# Best feed to gain weight



## stp (4 July 2014)

I'm very new to this so here goes...

I've purchased a young horse that was very very thin when I bought the poor lad. He's been wormed and is now slowly but surely gaining weight as hes on grass almost all day and he currently gets 1 scoop alfa a, 1 scoop sugar beet, 1.5 scoops chaff, 1/2 scoop of mix, 1/2 a scoop healthy hoof, 3 omega 3 capsuals, 1, 25 ml scoop fouganza joint suppliment  (unsure of spelling) in his feeds- supplements in morning feed usually.  I'm just wondering if there's anything anyone has used that makes them less fizzy but keep gaining the weight? Not that he's bad but he will soon start to be broken in and I don't want him to be wired lol


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## be positive (4 July 2014)

That seems to be a huge quantity of chop, which is good as mainly fibre but seems to be rather overkill he may be better having less and eating more hay or getting out longer on good grass, linseed would be good for condition and is not bulky so easily added to what he already gets.
If he is calm there is no reason to worry about him changing when he starts work I usually find once they are used to having a full tummy they relax and you can gradually reduce the feed as they start to utilise the fibre properly and require less feed until they are working harder when they may need more as they burn off the calories working.


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## stp (4 July 2014)

I agree i've went a bit daft with the feeding but I was so worried about him when I first got him, he's getting as much long grass and haylege as he can fill himself with lol he's out all day and in at night, 

I'll try the linseed too, something i've never used and here's hoping hes nice and calm thank you


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## Tnavas (5 July 2014)

Chaff quantity is fine, it's good to have around 75% of any feed as a good fibre. He sounds like he is doing fine with what you're feeding. Linseed as advised above will improve coat.

Have you weighed him at all. You can do a calculated weight using either a weigh tape or a formula.

Measure in inches, 
Girth x girth x length from point of shoulder to point of buttock, then divide by 330 which gives you an estimated weight in pounds. 

If you do this weekly you can get a more accurate picture of his weight gain.


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## JillA (5 July 2014)

Good quality grass or fodder are the key really - when you think they form over 90% of the diet, anything else is icing on the cake. That said, oils such as linseed (or even better, micronized linseed meal) are slow release energy.


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## stp (5 July 2014)

Thank you everyone &#128522;


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## ellie11987 (5 July 2014)

stp said:



			I'm very new to this so here goes...

I've purchased a young horse that was very very thin when I bought the poor lad. He's been wormed and is now slowly but surely gaining weight as hes on grass almost all day and he currently gets 1 scoop alfa a, 1 scoop sugar beet, 1.5 scoops chaff, 1/2 scoop of mix, 1/2 a scoop healthy hoof, 3 omega 3 capsuals, 1, 25 ml scoop fouganza joint suppliment  (unsure of spelling) in his feeds- supplements in morning feed usually.  I'm just wondering if there's anything anyone has used that makes them less fizzy but keep gaining the weight? Not that he's bad but he will soon start to be broken in and I don't want him to be wired lol
		
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I'm sorry but i don't agree with the above that the chaff quantity is fine - money down the drain comes to mind. Feeding alfa a, plain chaff and healthy hoof at the same time is pointless. I'd just use the alfa a or alfa a oil, around 1 scoop per feed. Sugar beet should be unmolassed, e.g. Speedibeet with 1 mug micronised linseed per feed (http://www.farmandpetplace.co.uk/pr...eed/conditioning/micronized-linseed-20kg.html). My TB also gets 1/2 scoops soaked whole oats per feed and is positivley fat (minus the chaff). Obviously with ad lib haylage, literally as much as I can get her to eat.

Minerals are also quite important, the Pro Balance by Progressive Earth is a good supplement instead of the omega capsules.


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## windand rain (5 July 2014)

Sounds like a huge amount of chaff to me and how many feeds are you doing for him
My growing youngster have daily
 a scoop of grass nuts well soaked
Half a scoop of alfa oil
mug of linseed
seaweed and salt
brewers yeast      
top spec balancer used if they need more weight instead of the seaweed 
They are leanish have great topline and are very shiny and well


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## Exploding Chestnuts (5 July 2014)

JillA said:



			Good quality grass or fodder are the key really - when you think they form over 90% of the diet, anything else is icing on the cake. That said, oils such as linseed (or even better, micronized linseed meal) are slow release energy.
		
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Linseed [micronised] provides omega,  it is good for skin and hoof and joints, it is soothing for gut, yes it is  source of slow release energy, but not significant when fed at 50gms per day.
I think minerals are the key, seaweed has too much iron, so I don't use it nowadays, I prefer a balanced mineral mix.
so my diet is
15-50gms micronised linseed] mini to maxi horse
recommended amount of minerals [a tiny scoop?]
chaff,  not molassed, as a carrier.
hay
grass: not good quality as defined by farmers who like ryegrass
We do not have details . youngster could be 6 months to six years, weight could be 100kgs to 500Kgs
Underfed youngsters can t be fed hard then broken to work, you need to wait till they are ready rather than when you are.


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## Tnavas (6 July 2014)

ellie11987 said:



			I'm sorry but i don't agree with the above that the chaff quantity is fine - money down the drain comes to mind. Feeding alfa a, plain chaff and healthy hoof at the same time is pointless. I'd just use the alfa a or alfa a oil, around 1 scoop per feed. Sugar beet should be unmolassed, e.g. Speedibeet with 1 mug micronised linseed per feed (http://www.farmandpetplace.co.uk/pr...eed/conditioning/micronized-linseed-20kg.html). My TB also gets 1/2 scoops soaked whole oats per feed and is positivley fat (minus the chaff). Obviously with ad lib haylage, literally as much as I can get her to eat.

Minerals are also quite important, the Pro Balance by Progressive Earth is a good supplement instead of the omega capsules.
		
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The most important component of a horses feed is fibre

It opens up the grain mixture so that the horse eats more slowly

It slows the rate of food moving through the digestive system preventing undigested grain getting into the hind gut.

Leaving out fibres or reduced amounts are a fast track to colic

You might like to sign up for the Equine Nutrition course with Coursera and Edinburgh University - a great course to learn about good feeding methods


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## ellie11987 (6 July 2014)

Tnavas said:



			The most important component of a horses feed is fibre

It opens up the grain mixture so that the horse eats more slowly

It slows the rate of food moving through the digestive system preventing undigested grain getting into the hind gut.

Leaving out fibres or reduced amounts are a fast track to colic

You might like to sign up for the Equine Nutrition course with Coursera and Edinburgh University - a great course to learn about good feeding methods
		
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I am well aware of the importance of fibre.

What I am unaware of is the economical benefits of feeding 3 different types of chaff, another source of fibre in the sugarbeet and presumably ad lib forage?! There is no reason to feed all that, fibre should be sourced from ad lib forage IMO and used as a base for hard feed, not the majority. 

I personally would not want to gives feeds that large in one sitting.


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## NZJenny (7 July 2014)

Actually it's pretty impossible to tell how much of anything from any of these posts as no where does anyone stipulate how big the scoop is !


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## maccachic (7 July 2014)

Tnavas said:



			The most important component of a horses feed is fibre

It opens up the grain mixture so that the horse eats more slowly

It slows the rate of food moving through the digestive system preventing undigested grain getting into the hind gut.

Leaving out fibres or reduced amounts are a fast track to colic

You might like to sign up for the Equine Nutrition course with Coursera and Edinburgh University - a great course to learn about good feeding methods
		
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Also forces the horses to chew more, chewing produces saliva which assists the digestion process meaning more utility of feed.

I feed alfalfa to all mine plus supplement and then add oats if they need weight gain.  Works better than all the pre mixes I have tried.


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## Prince33Sp4rkle (7 July 2014)

i think it depends on 1. how good quality the grass is and 2. how well the horse eats out in the field before you can say if he does or doesnt need all that fibre!

We have super quality grass but Fig in particular isnt the best eater, nibbles, mooches, races around a bit, nibbles a bit more etc so he doesnt really make the most of it. He gets plenty of chop in his bucket feeds as he LOVES that and tbh i dont care where the fibre element comes from, as long as he gets it. Something that never picks its head up and grazes all day wouldnt need so much in a bucket.

linseed and soaked whole oats are great for steady weight gain without over loading tummies or joints.


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## Tnavas (8 July 2014)

Regardless of how much grass the horse eats good feeding practise is that any feed given should be composed of preferably 75% fibre & 25% concentrate.

The fibre given with the concentrate is to aid in the digestion. Slowing the speed the horse eats the meal, slowing the mix in its passage through the digestive system so that the concentrate does not get to the hind gut undigested.
What should be considered is that if the grass is really good does a horse actually require the extra food.


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## TGM (8 July 2014)

If you want to minimize 'fizz' then I would drop the mix (most mixes are high in starchy cereals which can make some horses fizzy), ensure the sugar beet is non molassed, and make sure the various chaffs you feed are low sugar.  The Healthy Hooves you are feeding is a low calorie molassed chaff, made mostly of quite indigestible straw sprayed with molasses to make it more palatable, so not quite sure why you are feeding it to a horse who needs more condition!  If you are feeding it for hoof condition or vit/mins you are feeding it at far too low a rate to make any difference anyway, as the recommended rate to supply the right amount of nutrients is 1kg or 2 stubbs scoops even for a small pony!  It is not clear what the feed you just call 'chaff' is, but likely that is also just chopped straw sprayed with molasses.

As others have said, ad lib forage and good grazing are the best feeds for putting on weight, although you do need to be sure the horse's gut bacteria are healthy enough to digest the fibre efficiently.  Horses that have suffered stress, low fibre diets, illness, antibiotic treatment etc, may have compromised the good bacteria in the gut.  You might like to consider feeding something that contains a probiotic yeast to ensure the right conditions in the gut to digest fibre efficiently so the horse makes the most of the fibre it gets - most balancers will do this, or if you are really keen to feed chaffs, then you could look at Healthy Tummy that contains vit/mins and a probiotic yeast, is unmolassed and has a higher calorie content than the Healthy Hooves.

Really to ensure weight gain, but to minimize fizz, you want to be feeding highly digestible fibre feeds with a quite high calorie content, and perhaps oil rich feeds as well, but minimize the high starch/high sugar feeds.

Do make sure though, that you think about the overall diet as a whole.  So often you see horses fed half a scoop of that, a handful of this, a mug of XYZ, half a scoop of SuperBrandX etc, as the owner keeps adding little bits of feeds recommended by friends which usually ensures a right old mish-mash, that often duplicates some nutrients and misses out others!


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## Tnavas (8 July 2014)

TGM great info

Chaff is generally Meadow Hay chopped up.


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## TGM (9 July 2014)

Tnavas said:



			TGM great info

Chaff is generally Meadow Hay chopped up.
		
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Over here in the UK, the commercially sold bog standard chaffs found in the local feedstore are generally chopped straw coated with molasses - things like Mollichaff:

http://www.horsehageforage.co.uk/WP/?page_id=38

In addition to that you are likely to find alfalfa chaffs and the alfalfa/straw blend chaffs, plus a range of 'complete' chaffs with various added ingredients and incorporating vit/min supplements.   You can get grass chaffs like Readigrass but these are generally freeze-dried rye grass so much richer than meadow hay.  I've not seen meadow hay chaff in any of our local feedstores - last time I fed meadow hay chaff was when I cut it with a chaff cutter when I was a Saturday girl at the local livery yard in the olden days!


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## Tnavas (9 July 2014)

TGM I remember those days too, we'd all fight over who was going to turn the wheel while the rest of us pushed the hay up the shoot to see who could get their fingers chopped off first! We had a big bold tin bath underneath it. It was fun and I reckon we cut enough to keep the yard in chaff for the week.


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## Jaymielea (10 July 2014)

I got my horse a 16hh thoroughbred that had not long given birth in February. I have been feeding her a jug of Baileys No.4 cubes, scoop of chaff & garlic and linseed oil twice a day. She looks fab now I have had to take her off it she looks so good!


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## georgiegirl (10 July 2014)

For weight gain in a young horse who isnt working hard I would personally do away with all 'hard feed' and cereals. The main thing for putting on weight is good old doctor green. decent quality forage (I prefer haylage over hay everytime) and if you want to give bucket feeds something along the lines of speedi beet and alfa oil. Topspec may well be worth a try too? They are very very helpful when it comes to feed advice.


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