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  Discussion on Not Gaining Weight
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Posted on Sunday, Apr 2, 2000 - 11:47 pm:

We purchased a thin 14 yr. old Peruvian Paso gelding 4/99. Vet floated teeth, vaccinated & put on parasite program. We fed Purina Senior & free hay 'til 10/99 with little weight gain. Now only on free grass hay and no weight gain at all. Any advice?

Posted on Monday, Apr 3, 2000 - 9:26 am:

If no heatlh problems were identified on a physical exam, I suggest you increase the quality of the hay and amount of Equine Senior. Increase the amount of concentrate slowly and in steps of about 25%.

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 19, 2000 - 8:46 pm:

DVM did physical exam 4/7/00. No temperature, no unusual digestive sounds, no teeth problems. Blood sample showed only slightly elevated white blood cell count. Psyillium(sp)has been feed for 11 days with no sign of sand in manure. 4/19/00 DVM checked temp.& digestive track w/ stethoscope again with nothing unusual. A second blood sample was taken.

Posted on Thursday, Apr 20, 2000 - 2:53 pm:

Update: The 4/19/00 blood sample came back entirely negative. DVM sugessts Purina Senior 2lbs. 2x a day with vegetable oil added gradually to 1.5 cups per day. Does anyone know why a normal-weight horse at 10 years old would become a skinny horse at 13?

Posted on Thursday, Apr 20, 2000 - 5:02 pm:

The most common reason for a well cared for horse that was healthy on a physical exam and lab work up, would be not enough calories.
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Apr 20, 2000 - 7:04 pm:

Hi Dr. O, Thanks for your input. Do you feel the recommended rations listed earlier along with free grass hay will satisfactorily increase the caloric intake? Could I be doing more without creating undesirable side-effects? John

Posted on Thursday, Apr 20, 2000 - 8:52 pm:

Hello John,
We had a 6 year old mare that was thin when we got her. We did just as you have done with your mare. The only way we could keep weight on her was to feed her quality free choice hay and 1 1/2 pounds of equine senior three times a day AND up to 1 1/2 cups of oil in her feed. Finally, her weight got up, but it took a few months. She looked great. I tried to slack off on that a bit because that kind of schedule was difficult to continue forever with as many horses as we had. I DrOpped her to feeding grain twice a day and drastically her weight DrOpped again. You may always have to maintain a good high calorie diet with your mare.

Posted on Friday, Apr 21, 2000 - 9:45 am:

Not knowing the particulars and considering that each horse is an individual it is difficult to judge, what is important is that this is at least a 25% increase in calories over the ration the horse was not gaining weight on.
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Apr 22, 2000 - 9:01 pm:

Hi Denise & Dr. O, Thank you both for your help. I'll gradually increase the feed and vegetable oil and hope for the best. My DVM suggested the 2lbs. 2x a day as a starting point. I realize it may take even more to get results. I'll keep you posted. John

Posted on Sunday, Apr 23, 2000 - 4:59 am:

Hello John,

I would second Denise in that it is better to feed a thin horse three times a day. I think it is better to feed any horse 3 times a day, little and often, but definitely horses pick up weight better on 3 meals.

3 x 1.5 lb would be good to start with, then if he can take concentrates without getting fizzy, increase it to 3 x 2 lb. plus ad lib hay. Have you tried a little lucerne/alfalfa in his diet? Perhaps 2 or 3 kg in the evening when you put him to bed?

I suppose Nevada doesn't have grazing, does it, as I seem to think that it is desert there and you do mention that the vet tested for sand in the manure.

Hope he continues to improve - I would love to have a Peruvian Paso, they seem to be very special and sensitive horses.

Alexa

Posted on Sunday, Apr 23, 2000 - 3:01 pm:

HI JOHN; HAVE YOU THOUGHT OF ADDING PROBIOTICS TO YOUR HORSE'S DIET? THESE ARE ENZYMES AND MICROBES THAT HELP YOUR HORSE'S DIGESTION.I'VE HAD VERY GOOD RESULTS USING THESE WITH VERY UNDERWEIGHT HORSES THAT HAVE BEEN IN MY CARE. ALSO,IS YOUR HORSE WARM ENOUGH? WE'RE JUST COMING OUT OF WINTER AND SOME NIGHTS ARE STILL PRETTY CHILLY! IT TAKES ALOT OF CALORIES TO STAY WARM,ESPECIALLY FOR AN UNDERWEIGHT HORSE.
L.F.(DELI)

Posted on Sunday, Apr 23, 2000 - 5:52 pm:

Hi Denise & Leslie, Will try the three times a day feeding schedule as Denise sugessted. That will work O.K. as long as it's not a day when both my girlfriend & I are gone mid-day. We feed grass hay free-will and Monte seems to prefer it over alfalfa. He does get "fizzy" (love that term) so I'll have to keep the exercise up. Leslie: Have not considered probiotics but shall do some research through the Advisor & vet. That is a good idea. Appreciate your help. John

Posted on Sunday, Apr 23, 2000 - 5:56 pm:

Hello Alexa, Sorry I got your message mixed up with Denise's. We do not have pasture,just a field with a little "pickings". The 3X a day schedule does make sense. We'll give it a try. John

Posted on Monday, Apr 24, 2000 - 11:10 am:

Hi John--I have had almost too much success with the feed x 3 daily. Since mine are easy keepers (now), I can feed less hay because they utilize it better. I still feed them a good amount, however, because I think horses need lots of roughage--I just substitue low quality (nutritionally speaking) hay for the high test stuff. If I'm going to be late with lunch, I throw them a few pounds just before I leave, then cut down on the amount I normally give them for their "late" lunch.

I am a oddity in my location because (among other things) I weigh the hay rather than going by eye or feel. I bought one of those old fashioned baby scales at a second hand store, keep it in my hay barn, so can fine tune my regimen.

I have always had great success in fattening up a horse by using Calf Manna. You can buy it at almost any feed store & it has lots of vitamins. It used to contain urea (which is supposed to be bad for horses), but according to the label, doesn't any longer. Also, supplement-wise, it's relatively inexpensive.

Good luck, Eve

Posted on Monday, Apr 24, 2000 - 3:50 pm:

What is calf manna? Is it a special kind of sileage?

Angling scales are very cheap with a prebuilt hook that you can hang the haynet on if you want to measure haynet weights. I find I can only be bothered for about a week at a time, so my scale hangs unused except during fits of conscience - which is usually when the wretched horse is not eating all its hay anyway so I do wonder if weighings's worth the hassle...

Imogen

Posted on Monday, Apr 24, 2000 - 6:25 pm:

Hi Imogen. Calf Manna is a product manufactured by the Manna Pro Company, which makes all kinds of animal feed in the U.S. Calf Manna is pelleted, comes in a sack and was originally designed for young animals. I have no idea if it's available on your side of the pond.

If I had to hang a hay net from my scale, I probably wouldn't use it either. Mine sets on any sort of level surface and has a big metal curved plate on top (what people used to lay their babies in). I peel off a flake from the bale, plop it on the baby catcher, adjust if necessary and put it in the wheel barrow.

I don't think they make these scales any longer. I don't know if people stopped caring about how much their babies weighed or whether there's some new and improved version out there somewhere. If there are any baby mothers on this forum, maybe they'll tell us.

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 25, 2000 - 2:35 pm:

It is very easy to hang a haynet from a scale - mine is one like that, brass, about 20 years old, and totally accurate much to the surprise of the scales expert when I have it checked each year.

I have a special little shed where my haynets are filled and weighed, with a table made of wire mesh where 2 or 3 types of hays are mixed so that all the dust falls through. Each and every haynet is filled and hung on the scale which hangs from the rafters, and all the haynets for the day are filled, weighed, and stacked ready for the evening and the following morning. It takes perhaps 30 minutes to do 12 haynets.

If haynets are not weighed, how can you know how much your horses are eating? How much does a "flake" weigh? Does it weigh the same in the UK, in Australia, in France, in South Africa? I doubt it.

And talking about weights - how much does a quart weigh? I read people talking about feeding their horses a "quart" of concentrate. The only quart I knew of was 25 years or so ago when I lived in Europe and still visited England, and a quart was 2 pints - but this is strictly a liquid measure.
Just interested to know!

Cheers.

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 25, 2000 - 11:56 pm:

Alexa--Here's something for your arcane knowledge file: A dry pint and a dry quart are about 1/6 larger than the liquid kind and are used for measuring raw fruits, vegetables and grains. 8 dry quarts = one peck; 4 pecks = 1 bushel.

On our side of the world, it's probably more common to feed the horses in attached off-the-ground feeders. I have corner feeders in the stalls which have a rack for hay with a pan below to catch the hay leaves. The pan below also catches dirt and water, so you drill holes in it for drainage and cleaning. Takes about 10 seconds to open the hay door and put the flake (weighed, of course) in the feeder.

They come in plastic or metal. I think plastic is best.

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 26, 2000 - 5:31 am:

I came into this post somewhat late, and I have a similar problem to the original one. I have recently aquired a thin ten-year-old thoroughbred. When he came to me, he was on about 5.5 kg of concentrates per day and about 3 kg hay. I have gradually cut his concentrates to 1.8 kg concentrates per day and increased the hay to 10.5 kg made up of 8 kg grass hay and 2.5 kg alfalfa. He is dewormed every six weeks, although the first dewormer after I got him I used Talmin, not knowing it to be less effective than water as a dewormer! Since then, I have used ivermectin tablets and at the end of this month I will use Equmax for bots.

The problem is that he is not putting on enough weight. He does not finish his hay (and he is not just leaving the stalky bits, he leaves some fine bits) and I can't up his concentrates as he gets fizzy and stupid. He is worked for 1/2 hour to 45 mins per day, alternating between flat work, jumping and hacking out, and taken out on weekends for up to three hours (slow walking). His muscle tone is coming on nicely, but his ribs are still showing, and he has a poverty line on the bottom of his belly.

There is NO beet pulp in South Africa. I add cooked linseed and/or suflower oil to his feed for additional fat (about 250ml per day) and he is fed 3 x per day and put out on pasture during the day. Could this be the problem? His pasture is not good but the grass is green enough that he would rather chew that than the hay nets I put out.

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 26, 2000 - 7:33 am:

Tracey,
Instead of posting your question at the bottom of someone elses discussion you should create your own. You will get more responses and it helps others find related information better.

Before you post a new forum discussion be sure to review the already existing articles and forum discussions on your subject. This is the appropriate topic for your subject, so just back up to your topic using the navigation bar at the top of this page and select the approriate article.

If after reviewing the already existing resources your question remains unanswered go to the closest topic and post to that forum by clicking on, "New Discussions" and choose a title that is descriptive.
Thank You,
The Advisor Administration

Posted on Thursday, Apr 27, 2000 - 3:56 pm:

Hi Eva, The Calf Manna idea is a good one. I've used it on colts and will check out the label next time I'm at the feed store. A relatively high calorie diet is what I'm after. Presently Monte is getting 14 lbs. of Purina Equine Senior 2x times a day. The third feeding is not easy for me due to Monte's days spent in a 5 acre field (not pasture, but some grass and "pickings") and in the corral/stall a.m. & p.m. only. He gets free-access grass hay while in the corral. We will add soy bean oil gradually to a total of 1.5 cups per day. If all of this does not increase his weight in a relatively timely manner I may try the Calf Manna. If he gets to a suitable weight, Calf Manna may be a way to keep him there without going broke! Thanks for the help. John

Posted on Thursday, Apr 27, 2000 - 4:25 pm:

Hi Eva, The Calf Manna idea is a good one. I've used it on colts and will check out the label next time I'm at the feed store. A relatively high calorie diet is what I'm after. Presently Monte is getting 14 lbs. of Purina Equine Senior 2x times a day. The third feeding is not easy for me due to Monte's days spent in a 5 acre field (not pasture, but some grass and "pickings") and in the corral/stall a.m. & p.m. only. He gets free-access grass hay while in the corral. We will add soy bean oil gradually to a total of 1.5 cups per day. If all of this does not increase his weight in a relatively timely manner I may try the Calf Manna. If he gets to a suitable weight, Calf Manna may be a way to keep him there without going broke! Thanks for the help. John

Posted on Friday, Apr 28, 2000 - 1:32 pm:

Hi John,
Is there a typo error in your post? Or is Monte really getting 14 lb of Purina twice a day?
Just curious.
Alexa

Posted on Saturday, Jul 8, 2000 - 4:18 pm:

We purchased a 5 year old mare who raced. She has had a foot injury and the cause has yet to be determined. She is thin and doesn't seem to gain weight. We are feeding older horse food and mare in foal food because she was recently bred. Do you have any suggestions that would help her gain some weight? We also free feed alfalfa and hay.

Posted on Sunday, Jul 9, 2000 - 8:25 am:

Barbara,
Unless your post has a direct bearing on the initial question or subject, you should post your question in a new discussion to prevent confusion.

There is a better topic for your discussion that is more specific to your question. By using the appropriate topic you might find already existing information on your subject, get feedback from members who have a interest in that topic, and make finding related information easier for others with this problem.

Using the navigation frame at the left of this page select an appropriate topic. I suggest: The Horseman's Advisor: Equine Diseases: Colic and GI Diseases: Weight Loss in Horses: Diagnosing Chronic Weight Loss.

Once on the topics page take the time to review any article that applies to your situation. If your question still remains unanswered select the appropriate forum and select: New Discussions. Choose a title that is descriptive so that others can find your post easily.
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