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Discussion on Weanling with bloated stomach.
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Member:
jakobe
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Posted on Sunday, Nov 15, 2009 - 3:58 pm:
Hi, I have a question. Is my weanling OK, or should I be worried of her bloated stomach. I have been feeding her 5lbs of frisky foal pellets and good quality hay per day. You can still feel her ribs but her belly is getting so bloated. She was dewormed 1/2 amount on Sept 29, then 1/2 amount on Oct 5, then full amount on Nov 05 as requested by the vet after her hernia operation. Is this picture of her normal. She's 5 1/2 months old and with the weight tape she measures at 398lbs. I'm just concerned about her weight due to it being hard on her legs. I've also read somewhere about a hay belly, does she have that?
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Sunday, Nov 15, 2009 - 4:14 pm:
Hi Debbie, you have an easy keeper in the making huh
How much of that belly is hair? FME with young ones they do tend to get belly's as weanlings, go through a growth spurt, get uneven and skinnier, stop growing a little get pudgy again, grow again and get skinnier...you get the picture
From your picture, imagining the hair being gone, I don't think she looks too bad. You are wise to keep an eye on her tho and make sure she doesn't get too fat or skinny (hair can really hide both well). What are frisky foal pellets? 5#'s does seem like a bit much...depending on what it is.
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Member:
jakobe
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Posted on Sunday, Nov 15, 2009 - 4:47 pm:
Hi DianE, Your right she does have some thick hair now, plus her belly looks so uneven. We didn't have good quality hay so the vet said to put her on Frisky Foal Pellets, it is for foals, dams and weanlings to one year of age, has Protein 17.0%, Fat 2.0%, Fibre 8.5%, Calcium 1.2% plus Vitamin A,D,E and added seienium 0.3mg, it says to feed foals at a rate of 1.0-1.5kg per 100kg, plus we give her good quality hair we purchaced a month ago and always have some left over between feedings. Is it better for her to eat more hay than pellets for the hay is always left over. How much should a weanling of 5 1/2 months weigh on a average.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Sunday, Nov 15, 2009 - 5:25 pm:
Been a long time since I had foals. I just fed pasture when available and a handful of sweetfeed. No pasture,.. a grass/alfalfa mix with a handful of sweet feed, things were much easier back then
No way to tell how much she should weigh, if you think her nutrition is correct I would go by her BCS. I'm sure Dr.O. has an article in here about it somewhere What did your vet say?
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Member:
mrose
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Posted on Sunday, Nov 15, 2009 - 6:09 pm:
Hi Debbie. Your foal could have developed that belly when she wasn't getting good hay. With excercise and good food, it will go away in time. There is a good article on HA about feeding foals and other horses. We always fed 2 - 2.5lbs. total food per 100lbs of estimated mature body weight. Young horses and lactating mares had good hay free choice, salt and mineral/vitamin supplement and a pelleted feed which was based on their body condition and age. Different breeds may need to be fed differently. You should be able to find the article here in the DrOp down menu bar on the left of the page under Horse Care -> Nutrition.
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Member:
juliem
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Posted on Sunday, Nov 15, 2009 - 6:54 pm:
Debbie, some foals do get pot bellies. I often have three foals, usually two, at a time. On the same feed and worming, one will get a pot belly and not the others. Eventually as Diane says, they grow into the belly. Your foal looks pretty good to me.
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Member:
jakobe
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Posted on Sunday, Nov 15, 2009 - 7:18 pm:
Thankyou everyone, the vet said to deworm her for he thought her belly was big too but it stayed the same after all the deworming. I will wait to see if she will grow into her belly like you said. She is 12hh now so she has some growing to do yet since her mom was 16 and some. I've been reading alot and I'm more confused than before in what to feed her, I think I finally got it then I read that this might not have enough protein in it or that would counter balance the calcium, and they need more forage than concentrates, very frustrating. But your right all horses are different.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Monday, Nov 16, 2009 - 11:12 am:
Before deworming Debbie I would have a fecal run to assess your deworming program.
DrO
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Member:
jakobe
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Posted on Monday, Nov 16, 2009 - 3:32 pm:
Hi Dr.O,
When we first got her she was 3 months old and was told she was never de wormed or the mother so when we took her to the vet to fix her hernia, he said to start de worming her. We did the 1/2, 1/2 and full amount that one time. Her fecal matter was so full of worms on the first 1/2, then when we did the second 1/2 not so much, then after the full dose, we had to look really hard, but didn't find any. Will not deworm her again until we do our other horses in the early spring. The vet is keeping track on what all our horses have had and will change it to another kind the next time.
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Member:
juliem
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Posted on Monday, Nov 16, 2009 - 4:32 pm:
Debbie, I don't know about not deworming now until early spring. That might be ok if you have a clean fecal, but I deworm babies every 30 days as they seem to be magnets for parasites. I haven't read the deworming article in some time and don't know if it specifically addresses deworming of weanlings. Before I'd go that long without deworming again, I'd want to know what Dr. O says. Without a microscope, you can't tell if there are eggs present in the fecal matter.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Monday, Nov 16, 2009 - 7:32 pm:
Hello Debbie,
Based on just the information we have, I too would not wait that long without clean fecals. Just because you don't see round worms in the stool does not mean you have the worming situation under control. You would not see the strongyles present and they can do the worst damage. For more on this see Horse Care » Worms, Deworming, Parasite Control » Overview of Deworming.
DrO
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Member:
jakobe
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Posted on Monday, Nov 16, 2009 - 8:12 pm:
OK, I think I got it now. I read the articals on deworming and now know to get her fecal matter checked until there is no signs of infestation. We should be frozen and up to our knees in snow by now but are still below freezing on some nights, and no snow. We will be hit soon enough though and it gets to -31C or -20F sometimes colder, and I was thinking with the snow that she wouldn't have to be dewormed until spring. I will do the 4 season deworming program and every season get the fecal matter checked out now until its clean. I've just dewormed her on Nov 5 so I will get her fecal checked as soon as possible. This helped me a great deal. Thank you.
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