Subject: [RC] Hay--How Much to Feed? Feed
x Weight, not Volume
Tina writes:
Consider the weight (in
pounds), not number of flakes....
Of course only a certified nut-case would *weigh* individual hay
feedings.
oops! cat's out of the bag!
Er... <casual inspection of fingernails>...
I have to
confess to weighing my hay, otherwise I would have no clue what I'm
feeding.
Since Mouse is currently confined to stall/pen 24 x 7 and
she tends towards, er, rubinesque proportions (the vet said *that* didn't
help her ligament problems), she has been on a diet for the last four
months. To that end, she receives not more than 7.5 lbs of hay (80%
orchard grass + 20% grass/alf) at each feeding (twice a day). This is
her "maintenance diet" - up until recently, she was getting not more than
6.5 lbs at each feeding (and still doing very nicely, thank you - the
weight didn't exactly fall off).
The other two get 10-12 lbs of hay
at each feeding (twice a day), which lasts them most of the day and works
more or less like free-feeding (Mouse's ration, OTOH, is inhaled in the
first 1.5 hours, leaving her to suck on the stall mats for the rest of the
day...pitiful to watch. Her stall/ pen is spotless).
They all get a
BP+goodies snack in the evening - Zini getting a *real* portion, while the
other two get a "token effort" (handfuls) to make them feel like they're
getting a treat. I've managed to wean myself off weighing the BP.
:)
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* * * * Lucy Chaplin Trumbull elsietee AT foothill DOT net Repotted
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