# Feeding Suregrow to yearling



## zoon (10 November 2011)

My yearling is out 24/7 with another youngster.  They have enough grass at the moment so not getting hay, but will get ad lib when grass is eaten down.  The yearling has been getting a big mug of suregrow with a small blob of speedibeet to wet it and a sprinkle of alfa a to stop him eating it too quickly.  

Weighed said big mug of surgrow the other day and was shocked to find it was only 250g (It is a large measuring cup for another compnaies balancer, so figured that amount would be ok - schoolboy error)  Contacted D&H who will send me one of their measuring cups and said I should be feeding 1kg per day to him.  But I can only give him 1 feed per day and they assured me this amount in 1 feed is ok as I am feeding little other "hard" feeds with it.  Seems like a lot to feed in one go to me!  

much suregrow do your yearling gets and what should I do about mine?  He is quite immature for his age, and although I don't want him to shoot up, I do want to make sure he is getting all he needs so don't want to go down hay and mineral lick route (he has a himalayan mineral salt hun in the shelter anyway and spends a long time licking away at this - could it indicate he is lacking something?)


----------



## Maesfen (10 November 2011)

Personally, I'd drop the beet and chaff, just feed the Suregrow as it's all they need and he'll be getting enough forage.  Don't increase it to 1 kg all at once though, take a couple of weeks to increase it while decreasing the other things; it might be that he won't want the full amount so judge it by him, don't force more onto him that he needs.  I fed Suregrow by itself (with hay/grazing of course until they were over 18 months old and they never had growth spurts at all, just so steady all the time, I was very impressed with it.


----------



## Dexter (11 November 2011)

I feed Suregrow at 200gms ish per 100kg of bodyweight, but only when the grass loses its goodness, but before hay goes out for them.  I certainly wouldnt feed the recommended amounts to mine


----------



## Clodagh (11 November 2011)

Piper has Baileys stud balancer but only 2 mugs, I think thats way under what they recommend. He has a mineral lick and the grass is still growing here. He looks well in himself, bright eyed, bushy tailed and very active. The trouble is the feed companies make you lose your sense of judgement I think, its hard to feed by eye like you would always have done when the recommendations are so precise now.


----------



## zoon (11 November 2011)

He only has a blob of beet to wet it down - about a tennis ball size blob.  He plays with his food and that minimises the amount that he flicks everywhere as it is stuck together - simply damp suregrow would end up scattered on floor and wasted.  Will cut out alfa a though.

So you wouldn't feed the full 1kg?  I have increased to 2 cups per day (500g) now. Would you go up to 3 or leave it at 2?  He is good condition wise, but is immature in his frame - still looks very much like a foal.  Like I said, don't want him to grow quickly, but do want to make sure he has all he needs to mature at the right rate.


----------



## Maesfen (11 November 2011)

Can see why you use the beet then; mine just put their noses in and didn't lift out til all was gone, never ever found a crumb afterwards!
No, I wouldn't feed the whole 1kg myself but play it by ear as you have done; maybe up it to 750 in a few days but as someone said, the feeding recommendations are always generous so it won't hurt to be a bit cautious for now.  My Tonka has always looked younger than he is, some are just more mature than others especially if they've had food to improve them for showing/futurities.  Slow and steady growth is what you need and if it takes a bit longer to mature at least you know you haven't possibly compromised the joints.
Can we have pics sometime please?


----------



## imafluffybunny (11 November 2011)

My yearlings yet 2 mugs of sure grow on it's own when the grass is good. I have just started feeding fast fibre to them alongside the suregrow now there isn't as much grass around.


----------



## zoon (12 November 2011)

Here is the most recent pic - 







This pic makes him look chunky though


----------



## hobo (12 November 2011)

Just to say he looks lovely I don,t think he looks immature for his age and you will not be far wrong with what you are doing if he looks like that.
Mine has ad-lib haylage and just under 2 mugs of stud balancer though I,m trying to swap on to hay as I think she is as heavy as she should be. I,m sure the the feed line said 6 mugs for a weanling last winter!!!!!!!!!! mine would expload I think.


----------



## xena_wales (12 November 2011)

I've fed my youngsters on Suregrow along with a bit of speedibeet and chaff too, and they look great on it.  The TB gets a whole measuring jug full (1 litre jug) and the Sec D gets half a measuring jug.  I can't remember how much it works out as in grams, but it is much less than the recommended amount.  It doesn't worry me too much though as I know they're getting at least a reasonable amount of vits and mins etc.


----------



## Maesfen (12 November 2011)

hobo said:



			Just to say he looks lovely I don,t think he looks immature for his age and you will not be far wrong with what you are doing if he looks like that.
		
Click to expand...

Same here.  
Yearlings aren't meant to look mature, some just grow more evenly than others which makes them look more mature but you should only take account of your own lad and his natural rate of growth, not worry too much that others are bigger or stronger at the same age IMO (unless of course he is not feeling right in himself when you would get professional advice to help you)


----------



## Ladylina83 (22 November 2011)

I feed exactly the same as you only maybe just a cup and a half , my yearling is really stocky at the moment he's growing out rather than up or long and his head is HUGE !

I also feed hay at night in the field as the grass isn't very lush 

I think your lad looks fine !


----------



## Chicodeeb (22 November 2011)

I too feed Suregrow to my yearling, she has been on it since she was 6 months old and will continue to be fed it until she is 3.  I feed the recommended amount for her body weight (she is now getting 500g twice a day - a sack lasts rougly two weeks).  I was told as she was slightly poor on the neck to feed her alfalfa with the Suregrow which I mix together with sugarbeet.  

I've never fed other balancer types of feed but I can't recommend this feed strongly enough for youngsters.


----------



## FairyLights (22 November 2011)

I have 2 yearlings. Last winter I fed them a balancer,Spillers stud balalncer. somewhere in the small print on the web site it said that it was suitable for TB yearlings but other breeds as yearlings probably wont need it.I wont be feeding it to mine this winter , I suppose that applies to all stud balancers.Maybe Surelimb would be a good choice?


----------



## Ladylina83 (22 November 2011)

Sure grow isn't especially formulated for tb's its with warm bloods and natives in mind      neither is d & h s mare and youngstock mix thats what makes them great


----------

