Need advice to put lbs on our rescued mini

[user 3234]

I need some advice. You all may remember the little half starved 9 mo old filly we picked up at an auction out of pure pity, my avatar. She has come a long way from a scale 1 1/2 (out of 1-10 scale) and has put on 40 lbs over a period of 6 months, but I cannot seem to get that last few lbs on her to fill her out. She is still somewhat ribby.

She is fed twice her portion two times a day (cannot do three times because of work) Bermuda and alfalfa, complete 10 pellet and Sho Glo for additional vitamins (at night). I cannot get her to eat anything with molasses and/or oil (veg. oil, etc.)

Any suggestions on what type of additional supplement I could add to put the last additional lbs on her?

Also, she stood 29" at 9 mo old and now stands 31" at 16 mos old, so how tall do you think she will get?

 

[shorthorsemom]

I had good luck soaking out hay cubes 50/50 alfalfa and timothy, and feeding free choice hay slop, freshened twice a day for a full sized horse I needed to get weight on. He looked great in no time.

good luck.

 

[HGFarm]

Add beet pulp shreds after soaking (without molasses) Start out with just a handful til she is used to it, then increase. Maybe up the alfalfa and reduce the grass in case she is not getting enough protein still?

 

[happy appy]

I would be putting her on a yeast supplement Purina pur-A-yeast) for sure and maybe Biotic 8 (omega) as a back up. Then I would top dress everything with veggie oil, up to 1/2 cup a feeding. That's what I have used on large rescue horses that have come in to my place. I do work with the SPCA and the Humane Society where I live.

 

[wingnut]

We have a hard keeper who seems similar to your little one. At the risk of jinxing it, I think we've finally found something that our hard keeper will tolerate.

We have tried all the "tried and true" things that I've read here: molasses, beet pulp, oil, alfalfa cubes (no access to alfalfa hay right now), weigh supplement/powder, etc. We also tried high calorie feed (Purina's Ultium). If she didn't flat out refuse to eat it, she usually wouldn't eat much of it or "picked around it".

Earlier this week, I bought a bag of Purina's Amplify add-on supplement. It is a high fat product that we're adding to her Omolene 300 (the only feed she will consistently eat). It has 2000 calories per pound. We're giving her 1/2 lb per feed (2x daily). I am pleased that she is eating it and realize that it is likely because she's already used to it because there's a bit of it already included in the Omolene, so she's already familiar with it. It's not "new" or different. There's just more of it.

It's only been 4 days since we started adding it, but she's cleaning her bucket at every feed. I plan to take pics this weekend so I can track her progress. The fact that she's eating is already a huge win.

This is not a cheap option. Our local mill only carries the 50lb bags which cost $40.

 

[whimsical]

I have to agree with the Amplify suppliment.

We struggled for years with our hard keepers. Trying different feeds, different amounts, adding stuff. We did start using the Platform Senior and saw decent results but when they stopped making the Platform Senior we had to look for another feed that was comparable. And we didn't like our options.

So we went back to the basics. We started with Beet Pulp and a little steam rolled oats with the Amplify. The horses plumped up. We are actually spending less per horse with this combination than we did with any of the feeds we used, even though the Amplify is $35 per bag. Knock on wood I think we finally found the best combination for us.

 

[mydaddysjag]

a 10% protein pellet isnt much protein for a yearling, especially one who was malnourished. She may just need a higher protein. Do they make the same pellet in a 12% or 14% ? Could you get a close up picture of her thats bigger so we can see her body condition better?

 

[love_casper]

If she likes rice bran, she'll probably eat beet pulp mixed in it. Rice bran is a high fat supplement, and beet pulp is a highly digestible fiber to get some easy calories in her. If she won't touch it, but likes alfalfa... you could just soak it all together and see if she'd eat that. Also throwing in some oats might make her like it. That's pretty much my feed mix right there.... Beet pulp, rice bran, oats, and black oil sunflower seeds. Most of mine don't need much of this to stay in good shape. My picky eaters lick their buckets (they'll eat the BOSS straight if I let em), and my hard keeper 21 year old big horse is doing well on it. When I was first introducing my picker eater to the beet pulp I mixed in some alfalfa cubes.

Here's an article I found helpful:

http://www.ker.com/library/advances/312.pdf

 

[ruffian]

Adding corn oil will help put on weight. Another option is bread. Yep, plain good ol' white bread. Introduce it a slice at a time, may have to put oil or something on it to get her started. It will plump her up nicely. If you can get it from day old bakery, or talk to a local restaurant about using their old bread. As long as it's not moldy it's fine.

 

[user 3234]

Thank you for all the information.

 

[Mulligans Run]

We always worry about our boodmares losing too much weight while they are nursing, so when Tonja took on an additional foal and had to provide for two..we were really concerned. Our vet suggested one tablespoon of canola oil on every feeding. Her boys are almost three months and she is borderline fat so we have had to cut back the oil on her, but it's been great for our other hard keepers. It's readily available..inexpensive and provides calories without the carbs. It's worked great for us.

 

[Miniv]

Since your little one doesn't eat anything with oil on it, here's what we've had good luck with when needing to add pounds....(We had especially good luck doing this to a very underweight thoroughbred rescue we wintered over here.).....

1. Equine Senior Grain (4 cups, 2x a day)

2. Alfalfa Pellets, the small ones (2 cups mixed with the grain)

3. A good high protein hay, I'd give her a full flake 2x a day and see how much she eats.

I predict you will see a difference in her in about 2 weeks.