a portion of a growing horses fiber source be provided by beet pulp as well. The best hay is 40-60% digestible while beet pulp is around 80%. Much better for their very small and sensitive stomachs. Alfalfa can be beneficial if it is good quality. Foals need 14-16% protein so you have a few different routes to go to get them the proper nutrients they need. While they are growing they need a lot of food as well-i feed my foals-2 yr olds free choice alfalfa/grass hay along with beet pulp and omelene 300. Seems like a lot but they do not get bellies and do not get fat-it works well for them and me.

 

[Hawks_Eye_Minis]

im getting beet pulp tomarrow too