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Post by jill on Jan 7, 2010 13:48:34 GMT 1
are your horses drinking? I have broken the ice on the troughs religiously every morning, but when I looked the the snow today, old Sabria's side has no horsey footprints leading to it$ at all since the snow on Tuesday. She does have soaked feed, probably the equivalent of one and a half buckets, and doesn't really eat haylage, so obviously is getting enough. But the 5 others aren't standing waiting for the ice to be broken at their side of the trough as I would have expected, and there are only a couple of sets of footprints leading to it. I put them a tub of water straight from the tap this morning but they ignored it. I would have thought that eating hay as opposed to whatever grass they can find would lead to them drinking more but it seems not. Are mine the only ones?
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Post by Karon on Jan 7, 2010 13:50:20 GMT 1
At least 5, usually 6, full water containers (take 3 buckets full I think) a day between 4, but Sham isn't drinking a lot. I'm putting it out in tubs at the moment as otherwise I end up putting water out for everyone else, too.
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Post by specialsparkle3 on Jan 7, 2010 13:55:24 GMT 1
Mine are drinking a lot when they come in but not much in the field Think it's too cold for them !
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Post by stablehand on Jan 7, 2010 14:01:43 GMT 1
mine have been seen eating the snow!! maybe just lazy so they dont have to walk to the trough1
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Post by horsefeed on Jan 7, 2010 14:13:00 GMT 1
Mine are drinking a bit but not that much, I offered them a bucket of slightly warm water this morning and they drunk some of that each but weren't overly bothered!! I have been soaking their feeds more though. :-)
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big e
Grand Prix Poster
Posts: 2,055
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Post by big e on Jan 7, 2010 17:19:29 GMT 1
i'm giving mine 350 litres a day and they're drinking all of it but then they are only eating hay, so i'm guessing the dryness is making them thirstier
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Post by taklishim on Jan 7, 2010 18:44:10 GMT 1
Mine would drink very little if I left them to it. It is impossible to break the ice on the troughs as it is just too thick anyway so all water has to be carried in buckets. Even with soaked hay and watery sugar beet feed I am not taking the risk that they may drink too little in case there is a risk of compaction. I doubt, due to the snow and ice I would even be able to get a vet here if they got ill. I do what I have done every time it has snowed/frozen over the last 30 odd years and that is to feed them slightly warm, weak mollassed water. They get it before they eat in the morning, at lunchtime, at teatime and late evening. Molasses may not be a great thing to feed them but it is a lot better than the alternative and they seem to be thriving on it.
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Post by barbararob on Jan 7, 2010 19:04:29 GMT 1
Can you have a word with ours Jill - I know there are 15 and two foals but we have now resorted to a massive blue barrel in the back of the landrover - filled at the house and then syphoned out at the stables, the idea was to use it for the stable buckets but they all drank it before it got there, some of the troughs have water and broken ice, and the spring at the top of the field is still running - they obviously prefer it with a bit of effort!!!
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Post by jill on Jan 7, 2010 19:23:39 GMT 1
Give me their phone no Barbara and I'll ring them!!!
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sazjayp
Olympic Poster
Intermediate Poster
Posts: 919
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Post by sazjayp on Jan 7, 2010 20:32:34 GMT 1
Mine haven't been drinking much in the field or stable - but they have water in their feeds, and have been eating snow too!
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Post by malikariverbaby on Jan 7, 2010 20:47:53 GMT 1
Mine don't seem to be drinking much at the moment. They have a water container and there is a a lake. So its there if they want it.
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Post by KoLaTo on Jan 7, 2010 23:07:49 GMT 1
Not enough.
1 is now dehydrated as he isn't drinking enough despite offering warm water, i've resorted to very very sloppy speedibeet feeds which they aren't impressed with at all and feeding *shock horror* pretty damp sugary haylage, not the best thing for fat natives but the alternative of impaction colic dosen't bear thinking about in this weather..........
Between 3 of them they are probably managing one large tubtrug of water a day, i'm de-frosting whats left in the trough every night (not much as pipes are now frozen) and filling their tubtrugs in their stables every day as they are living in daytimes.
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Post by Karon on Jan 8, 2010 11:49:55 GMT 1
I'm neurotic about colic at the best of times, so I'm making sure mine have plenty of water all the time - so far I'm up to 6 water containers a day between 4, and that way they still have some left between visits. I'm hoping the trough will thaw out enough to fill a bit again today, too.
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Post by taklishim on Jan 8, 2010 14:37:15 GMT 1
KoLaTo mine are not overimpressed with sugar beet water or watery sugar beet but what they love is liquid mollasses (bought by the plastic can about £4 at the feed merchant) Just a small glug in the bucket mixed with warm and then cold water and they say that it's pretty nice ;D ;D the other way I have of getting water down is a small handful of barley (or similar) in a bucket with a few inches of water. They like to play "apple bobbing" with the grain. Like you Karon I am neurotic about colic
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Post by lauranash on Jan 8, 2010 14:40:26 GMT 1
Mine's drinking more than usual if anything, I guess because I can't soak his hay at the moment.
It's a fight to keep it un-frozen though, he's already smashed up the side of one water container because it refroze and he decided to break the ice with his front hoof (plastic container, horse undamaged). He also pulled the plastic water trough that catches the rain-water off it's base, apparently trying to break the ice with his head according to a reliable witness, even though there was water available elsewhere. As you may have guessed, he's a bit of a thug!
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