# What to feed 8 month old



## kazg07 (13 March 2010)

Really need some advice as to feeding for my 8 month old foal.  He had to be fostered shortly after birth and i am due to get him back tomorrow.  He is a little on the lean side, quite tall, 3/4 tb.  I have been reading up on feeding young horses and there is so much advice etc i am getting confused with it all.  I intend giving him ad lib hay but not sure what he needs otherwise.   Do young horses need to be fed extra vitamins etc  I waitnt to keep it as simple as possible and thought about alpha a and a supplement such as sure limb or a balancer perhaps?  However, some people advise against alpha a due to protein content (?) Not sure what to do as want to get it right but seem to be getting more and more confused!!  Any advice or input as to what others are doing would be gratefully received.


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## orin (13 March 2010)

my 8 months old gets ad-lib hay and his feed is just hifi chaff and top spec feed balancer and he does fab on it


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## Toast (13 March 2010)

My young man who is rising two now came to me at 4.5 months old on a concoction of odd feeds that were hardly suitable for a baby.
i switched him onto Alfa a (never heard anything regarding protein content, growing babies need protein to make muscle and bones!) Dodson & Horrell Suregrow and Speedibeet. He's done fantastically well on this and i'll keep him on this til hes backed and working. 
He also gets ad lib haylage.
Good luck with your baby! 
x


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## Maesfen (13 March 2010)

I bucket reared two foals and they were fed D & H Suregrow right from the word go alongside their milk.  Did very well on it and it's only since Christmas that I moved them onto something else as they're two now.  They had it straight, no chaff or sugarbeet added as Suregrow has everything in it they need so no need to add anything else at all; they also had ad lib haylage too and as much turnout as possible.  I honestly can't fault how well they've grown and matured on just this Suregrow which you only feed small amounts of so a bag lasts a fair while; it's about £13 a 20kg bag so not expensive either considering you don't need to buy anything else too.


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## Toast (13 March 2010)

MFH9 said:



			I bucket reared two foals and they were fed D & H Suregrow right from the word go alongside their milk.  Did very well on it and it's only since Christmas that I moved them onto something else as they're two now.  They had it straight, no chaff or sugarbeet added as Suregrow has everything in it they need so no need to add anything else at all; they also had ad lib haylage too and as much turnout as possible.  I honestly can't fault how well they've grown and matured on just this Suregrow which you only feed small amounts of so a bag lasts a fair while; it's about £13 a 20kg bag so not expensive either considering you don't need to buy anything else too.
		
Click to expand...

MFH9 can i ask why your switching them over now theyre two? should i be changing my little ones feed when hes two or could i keep him on suregrow until hes 3?
x


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## Maesfen (13 March 2010)

No problem but the highly embarassing and non-technical answer was I forgot to fetch some more and feed man wasn't going to collect more from the depot until the Wednesday so I had to add some other nuts to eek their feed out until then.  The boys loved their new feed for a change so I've kept them on it; if they hadn't, they would have gone back on Suregrow.  They could easily have stayed on Suregrow forever, many do feed it to older stock and broodmares so if yours does well on it (and you don't forget like me!) yours could easily stay on it as long as it suits.


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## Toast (14 March 2010)

Ah right! He does do well on it, and seems not to be bored of it!
Thanks for the answer though 
x


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## CBFan (14 March 2010)

I personally would be very wary about feeding balancers as in SOME cases they can cause the weanling to put on an incredible growth spurt resulting in developmental problems. In your youngsters case I would personally start off with add lib hay and access to a vitamin and mineral block and see how he goes for a couple of months before perhaps reviewing it and introducing a chaff with a powder supplement like surelimb. Don't be too concerned that he's a little skinny now. It's quite normal for a youngster to look like that after the winter, especially if it's only just been weaned. with a bit of good hay and grass inside him I'm sure he'll blossom.

this is my boy last Febrary aged 16 months:







This is him in June aged 20 months:







Fed add lib hay and dengie lick.


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## kazg07 (14 March 2010)

Thats what i would be concerned about. Think i will just stick to hay/haylage ad lib and introduce a very small amount of alpha a with some sort of vitamin supplement such as surelimb to ensure he is getting everything he needs.  Picked him up today and he is looking quite well actually -


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## CBFan (14 March 2010)

He's looking very well! I really wouldn't be too concerned about him at all!

Keep the diet simple... saves a lot of fuss and bother in the long run...


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## Alexart (15 March 2010)

We've always given ours add lib haylage and a molassed vitamin block and they do really well on it, and have never had a problem - ours are TBx friesian and pure friesians, so we have to be really careful about too much weight when they are growing as they are slow maturing so prone to OCD.


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## Billsmam (15 March 2010)

I feed my Section D yearling alfa a, Suregrow and speedibeet and now that he is living out i have added a little barley untill the grass comes up, hes fairing well on that and hasnt lost any weight in the transition to living out and only being fed once/day.


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## kazg07 (15 March 2010)

Think i will just try and keep it simple with plenty of haylage/hay, a little alpha a when hes in, and a horslyx to provide him with any vitamins/minerals he may be lacking.


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