I posted in the other forum that Noah is now home.  This is my first time owning a horse this young, and I have done some research on what to feed, but also want to ask you all (specially val who has lots of experience with babies!) on what is good to feed my baby.

He has free choice hay, and it is also winter coming up, he has a good coat but in January it can be really cold here.  Thanks guys!

Buckeye has a real nice feed for weanlings and babies up to a year. I have used it with all mine. Val would know the name of it. Grow colt maybe? I know of some people who have used calf manna to help with their babies. Don't know if that is still done or not. I know most your major feed producers have some thing for babies. You will love working with Noah. I love working with all the ones I have raised. Just keep in mind they are allot like human babies. Attention span of about 20 min. Lear something one day and forget it the next. Not uncommon for them to be doing real well and then slide backwards. Just be consistaint. That is the key.  Keep us updated on how he is doing.

I don't use any of the feeds made for babies, I have seen too many people overfeed it.  They tend to get to much growth on the babies and end up with developmental problems because of it.  Babies really need the protein and not the amount of feed that you think.  If I keep weanlings I buy Gro N Win or now I use Kents Horse Go 32 but Purina makes a product too.  At any rate, I feed them 2 lbs of this a day along with a handful of oats or beet pulp or something like that.  A regular measuring cup holds 1/2 pound of the stuff.  It is nothing more than a ration balancer and contains all the minerals/vitamins that a horse needs.  If he has free choice hay, he should be set.  I have fed like this for years and have not hurt anything feeding like this, that includes race horses and performance horses.  If you are feeding a premixed feed to your horses now he could eat it and be just fine.  Please do not buy a bunch of products and add to his feed, you will do more damage than you will do good in the long run.  Good luck with the baby.  He sounds like a nice one.

Would Equine Junior be good? Of all my research that is the one I seem to be coming back too.  I have heard a lot of good things about it (on other boards and such)  Thanks for you help!

I have a friend that raises appaloosa and she ruined at least 1 foal a year every year for 5 years in a row before the vets convinced her she should never be feeding any feed formulated for weanlings because it is really meant to be fed for foals that are not weaned yet.  As they age their requirements move down.  You can feed it but if you do I would suggest feeding at 1/2 the rate the bad tells you.  Linda had so many joint problems with her babies, contracted tendons and the like that it was unreal.  She now feeds them the same thing that her others get, a ration balancer along with a half scoop of rolled oats.  A lot of people feed junior feeds but personally I never use anything that purina makes.

Thanks val, i just want to make sure he is getting what he needs.  Around here we have Blue Seal, (http://www.blueseal.com/) , Purina, Nutrena and Poulin grain, that is about it.  He is on Trotter through Blue Seal right now.

THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!! AHHHH! why cant it just be simple?     I want to do everything right for him, but I am not one of those CRAZY mothers. I want him to be a horse, but I dont want to hurt him by feeding him just what the websites day, thats why I wanted to ask you guys. 

Thanks for your help!

Blue Seal is owned by Kent, which is also manufactured under Evergreena nd now Triple Crown.  Just feed what you are feeding to your big horses and he should do just fine.   It really is simpler than people think it is.  I worked on a commercial TB breeding farm and everything except the race horses were fed the same feed and even they had the same basic feed.  I have raised babies for year and have not had any problems other than my mare Shot, she milks so heavy that her foals tend to gro way to quick but by the time they are 3 months old they are okay and I think even then it is because once her foals are about 30 days old she starts nursing the other foals in the pasture.   There really is no need to have to buy him another feed other than what you are already feeding, the free choice hay is the best thing you can do.

Val, I feed free choice hay (alfalfa/timothy/orchard grass mix) & Triple Crown feed. Since the horses are all in good shape & not being used right now I've been feeding the 10%. Would it be better to feed Doc the higher protein 14%?

No, he doesn't have to have the higher protein.  He will be fine with what he is getting  Jill fees a 10% sweet feed to her mare and babies and the only difference we do with her horses is that I feed the baby a little more than her big horses.  She buys her own feed which is why they are fed what I feed.