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  Discussion on Low Temps and feeding
Author Message
Member:
scooter

Posted on Saturday, Nov 24, 2007 - 9:24 am:

Dr.O. as you know my horses are on a continuous diet. The temps here are now getting in the teens at night and 20-30 degrees during the day. I have read to keep the horses warm they need more hay, at these temps I am not worried, they seem to like this weather and no one is cold. They are still getting 1 flake of hay morning and evening with their 3 hay cubes. Grazing is pretty much over. Wind and rain/snow isn't a big factor, they usually stay in the lean when the weather turns foul. I also feed them in there when it is foul out. The horses are use to our VERY cold winters and temps in the teens are not bothersome to them.

How does a person determine when to up the hay for cold weather. I don't want to wait to they shiver...especially with the 2 senior citizens in the picture. I think their weight is ok putting them at a 5-6 on the bsc. Their hair throws me a little, well actually a lot. I can feel all their ribs. As stated in this article the stemmy hay can put weight on them and they have pony metabolism it seems. They roam the pasture all day, playing and even galloping a bit. Riding is pretty much out of the picture now.

At what temps. should I consider upping their hay, or maybe I shouldn't at all? 6-8#'s of hay a day doesn't seem like much for frigid weather.
With this dense winter hair it really is hard to tell if they are gaining or loosing weight even with the tape, and it seems as tho they can gain 100#'s in a blink of an eye.

The updated article is wonderful and so true, but really doesn't address fat horses and very cold weather.

Maybe I need a winter Hanks weight watchers diet, the members seem to know better than me just from pics and surprisingly winter is much harder for me than summer. Thank you for any words of wisdom..I need them... I really want to see Hank stay sound this winter and spring.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Nov 25, 2007 - 9:02 am:

Diane it is not true horses need more hay to stay warm in winter. Increasing hay is one way to keep horses warmer. It is very hard to balance the exact number of megacals going in with the exact number of required megacals going out but the article on Wintercare helps you make these decisions including discussions about shivering. You can consider your alfalfa cubes as your concentrate in the calculations.
DrO
Member:
scooter

Posted on Saturday, Dec 1, 2007 - 10:01 am:

Dr.O. just one more stupid question...then hopefully I will have this figured out.

The heifers are going out to winter pasture this weekend so the horses can graze our whole pasture (40 acres) The grass is brown and pretty short, but horses seem to be able to graze alot shorter than cattle. If I let the horse out to the big pasture would you count what they eat as hay? I know I can't possibly know how much they eat...but it will be plenty knowing them. Does dry dead frozen grass count kinda like stemmy hay? Thanks
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Dec 2, 2007 - 6:54 pm:

Diane without testing the grass I would not know its nutritional make up but would suspect that it's protein and vitamin make up may even be lower than some stemmy hays. Supplement the vitamins and monitor for condition change it they start loosing weight supplement with a high protein forage (just as recommended in the nutrition overview article).
DrO
Member:
scooter

Posted on Sunday, Dec 2, 2007 - 7:15 pm:

Thanks Dr.O. I guess it doesn't matter anymore the ice put the brakes on that plan, but will keep it in mind if it ever thaws out.
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