A moving experience
Freckles has moved and joined a new herd! Thankfully he’s loving it and enjoying being role model to his spotty little cousin, but travel and change of feed can stress the system and several months later its quite common to find a deep groove in the hoof wall corresponding to the move. We were concerned to do all we could to keep his gut flora stable and minimise physiological and emotional stress.
It’s easy to avoid sudden changes with bucket feed but people often overlook the changes in forage. To ease the transition we took a good supply of his old hay and gradually blended it with a new bale, and the snow was a huge blessing as it meant we didn’t need to give controlled access to grass. We also gave him a course of Roger Hatch’s L49 and some herbs to sooth his stomach.
This strategy seems to have done the trick and his droppings have stayed consistent throughout even now the snow has melted. We are also trying Thunderbrook’s base mix, and have now phased out all speedi-beet. Too early to say much other than it’s definitely very palatable!
