epiphysitis

[Derby Lyn Farms]

Someone came to look at my 4 month old Hano pinto colt and told me that he has epiphysitis. The vet has never said anything about him. He came out with big joints and I figured it was b/c he is suppose to mature to about 17H. He is currently on 3lbs of Low Starch Triple Crown 2x a day, and he usually doesn't finish it all. He is on a timothy/orchard grass mix hay (free choice). Here is a pic of him at 1 day old.
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m171/arcticcielo/Indy.jpg

and 2 days
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m171/arcticcielo/Indy001.jpg

and at 3 months-not a good pic to see his joints
http://i104.photobucket.com/albums/m171/arcticcielo/INGOTROT10.jpg

[Reiter]

Unless you have that "diagnosis" confirmed by a vet, I wouldn't put too much stock in it!

[Maude]

You have a PM :)

[J Swan]

Wow - a buyer with x-ray vision.

Did the buyer offer to take him off your hands? Because that would just be really funny.

Seriously - rely on a vet. Cute little guy, by the way!

[BornToRide]

Regardless of whether or not he has it, I would never feed a young horse any grain, especially not that much. By doing so you are exponentially increasing the risk of OCD development in this beautiful young horse.

Free choice hay only with minerals and supplements as needed.

[Stacie]

Don't even rely on a vet unless they take x-rays.

[BarnBrat]

My baby had epiphysitis. He was born with big joints as well. From what I understand many babies are born with big joints, it's when they don't grow into the joints and they remain large that may be a sign of epiphysitis. My farrier was the one to spot my baby's problem. Presto was my first baby so I didn't know that his joints were a little larger than average, or that it might be a sign of something. I just thought that he was big boned due to the draft horse blood, and that he would grow into them. Based on what my farrier said I called the vet out and she confirmed the diagnosis. We weaned him a little early, put him on Born To Win and a glocosimne supplement, and everything turned out just fine. He's 4 now and doing great. Bottom line, I'd have the vet out just in case to take a look.

[JB]

The only "grain" in this product are distillers grains, which are low in NSC, hence their inclusion. The LS is beet pulp based, with some soybean products and rice bran for added protein and fat. The issue of high sugars/starches being fed to a youngster doesn't exist here.

But, even TC says the Low Starch is only suitable for yearlings or older. I would not be feeding this to a 4 month old. It's just not balanced for that stage of development, and may be the cause of any physitis, if indeed it's there. And yes, you CAN see it if it's in the right place or bad enough. It can easily make a fetlock joint look hour glass-like instead of more round/oval when viewed from the front.

You'd be much better with the TC Growth at this point, if sticking with TC is your best option.

[Derby Lyn Farms]

JB- I would like to feed TC growth but the TC dealer near us is a farm store and they only carry Low Starch and SR. The low starch seems to be similar to the growth but not exactly the same. The next closest feed dealer with TC is hours away and I just can't afford to drive there.

I think I will have the vet out and take x-rays, but I might want to send them out...they have midiagnosed navicular before and I just don't trust them. My other foals are on the same diet and they are fine. His joints are bigger then theirs-but so is his body and the size of his bone.

And yes...she did offer to take him off of my hands:lol: How sweet of her to do that! She also wanted him as a stallion prospect...so I think its better it worked out this way. Don't get me wrong, he is a nice colt and has nice conformation out of a good mare, but in my opinion the mare was bred to a lesser quality stallion. I bought the mare in foal. I don't think we need another stallion with minimal registrations available to him. He is going to make an awesome gelding for someone.

[BornToRide]

Wheat middlings id the first ingredient in TC Low Carb which can be almost 40% starch. I do not consider that a low carb feed...........anytghing over approx 13 % non-structural carbs is considered high NSC feed and this little horse gets SIX pounds a day of this stuff already.

Wheat Midds Corn Barley Oats
Starch, % 38.00 26.00 64.00 75.00 50.00

http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/ansci/livestoc/as1175w.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_middlings

Why people keep wanted to feed cheap grain/soy byproducts to their animals and pay lots of money for it never made much sense to me anyway...........

[JB]

BTR, the TC Low Starch product is about 15% NSC total. That's pretty darn low, acceptable for many metabolic horses (though certainly not all), and certainly not out of the question for a growing youngster.

I think the biggest deal with the TC LS is it's not nutritionally right for a horse that young.

[BornToRide]

Is that percentage guranteed by TC?

[JB]

Is that percentage guranteed by TC?

That # I have is either directly from TC, or it's from Equi-Analytical. I don't know if that's a "guaranteed every batch" #, and certainly won't be if it's from E-A, but it's just not going to vary a lot if it's not.

[tcnhorsefeed]

This is a very old thread started Oct. 7 2008- that baby is old now and I hope doing well.

TC low starch is 13.5% NSC, TC growth is 13.9% NSC, and TC Senior is 11.7% NSC.
All very low in NSC.

TC growth is fed to babies that need more calories to maintain good weight or babies may get a combo of growth and 30% supplement (30% supplement alone with hay if the baby happens to be an easy keeper) , but the TC Senior is very close in formulation to the growth so many owners are feeding the senior to their babies as well.