pasture time/feed ? for weanling w/belly

[MeganH]

Our mini colt, Ricochet, is coming home in the next few weeks.

I want to be sure I know about how long to let him graze and how much feed he should be given daily.

He is 4 months old and has an amazing personality. Such a sweetheart and so friendly. He was really dragging his mom down so was weaned early and has done very well. Already does great on a lead and getting trimmed.



He already is getting a little belly as you can see. Handsome fellow, but that belly has to go

Right now at the farm he is out grazing most of the day and gets grain at night. The pasture we have here is lush and I don't want him to over eat so I want to limit his time to graze if needed. He will get grain as well so I don't want to feed too much either.

Does anyone have suggestions of how they would schedule his grazing and the amount of grain they would give, and how often?? And any other advice on his feeding and belly?

He will be wormed again in the next few weeks before he comes home.

Thank you so much in advance! And thank you for letting me share him

 

[wingnut]

My weanlings were fed Omolene 300 until they reached at least a year old. I followed the guidelines supplied to me by the Purina rep I worked with.

I'm trying to attach it here but if that doesn't work:

A weanling is to get these amounts per day:

60lbs 1.0 lbs

80lbs 1.2 lbs

100lbs 1.3 lbs

120lbs 1.4 lbs

These amounts worked very well for my girls when I followed it.

My girls split their time between a dry lot and pasture. While on the dry lot they were allowed as much hay at this age as they wanted. Others advice will vary.

Miniature Feeding Recommendations.pdf

 

[JMS Miniatures]

What kind of grain is he getting? I would give him a mare/foal feed thats 16% protein and feed him 2 times a day. He may be lacking something nutriotionally then getting necessarily fat. He is very cute.

 

[Kendra]

I wouldn't restrict his grazing at all, and as Wingnut says, anytime he's not on grass he should have hay in front of him. He also needs to have some kind of supplemental grain, 16% protein.

 

[MeganH]

Thank you, all!

He is on a local feed (mule city) that is 16% protein but I'm not sure if it is a mare/foal feed. I may switch the feed depending on how he does once he is here.

I feel much better hearing you say not to restrict his grazing. I wasn't planning on it originally but didn't know if it was needed because his belly.. so I wanted to ask.

Thank you, again.

 

[Matt73]

He's very nice

And he looks fine, belly-wise (his topline is a bit thin, but he's growing....). Just give him lots of grazing (hay and/or grass) and a good grain 2x/day. He doesn't look wormy/underfed at all. p.s. I worm my babies monthly until a year old

 

[rabbitsfizz]

The only sensible way to restrict a foals grazing would be to put him on short pasture- or use a hotwire to restrict the area he grazes.

Personally, in all my long life, I have never, ever restricted a foals grazing- their stomach and digestive systems are still maturing and they desperately need all the grass they can get in order to end up as healthy adults. I would put him on a Fenbendazole five day worming regime, worm him again ten days later with Ivermectin and then ten days after that I would a? take a good hard look at the belly and tell yourself you are, after all, going into winter.

b) do a faecal count to make sure all the nasty big white worms that even the best kept foals carry, are gone!

My foals are out 24/7 with a run in, and they stay out all winter. If they come up at the beginning of the next year a bot fat it soon turns into nice muscle.

Try not to fuss too much he is only a baby.

 

[MeganH]

Thanks everyone.

Again- I wasn't planning on restricting him- but wanted to ask because I didn't want him to over eat and colic. Especially with the lush grass we have. Wanted to hear what people with experience had to say.

Last week a horse at my son's riding farm did colic, twisted her gut, and had to be put to sleep. So I had to ask.

Definitely not fussing.. just wanting info. Thanks, everyone!

I am doing as I had planned and he will be out 24/7 and has a shelter if he needs it.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I commend you!!

I did not mean to imply, btw, that you were fussing in the sense that you were asking a lot of questions- that is never fussing, that is wanting info, and is never a waste of time- you know that, right?

I meant really, try not to fuss too much about his waistline (within acceptable limits- no-one loves an obese horse) a lot of people do fuss, way too much, about their horses waistlines- if you are showing I can understand it, but if not, well, we all of us carry a wee bit of excess fat from time to time, luckily we are free to put it on and take it off in our own time. I like to extend the same courtesy to my horses

 

[MeganH]

No worries, Jane! I didn't think it was meant in a negative way and glad you wanted to make sure I knew that. Thank you!

We are going to show him at some local open shows, but are waiting until next year for that.

 

[MeganH]

I wanted to put updated pictures up. His belly has grown a bit more and I would love any opinions about if it's ok and what you would personally do about it if it wasn't.





We just got him home yesterday. The schedule he was on before he came to me was let out to graze in the morning through the day, then was stalled for the night in the evening and given 1lb of 12% protein grain (once a day). They just wormed him this week.

My plan was to switch him to 16% protein grain (he's on Mule City and they have a 16% protein as well) and feed him that twice a day. He would always have access to his paddock to graze.

Does anyone have any suggestion of a feed that would be optimal?

 

[Ashley]

I agree he needs more grain. A lot more grain, and that will be the only way to get the belly gone and it could take a very long time to do so. Right now he isnt getting near enough. I also wouldnt limit his grass intake, nor stall him. Let him have free feed on pasture/hay and let him play.

 

[cretahillsgal]

I too agree... needs more protien.

 

[MeganH]

Thank you all!

The Mule City bags don't have a recommendation for feeding amounts.

Would 2lbs (4 cups) be too much for him per day? He is 4 months old now.

We are switching him to the 16% protein grain so I hope it really helps him. I think he will get more energy from it as well. He will always have access to graze 24/7. He seems to be loving that.

I may end up switching him to a different brand of feed after he's been on the Mule City 16% protein for a bit. I have read of the popular feeds others on this forum like to use.

 

[Becky]

What feeds/brands do you have available in your area? That would help with the advice and recommendations.

 

[MeganH]

Tractor Supply is right down the road and has a lot of Purina feeds.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Like others have said its a lack of protein and lack of food. They need to be fed atleast twice a day and for this little guy I wouldn't hesitate to try and feed him 3 times a day just to help spread out his grain intake. Cause you don't want to cause a grain overload or he can get sick, so I defintelly don't recommend keeping grain in front of him 24/7 but wouldn't hesitate to keep some type of grass hay in front of him, or grazing something for forage.

I am not familiar with those type of grains but something thats a mare/foal feed I would recommend, and those grains are 16% protein.

 

[ohmt]

I would try to get him on a complete feed after looking at his newer pictures. That will give him everything he needs and then you can let him out to graze as well. I'm afraid there might be more he's lacking than just protein. With a complete feed you wouldn't have to worry about that and he wouldn't need grain. I prefer Purina Equine Junior.

 

[MeganH]

Thank you!

How much would you suggest I feed him per day with the Equine Junior? That is one of the feeds I have seen recommended on here and they have at the feed stores near me.

He will also be grazing 24/7.

 

[cretahillsgal]

I just got all of my babies over on the Equine Jr as I have always found that they do best on it. They were all starting to get a belly and the hay that we have here is not much more than a filler.

I feed the Equine Jr as much as they want. I try to give them enough that they still have a tiny bit left in the feeders when it is time to feed the next round.