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Post by antares on Dec 31, 2011 17:44:02 GMT 1
My two boys are very good doers they both look really well but I'm concerned that they are not having enough forage to get them through the day when they're in (eg when the field is too boggy for them to go out)
The youngster is actually a bit overweight so if I feed him any more then he will get too fat. They are on a small net of haylage twice a day and I think this only lasts them a couple of hours at the most then they get nothing for about 5 hours which is too long. I already use a small holed net inside a small holed net, what else is there I can do to ease the situation?
They get a feed balancer at tea time then another haylage net late at night. I can't feed hay as allergic so I feel a little bit stuck!
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Post by Mellymoo on Dec 31, 2011 17:54:13 GMT 1
Can you feed straw or non-molassed chaff to fill them up? How about a treat ball to keep them occupied? Having a good-doer is really hard, I share your pain!
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Post by ladyndibs on Dec 31, 2011 18:04:18 GMT 1
I would definitely give straw a go as a filler, either in a seperate net or mixing it with the haylage. I have read it has a negative effect in that it takes more energy to eat than is in the straw but I'm not so sure, would it be possible to soak at least one if not all of their nets, again I'm aware there has been some research and the results are not always consistant but if it reduced their sugar by even 10% it would help.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2011 18:09:07 GMT 1
Feed soaked hay and wear a mask and gloves to fill nets. I'm afraid feeding haylage to good doers who are overweight just doesn't make any sense at all to me.
Soaking haylage will have little effect, the whole point of making haylage is that the fermentation breaks down the water soluble sugars.
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Post by antares on Dec 31, 2011 18:11:11 GMT 1
Mellymoo yes, good doers are hard to feed. Only had tb types before where feeding is easy, just feed as much as possible lol
Straw might be the way to go, I hadn't thought of that, does it need to be chopped or just normal baled straw mixed with the hage?
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sazjayp
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Post by sazjayp on Dec 31, 2011 19:38:59 GMT 1
Normal baled straw - oat is good - and just mix it with your hay 50/50. My chap eats his straw bed before his hay so it's palatable stuff!
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Post by holi on Dec 31, 2011 19:56:46 GMT 1
Hi-fi unmolassed chaff + pink powder. hay in double small holed nets soaked for one hour prior to feeding and mix with good straw if still not enough. I had this advice last week at local merchants and it seems to be working
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