Why eat it when you can stack it?
That worked for about a week. Then the adventures of the traveling food bucket started and he was just tossing it around and wasting more of my money. I decided that I would just try to get him eat the joint supplement because that is the one I deemed the most important. That worked for about three days.
I then started trying to feed it to him post ride rather than when he was in his stall. That worked once. I was getting desperate, so I decided to try applesauce. After a few test runs with just applesauce to make sure that he would eat it, I started adding that to his timothy supplement mixture. So far it has worked for two days. I am skeptical because today he ate all around it and left the applesauce/supplement/timothy mixture for last.
Save the best for last?
What tricks have worked for picky eaters in your life?
I have no suggestions because all of mine have always been chowhounds, but I am giggling over Stinker's talent and creative ways of expressing his displeasure over the supplements 😂
ReplyDeleteHe has made his opinion very clear... message received. Unfortunately he doesn't seem to be getting the message that his opinion doesn't matter in this situation.
DeleteDee is fairly picky but not nearly as talented at being picky as Stinker. What works for me is feeding soaked beetpulp with the supplements, she loves the beetpulp and can't eat around the supplements if she wants it. I also have to increase the supplements very, very slowly. It normally takes me 2 weeks to introduce a new supplement to full dosage. I start out with the very tiniest amount and when she eats all of it the next time I add a little bit more.
ReplyDeleteHe won't touch beet pulp... go figure. And when I tried soaking the supplements with his timothy pellets he chucked his full pan out of his stall. I tried it a second time and supervised him and he refused to touch it. 🙄
DeleteI have not tried the gradual increase tho. It didn't occur to me because he used to eat these without a problem.
Ugh so annoying!! A senior citizen at my last farm would get his feed dressed with molasses to encourage eating.
ReplyDeleteThe molasses is my next step if the applesauce stops working.
DeleteWith one of our old guys, we mix in sweet feed by the handful each feeding, each time he starts to "get distracted" from his regular grain. It's time consuming AF, but he we can usually get him through his meals that way.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'm quite that desperate. Stinker already drags his meals out (45-60 minutes), but I will remember that for the next time he goes on a food strike.
DeleteCan you soak all of it? Bobby hates the electrolytes he gets in the summer and not even his favorite applesauce will convince him to touch his grain if it's in there. If I soak his whole meal though he'll eat everything.
ReplyDeleteWe tried that and it was refused/tossed around the stall. He is such a pain and isn't very food motivated.
DeleteI wonder if this is a saddlebred trait? Jupiter gets the same way sometimes! I've been blessed with horsey vacuums. Haha.
ReplyDeleteI would love a vacuum! I would save so much time.
DeleteHow many supplements do you need to get into him? Could you mush them into a treat? I did that with Nilla when she refused to eat pop rocks. I have a treat hider recipe on my blog you can try. If it's a lot, sweet feed or molasses or all-in-one usually work.
ReplyDelete