EXAMPLE:
| Stage of Pregnancy | Feeding Guidelines |
| Months 1 to 5 | Feed current diet of Integrity Adult/Sen ... |
| Months 6 to 7 | Increase Integrity Adult/Senior to 2.75 ... |
| Month 8 | Transition to Integrity Mare & Foal and ... |
| Months 9 to 10 | Increase Integrity Mare & Foal GRADUALLY ... |
What is the best feed for a pregnant mare?
Six Steps to Feeding a Pregnant Mare
- Familiarize yourself with body condition scoring. If you’re not proficient at body scoring yet, having a pregnant mare in your care is an opportune time to start. ...
- Provide vitamins and minerals. For the first seven or eight months of pregnancy, the mare requires no special upgrade in calories. ...
- Resist the temptation to overfeed. ...
How do you care for a pregnant mare?
- Mashes in the form of barley mash or mash of bran and boiled linseed can be given at least once a day. ...
- You can balance out the diet with some commercial horse feed or cereal mix but make sure it is specialized for pregnant mares only. ...
- Your pregnant mare should be allowed to graze for her feeding. ...
How often can a mare get pregnant?
The main points of broodmare nutrition are summarized below:
- Broodmares should not drop below a body condition score of 5 to optimize reproductive efficiency during breeding and lactation. ...
- Vitamins A and E should be fed in sufficient quantities to maximize a mare’s reproductive condition.
- Pregnant mares have requirements similar to those of maintenance horses until they reach five months of gestation.
How to check a mare for pregnancy?
Single or Baseline Tests Available
- Progesterone (P4), PMSG, Estrone Sulfate (E1S) These tests can be used singly or in combination to assess pregnancy in mares. ...
- Progesterone Baseline: Days 14-45. ...
- PMSG Baseline: Days 45-100. ...
- Estrone Sulfate Baseline: Days 90-Term. ...
Can you feed pregnant mares alfalfa?
The short answer is yes, it is perfectly acceptable to feed your mares alfalfa hay. If the hay is moderate quality or better, your mares will likely have no trouble maintaining their weight.
How much feed does a pregnant mare need?
These mares require between 2 to 3 percent of her body weight in total feed daily, which may be as much as 25 to 30 lb of hay and 10 to 15 lb of concentrate feed daily (Refer to table 3 below). Including fat in her ration increases the fat content in the milk, which may help nursing foals to grow.
What does a pregnant horse need?
Pregnant mares need adequate daily exercise in a paddock or pasture, and any horses kept together should be compatible, which helps to reduce stress. Vaccinations and deworming should be done before the mare is bred, with no vaccinations given during the first 90 days of gestation.
How can I get my pregnant mare to gain weight?
In considering the forage component of the mare's diet, the only thing you might do to increase its caloric contribution is to switch to a high-quality alfalfa hay. In some regions, alfalfa is difficult to obtain or expensive, so as long as the hay you're feeding is palatable and plentiful, the forage is acceptable.
What should pregnant mares not eat?
Salt, water, and fescue. One type of hay or pasture to avoid is fescue, which is often infected with an endophyte that causes problems in pregnant mares, including prolonged gestation, difficult delivery, and lack of milk.
How much alfalfa should a pregnant mare have?
Alfalfa should never be fed exclusively (due to potential mineral imbalances). Instead, strive for a 60:40 ratio of grass hay to alfalfa hay. The fetus gains one pound per day during the final three gestational months. Hay alone will not meet all the mare's caloric needs.
Should you worm a pregnant mare?
It is important to maintain a worm free status in the pregnant mare as she can pass on worm larvae to the foal soon after birth. We therefore recommend monitoring worm egg levels (WEC) as for adult horses (above) and giving a moxidectin or ivermectin wormer within the last month of pregnancy.
Is beet pulp good for pregnant mares?
Nonetheless, mares late in pregnancy are frequently offered additional energy in the form of concentrated feeds, such as those containing oats, soybean, barley, corn, beet pulp, stabilized rice bran, and other feedstuffs.
Are oats good for pregnant mares?
Oats contain around 13% protein, but the protein in oats is low in the essential amino acid lysine which is an essential nutrient for all horses, especially pregnant and lactating mares and growing youngsters, and horses in work.
How much protein do pregnant mares need?
During the last 90 days of pregnancy, mares should be fed crude protein at 10%, digestible energy 1.2 Mcal/lb, 0.45% calcium, 0.35% phosphorus, and 1,150 IU/lb vitamin A.
Can pregnant mares have garlic?
With pregnant mares consider the allicin-releasing action and its altering of the amniotic fluid, this suggests garlic should not be given during pregnancy. There are many common pharmaceutical drugs that garlic is not to be given at the same time.
Which is more nutritious for horses corn or oats?
Corn is the more energy-dense cereal grain on an equal-weight basis due to oats having more low-quality fiber, namely the oat hull that is poorly digested by the horse.
What to feed a dry mare?
Dry mares in early gestation can basically be fed like any other mature, idle horse. Good quality pasture or hay along with a supplement such as Purina ® Free Balance 12:12 vitamin/mineral supplement or Enrich Plus ® Ration Balancing horse feed may be all that is necessary to meet these mares’ nutritional requirements.
When does Mare's milk retain minerals?
During the tenth month of gestation the greatest amount of mineral retention occurs in the unborn foal. Mare’s milk is practically devoid of trace minerals that are essential for proper bone development, such as copper.
Why is it important to lactate a mare?
Plus, lactating mares need a great deal of energy to support optimal milk production. This means that late gestation is the last good opportunity to get a thin mare in good shape for supplying milk for the suckling foal, as well as preparing for the next breeding season.
Why is winter so difficult for pregnant mares?
Winter, with its sometimes extreme weather, poses some nutritional challenges for pregnant mares because this is the transition time from mid to late gestation.
Can foals have weak foals?
It is not uncommon to see fat mares have small, weak foals when the mares’ diets are adequate in calories but low in quality protein sources.
Does a mare need more hay?
The increased size of the fetus also takes up more room in the mare’s body cavity, resulting in the mare eating less hay or forage.
How to keep a mare pregnant?
Pregnant Mares: What owners need to know as foaling time approaches. During a mare’s pregnancy, moderate exercise such as vigorous walking or riding will help control her weight and maintain muscle tone and strength needed for the last two months of pregnancy. To maintain her body condition, feed her a high-quality forage diet using ...
What do you need for a mare to foal?
Your mare will need a clean, safe, quiet place to foal. If the weather is good, a clean pasture is great. If not, she will need a stall large enough to freely lay down with room on both ends. Avoid a situation where at delivery the mare or her foal are forced into a corner or up against a wall.
What is the role of colostrum in foal health?
Colostrum is extremely rich in antibodies that help prevent disease in the foal until its own immune system kicks in, especially if the mare was vaccinated appropriately. Without adequate colostrum, the foal is at an increased risk of infections.
How long does it take for a foal to be delivered?
Call your veterinarian once the foal is delivered. If the placenta is not eliminated within three to six hours of foaling. If the foal does not rise within one hour of birth, nurse within two to three hours of birth, or pass the meconium (first stool) within one hour after rising and receiving an enema.
How do vets monitor mares?
Senior clinicians, with fourth-year veterinary students, monitor mares and their unborn foals during the late term of pregnancy using ultrasound and udder secretions. As the mare’s delivery nears, she is placed under 24-hour observation, including closed-circuit TV, until after her baby is safely delivered.
What is the best disinfectant for a horse?
If available, use a stall with a floor that can be readily cleaned and disinfected. After a thorough cleaning, a 10 percent solution of normal laundry bleach and water sprayed on the floor and walls is a good disinfectant. Clean bright straw or clean grass hay for bedding is preferable to shavings. It is less dusty and won't cling to the wet newborn or mare like small wood particles will. Also, wood shavings can be a source of some germs and toxins. Always keep the stall well ventilated and clean.
How long does it take for a mare to be pregnant?
If a mare's pregnancy extends past 360 days , your veterinarian should examine her to determine if she is still pregnant and confirm that all is well. Just as with human babies, using an ultrasound your veterinarian can assess the viability of the unborn foal.
How to keep a pregnant mare from stressing?
So to keep her stress levels down, put your mare in a separate paddock with another pregnant mare or friendly companion. She can join a larger group again once the foal is about a week old. You don’t need to worry too much about cold temperatures during pregnancy, Aurich adds, because horses are very cold-resistant.
How long does it take for a mare to be pregnant?
Three hundred and forty-five days, give or take about 25. That’s approximately how long your mare will be pregnant. Mares are somewhat unique in the fact that even though their gestation period lasts the better part of a year, it’s only in the final three months of pregnancy that owners must treat them as “pregnant mares.”.
How long before foaling should you give a mare a shot?
Repeat most vaccines at about five weeks before foaling to help protect the foal. You’ll want to add rhinopneumonitis immunization at five, seven, and nine months of pregnancy to reduce the risk of abortion from that respiratory disease, Johnson adds. (Find the American Association of Equine Practitioners’ vaccination guidelines at aaep.org/info/vaccination-guidelines .)
How long does it take for a mare to become heavy?
The mare might become so heavy in the final two or three weeks that riding is uncomfortable for her, Aurich says. But exercise continues to be important. “Late pregnant mares tend to stand still a lot in the paddock, and they can develop significant edema (fluid swelling) in the legs,” she says.
How long can you ride a mare during pregnancy?
Up to about eight months of pregnancy you can continue a normal workout and even jump and compete, says Aurich. Some Thoroughbred mares continue racing until very late term, adds Johnson. Even so, Johnson likes to see mares on particularly light work during the first month of pregnancy as a special precaution.
When to remove mares from fescue?
Remove mares from fescue fields at around nine months of gestation, Johnson says. In the last few weeks of pregnancy, mares tend to separate out naturally from other horses. “They keep behind the herd; they don’t want to play or fight,” Aurich says. “They’re afraid of getting kicked.”.
Can overfeeding a mare cause a fat foal?
What overfeeding probably won’t do is result in a fat foal. In horses, the fetus takes what it needs, Johnson says, and the rest goes to the mare. Weigh your mare regularly if you have access to a scale, or use a weight tape (though it might be slightly inaccurate for pregnant mare bellies) to be sure she’s in line with your veterinarian’s recommendations for weight increase. Learn to judge body condition, and make sure your mare stays at a five or six (on a scale of one to nine) throughout the pregnancy.
What is the rate of early embryonic loss in a mare?
ACT (reproduction specialist), University of California, Davis, showed early embryonic loss occurred at a rate of nine percent in young, fertile mares by Day 14 after fertilization, with a loss rate more than 60 percent for aged, sub-fertile mares during this same time period. Therefore, rechecks of the pregnancy are a must so if an early loss occurs, re-breeding is an option.
What is horse breeding?
At best, horse breeding is an art that allows minor adjustments to nature. The satisfaction of seeing that foal born, standing, growing, and competing is more than adequate compensation for the breeder. AAEP Forum article courtesy of The Horse magazine, an AAEP Media Partner.
How to manage stress in horses?
Minimize stress by eliminating sudden feed changes, extremes in exposure to adverse weather, threatening dogs chasing the horses, loud noises, etc. Good management practices for all horses include control of intestinal parasites, prevention of infectious diseases, feeding high-quality rations, and care of feet and teeth.
Can a mare eat all the hay put out?
One final management tip: Beware of the late pregnancy mare who seeks to eat all of the hay put out for her and three or four other mares. Invariably, you’ll end up with one overly stuffed mare and several hungry ones. This is bad news during foaling since the abdominal pressure during foaling can cause ruptures in the large bowel and cecum. This rupture is likely to occur when the large bowel is distended by feed and, when it occurs, it is fatal.
Do mares need antibodies?
Pregnant mares require more. The major concern centers on the antibodies passed to the foal through colostrum (first milk). The equine placenta does not permit passage of maternal antibodies to the fetus. During the final weeks of pregnancy, the mare needs to concentrate proteins that carry antibodies to the foal.
