On Jun 2, 2008, at 5:41 PM, Nancy Sturm wrote: > > And substitute an equal volume of dry beet pulp for the sweet feed. > > > Remembering that most people soak beet pulp before feeding. My > Hunter, the > only one of the four that struggles to maintain weight gets beet pulp, > rice > bran pellets and LMF - all soaked - with chopped apples and carrots > to make > it seems like a treat. I have also added corn oil and B.O.S.S. in the > past, > but it's hard for me to imagine an Icelandic that would need that much > supplemental feed. Ours are air ferns.
The other possibility with hard keepers is to make sure they also aren't carrying a large load of encysted strongyles (which aren't touched by routine wormings), which provide a continuous refresh of live worms, as well as impair the nutrition absorption of their gut. I've got a 26 year old mare at my place that was losing weight and condition, until we did a Panacur Purge worming (for encysted strongyles) on her. She started regaining the weight and kicking up her heels like a youngster! Lynn Kinsky, Santa Ynez, CA ranch: http://www.silcom.com/~lkinsky/
