[Dawn]

If she was moved in Feb and caught close to that time, then she would be due in January. So she could easily have caught as early as last Nov/Dec. As well as the fact that it could have happened after she was moved up until April, meaning she would be due until March.

Again, why I'm curious as to how it was determined she wasn't pregnant.

[Dawn]

Their website says 1 1/3-2 lbs/100 lbs. I was figuring 900 lbs, but even at 800, you're looking at 11-16 lbs.

[SpiritSaddle]

Originally Posted by accphotography

Ok... so even if she moved off the property in January she could still be pregnant. She'd be close though. Any other weird things? Of course she *could* have been covered at ANY time before she came to your property, so she could be due in March, which would look about right to my eyes.

Honestly... She did not appear that thin when you first got her. Honestly... she doesn't look much heavier now............ except........ for the belly. You need to get her checked... ASAP. People are saying as it is she may not be getting enough from her feed so she wouldn't be getting even CLOSE to enough to support a foal. Call the vet.

ACC

Well when I first got her, she was real skinny. It was sort of weird the way her ribs were. I mean you could see EVERY rib, and it was almost like she had a "shelf" type thing from her spine to above her ribs...if that makes sense. I don't know how to explain. She was pretty lifeless. And if you look at an original picture of her at the feedlot, she looked pretty good. And I don't understand what happened to her between January and April/May.

[SpiritSaddle]

But with that much of Merit, she'd be getting like 50 pounds of "grain" per day. There was another one I used to use, which was the Mare and Foal one. I figured it would help her gain weight. But that too gave her the runs. They have some other ones I believe. I think they have a "performance" one. I could be wrong though.

[Dawn]

What other grain is she getting? I must have missed something somewhere....

As for digestive upset, these feeds are very high in grains (and likely NSC as well) and her system might not be able to handle it.

[SpiritSaddle]

Horses available off of kill lot **PICTURES** - Horse Rescue / Adoption

Here's the first thread.
Well I mean, she's getting like the alfalfa cubes, pellets, BOSS, Rice Bran, Flax...you know, all that stuff.

Okay I need to go ponder about this for now!

[Dawn]

Alfalfa cubes and pellets are forage sources. The others are fat sources. None of them are grain. Can you tell us how much of each of these things she's getting?

I'm seriously concerned that this girl is pregnant and due to drop any time between tonight (okay not likely that soon) and the next 8ish weeks in a very malnourished state.

[luvs2ride79]

Originally Posted by SpiritSaddle

Okay let me go get my paper......
She gets 5 pounds total per day of Merit. She gets 2 pounds in the morning, and 3 in the evening.

Quit the Merit. You're not feeding enough to really provide good nutrition, and it's not a great feed anyway. Increase your alfalfa pellets and add in a vitamin supplement like Purina's Free Balance, Select II (2), or SmartPak's Smart Vite. I would ditch the horse gaurd too. Alfalfa pellets are generally 15-17% protien with good nutrition (better than the Merit feed) and adding the mineral/vitamin supplement for horses getting no fortified grain will make sure she's getting all she needs.

I would feed her 6 lbs alfalfa pellets, 2 lbs stabalized rice bran, 2 cups of black oil sunflower seeds, and one of the vitmain/mineral supplement; all split into 2 feedings. Adding a probiotic like Source Focus WT might not be a bad idea either. It will make sure she's properly digesting her feed.

Less is more for horses. They are made to eat hay and forage, with an occassional "other", like seeds, flowers, roots, bark, etc. Staying as close to that as possible has worked the best for me and my horses (my hard keeper did GREAT on the diet I recommended above, and now maintains on just hay and alfalfa pellets!). Ingrediants like wheat, corn, and molasses just aren't good for them. Horses do not "need" grain.

I also agree, get the vet out to check her. She looks like she definitely good be pregnant. That or she's full of worms! What do you normally deworm her with and how often?

[SpiritSaddle]

Well she gets her food 3 times a day now (besides her free choice hay). So she gets all together 7 pounds of alfalfa cubes. 2 in the morning, 3 in the evening and 2 in the afternoon. 6 pounds of alfalfa pellets. And then she gets I want to say it is a cup or half a cup of flax. The bag that I got from the feed store inlcluded a little scoop with it.

I'm trying to get the vet out, I called yesterday to make an appointment but they were closed. So I called again today but she told me they're not making appointments right now because of the flooding!!!?! They said I can bring her in, but it's too dangerous to trailer her, I don't even think I would make it to the vet office, the roads are flooded...

[luvs2ride79]

Wow, 13 lbs of alfalfa a day and she's not gaining weight? That is a LOT of alfalfa! That's nearly enough to sustain a horse without any extra hay, lol. I would definitely want the vet to look at her as soon as the weather improves.