To feed, or not to feed?

Question

I just got this filly, and she is severely underweight. About four months back, I had a TWH gelding who was in the same condition...I fed him grain (Omalene 100), and supplemented him with corn oil, DuMor Weight Builder, Trifecta, and Red Cell- that horse is now at an excellent weight and is very healthy and happy. I've decided to do the same thing with my filly, and have been putting the supplements in her feed since last Sunday. She LOVES her grain, and cherishes her corn oil, but anything with Red Cell on it, she refuses to eat! She sifts through her grain, and leaves about a third of it behind, because of the Red Cell. So my question, should I continue to feed it, even though she's only eating about half of what I give her, in protest, or should I just 'nix it', because the other feeds I'm giving her are enough? Help!

Answer 1

I agree with everyone too. Was just wondering whats her breeding? She looks like a Saddlebred or National Show Horse Pinto, shes cute

Answer 2

If your goal is to get her to eat and she won't eat the Red Cell then I would nix the Red Cell and continue with the other stuff.  Red Cell is not going to make or break her at this point, especially if she won't eat it.  Seems like a waste of good feed if she won't eat anything that touched Red Cell.  She'll be fine without it.

Answer 3

Leave out the Red Cell, the corn oil it's self is a wonderful weight builder and you may also leave out the weight builder.  But I would stop the yucky stuff and let her eat and put weight back on.  :)  What breed is she, age, and how underweight is she?

Poor thing the butt bone says it all, and no energy, try feeding maybe 3 times a day for her, break up the two feedings into three, that tends to help.  Also what about giving a Purina Growth I wouldn't got as far as they say on the bad, but my girl at that age got a med size scoop three times a day.  Yearling as you know are a bit ribby but the butt bone, that's bad.  I'm sure your letting her have all the hay she wants.  She may take a bit longer than the TB.

Answer 4

It sounds like you're feeding an awful lot of different things that maybe could be done with less work and possibly cheaper.  I have a TB mare that was severely underweight when I got her - and she's a hard keeper.  I tried the corn oil and different stuff too without good success.

Then I learned of Kent Feeds' Omegatin.  The stuff's about $25 a bag (and you can buy it in tubs at TSC), but you only feed about a cup as a top dress morning and night. This put weight on my mare and improved her overall condition nearly over night.

If you're set on what you're feeding now - try replacing the corn oil with Cocsoya oil by Uckele.  They like that stuff - it's just soybean and coconut oils so they aren't as high in starches.  That might help her like the taste of all of it.

If she's only eating half her feed by putting the red cell in it, I would consider it quite a waste knowing what the red cell costs - Red Cell is a blood builder that really shouldn't be required for weight gain.  There must be something else that can be used that she'll like.  I understand your feelings on the iron and nutrients in it, but there are cheaper ways of getting good nutrients in her that would do better overall - Clovite is a good vitamin - here in Michigan, I use Great lakes Blend as it's formulated for what the grasses and hays here lack.

Good luck!

Answer 5

yeah i agree with mainly every one , leave out the ,  Red-cell , but instead of throwing it out of her diet , instead compromise and try other things that do equal stuff u want to do , she quite clearly hates red-cell so stop giving it to her and find another supplement with does the same thing , if you find others and give it to her and she still hates it then you need to talk with your vet about it ,

good luck!

Answer 6

Hello,

She is a cute little filly, glad you are trying so hard to help her gain weight!

My input:

#1 - Worm her with a wormer like Zimectrin Gold

#2 - FREE feed her HIGH quality grass hay mix - NOT straight alfalfa-  SO she can have hay to munch on 24/7

#3 - QUIT with the Red Cell and weight builder - too much iron is BAD and can be toxic (Red Cell)

#4 - Feed her a scoop of the Omalene 100 with the corn oil on it 2 times a day

She should put on weight!

EDIT- If you want to give her a vitamin and mineral supplement we have 11 horses and they all love:

Grand Vite

http://www.grandmeadows.com/products_gra...

You can pick it up at your feed store or have it shipped like we do from ValleyVet.com

http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?...

You could add a scoop into her grain mix and it is a complete mineral and vitamin supplement, that they just gobble up.

Answer 7

I would lever the Red Cell off if it is causingh er to leave the feed.

It is more important that she gets the other stuff and the feed rather than the Red Cell. That is a blood builder used to help a horse gain more red blood cells so they can better oxygenate their body tissues. Not really necessary for weight gain.

The other suppliments are better for weight gain and more important. I would leave off the Red Cell.

We had a horse that hated the stuff as well. He was a racer and we finally gave up and did not feed it to him.

Answer 8

As everyone said, I would leave it out.  About 7 years ago, I bought 2 undernourished fillies. I bought a weight gain feed topping to help them gain some weight. All they did was what your filly did. They would sift through it. They didn't like it, so I wasted the money the supplement cost. I go by the theory that if a horse won't eat it, it probably doesn't need it. I think once your horse puts on weight, and gets back to where she should be, that she will become the horse she should be. She will get that energy back.  Just keep feeding her what she will eat.

Answer 9

Iron can be fed in excess, so it's probably a blessing that she is rejecting it. Horses don't excrete excess iron....it just accumulates in the gut and can cause major liver damage as it releases into the system.  The condition is called hemochromatosis.  I would eliminate it altogether, and unless you've had bloodwork done that shows her to be iron deficient, don't replace it with anything.

Answer 10

I'd leave the "yucky" stuff out...give her whatever she'll eat (within reason, of course).

Answer 11

Mine have never cared for the Red Cell...I switched to Balanced Power.

Unless she has a specific deficiency, you should be able to meet her nutritional needs without the Red Cell.

I used to use a corn/flax oil supplement that came in 5 gallon jugs and smelled like cherries.  During the winter, I mixed it with hot water and beet pulp and it made this thick, fragrant porridge.  They LOVED it.

Answer 12

I would leave out the red cell. In fact, since its just a filly, I would guess plain grain plus some grass hay is enough to put weight on. I board my horses at a rescue ranch so a lot of very thin animals come through there. They have access to grass hay all day and get 2 scoops of grain each night. They put on weight real good, in fact a lot of them end up FAT.

In extreme cases they will feed them grain in the morning also, and some even at lunch. Older horses get senior feed (I can't remember the brand name off the top of my head) instead of grain.

You could also try grain + beet pulp + alfalfa soup. They used to get this dry alfalfa pellets that you mix with water to make a soupy mixture that is easy for the horses to eat. I am not sure what they would feed a filly but the older horses got 2 scoops of grain + 2 scoops of beet pulp + 2 scoops of the alfalfa soup and they did real well on that.

Another alternative would be alfalfa hay instead of grass hay. You could do 1 square of alfalfa hay plus 2 scoops of grain twice a day.

David

http://gentlenaturalhorseman.blogspot.co...

Answer 13

I'm with everyone else - get rid of the Red Cell.  I can't really think why she'd really need it right now, anyway.  What is your goal in feeding it to her?

Answer 14

my tb came to me very malnurished as well he is SO underweight and he acts like a 35 year old work horse haha

anyways i'm doing omolene 200 for him, and hay twice  a day for now then i'll move up to more feedings but right now his body can only handly twice a day and plus the weight builder

what does the corn oil help with?  anyways she might not need red cell so don't worry every horse is different and if she seems to be doing OK without it then leave it out or if she needs it then mix a little bit of it together really well using only a small ration of the red cell, increasing in size once she gets used to it more

aw your filly is gorgeous! my guy is ALOT skinnier

here is Abel my big thoroughbred baby!

oh and make sure when they are big and healthy to share the "after" pictures!

http://i38.tinypic.com/10pr33b.jpg

i dunno if yo can see how skinny he is but all his ribs stick out..

**EDIT cnsdubie - what a great idea for winter!! thanks haha

oh and here http://i36.tinypic.com/depu02.jpg

i just found this pic..see how bad he looks? poor guy every day i'm SO worried about him haha and i rush out to him every second i get to make sure he's okay lol vet said it would take about a year to get him 100 % healthy

oh and the rain rot is almost gone now! this pic was taken last week