I am going to start feeding my skinny mare beet pulp to help put some weight on her. She is 15.2 hands and should weigh about 1000 pounds but doesn't right now. She is 22 yrs old. Her teeth are fine (just had her bi annual check). There are a lot of details as to why she drastically lost weight so fast but too much to explain. I just need to get the weight back on her. How much beet pulp should I get her up to per feeding and would that be dry weight or after it's soaked?
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Feeding long-stem forage is extremely important and should make up the majority of the horses feeding. If you feed free-choice, ensure that your horse isn't being bullied off of the hay. If you feed a specific amount, ensure that your horse never runs completely out of hay between feedings. I always aim to have about 1/4 to 1/2 a flake left over every time I feed. If plain coastal hay isn't enough, consider supplementing with some alfalfa (either real bales or Standlee compressed bales). If she's still having a hard time after ensuring that she has a -constant- supply of quality hay, then consider the beet pulp. However, with her age and apparent feeding issues, I wouldn't start with 2-3 pounds per day. A regular size plastic solo cup filled with a simple scoop (not packed, not heaping, just scoop it) holds 1/2 pound of beet pulp pellets dry. I would feed 1/2 pound for 2 days, 1 pound for 2 days, 1 1/2 pounds for 2 days, and then 2 pounds regularly. If you see no change after a few weeks, move up to 3 pounds. To feed beet pulp, put the pellets in the bucket, and then put in twice as much water. So if you use 1 solo cup (1/2 pound) of pellets, add two solo cups of water. 2 solo cups pellets, 4 solo cups water. And so on. Let the pellets soak for at least two hours before feeding.Other Answers:
- It would help if you had a picture of her. I have a rescue mare that is severely underweight, and she gets 1-2 large buckets to grain, beet pulp, and joint supplement every day. I soak 2 silver dog bowls of beet pulp for 30-40 minutes in warm water, and then 4-5 bowls of grain with a scoop of the supplement, but she shows every bone in her body, almost, it would help to have a picture though, good luck!
- You measure dry weight when calculating your ration. The amount of beet pulp to feed is relative to her total daily forage ration. Beet pulp counts as a forage feed since it is a high fiber food source that is digested by fermentation in the same way that grasses and legumes (forages) from pasture or hays are. For weight gain, it is preferred to hays because it provides more calories pound for pound than hays do without providing potentially dangerous overages of starches digested in the fore gut the way high calorie cereal grains are.Horses should ideally consume 1.5 % of their own body weight in long stem fiber forage daily to assure optimum digestive function. Beet pulp is a fiber feed, but doesn't provide long stem fiber and it is not a nutritionally well balanced feed, so it should not comprise more than a maximum of 50% of the total forage ration. So, a 1000 lb horse should consume a minimum of 15 lbs of long stem fiber from forages (hay or pasture) daily (1.5 % of the horse's body weight). No more than 15 lbs (50% of total ration) of beet pulp should be fed in addition to the forage, for a total forage ration of 30 lbs daily. That is a lot of beet pulp, and may be more than advisable. You would be safer feeding more hay/pasture and less beet pulp. As a rule of thumb, though, you can feed as much or as little as you want to, as long as it doesn't exceed the amount of long stem forage consumed daily. If your horse's total forage ration is only 2% of her 1000 lb ideal body weight ( 20 lbs daily), then no more than 10 pounds (50% of that ration) should come from beet pulp. you should start out by feeding no more than 2 to 3 pounds at a feeding and gradually increase the amount. For my own hard keepers, I've always fed Purina Equine Senior pelleted feed along with 24/7 access to high quality grass mix hay with great results. It is a complete nutrient balanced feed that is very well digested and utilized so it provides maximum nutrient value pound for pound and is great for filling out and maintaining skinny ottbs or other hard keepers. It also has a low glycemic index and is safe to feed to horses with metabolic syndrome. My vet is also an equine nutritionist and recommends Purina Senior for adult horses of all ages.
- I feed my horse Allen and page feed. The one i use is calm and condition and is high fibre low sugar which is great as it keeps the weight on my mare without having to pump her full of cereals. The feed is made up largely of beet pulp and a few other things, i then add a balancer feed to make sure she gets her vits and minerals, which is made by red mills and it keeps her looking great. Allen and page do a veteran mix as far as i am aware and i should imagine that is full of beet pulp and would probably be great for your mare.
