What should I Feed my foal once he’s born?
Once the foal arrives, nutrition continues to be vital for both mare and foal to support optimum growth and development. Read on for some essential advice to help produce a healthy youngster. During the first few months, most of the foal’s nutrition comes from milk, so the focus should be on feeding your mare to support optimum lactation.
What do you feed a lactating mare?
The primary aim of feeding the lactating mare is to provide enough energy and protein to produce sufficient nutritious milk to support the foal during its first three months, when the growth rate is especially rapid. To prepare the mare for the energy requirements of lactation, it is essential she is fed correctly during gestation.
How important is nutrition in the breeding program of a mare?
Furthermore, many mares are expected to raise healthy foals year after year, requiring successful rebreeding while the previous year's foal is still by her side. Because nutrition influences each stage of the broodmare's production cycle, nutritional management may, in many ways, determine the success of the breeding program.
Is feeding a foal different from feeding an adult horse?
But feeding foals is a lot different than adult horses. From getting the foal to the ground to start with the feeding process, every single moment is much important for the development and musculo-skeletal health of the newborn. Now, what do foals eat?
Do pregnant mares need special feed?
For the first seven or eight months of pregnancy, the mare requires no special upgrade in calories. She does, however, need sufficient intake of high-quality feedstuffs to maintain moderate body condition.
What minerals do pregnant mares need?
Until the last trimester of pregnancy, your mare doesn't need extra energy, only enough to maintain body condition, but she does need essential vitamins and minerals. Minerals such as copper and zinc and vitamins A and D are crucial for the development of the foal's organs and connective tissue.
What is the best hay to feed a pregnant mare?
Alfalfa hay should also be included to balance her protein needs. Alfalfa should never be fed exclusively (due to potential mineral imbalances). Strive for a 60:40 ratio of grass hay to alfalfa hay. The fetus gains 1 pound per day during these final three gestational months.
What vitamins do pregnant mares need?
Look for a balanced mineral supplement with 30% protein, at least 4% calcium, and 3% phosphorus. Copper should be 250 to 300 ppm, zinc approximately three times higher. Starting at six months of pregnancy, feed your mare ½ pound per day in addition to whatever supplements her early pregnancy diet needed.
Is alfalfa good for pregnant mares?
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.
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.
How much grain should a pregnant mare eat?
During late gestation, the mare's diet should be gradually increased to 15 to 20 lb of good quality hay, plus 6 to 8 lb of concentrate feed, such as a Mare and Foal type grain.
How can I get my pregnant horse to gain weight?
The hay you describe seems appropriate for a pregnant mare, and it's best to give her 24/7 access to the hay, as you're doing. 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.
How do you take care of a mare in foal?
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.
When should a pregnant mare be vaccinated?
Pregnant mares should be vaccinated against Equine Herpes Virus (EHV or Rhinopneumonitis virus) at 5, 7 and 9 months of gestation, with many veterinarians recommending vaccinating at 3 months of gestation as well.
What do you feed broodmare?
Good-quality alfalfa or alfalfa-grass hays are suitable for lactating mares. Good-quality pasture is also an excellent forage source, and hay may not be necessary when pasture is abundant. Broodmares should be fed a concentrate that is formulated for the needs of mares and foals.
Can pregnant mares have magnesium?
Adequate mineral and trace mineral intake. The mare needs to be receiving adequate calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, zinc, manganese and selenium to provide minerals for the development of the foal and to build the foals own trace mineral reserves. Trace minerals are also critical for immune support.
What should I feed my third trimester mare?
During late gestation, the mare's diet should be gradually increased to 15 to 20 lb of good quality hay, plus 6 to 8 lb of concentrate feed, such as a Mare and Foal type grain.
What are the percentage requirements of the essential nutrients which the pregnant mare will need in order to maintain a healthy weight and pregnancy?
High quality hays, either grass or legume, are also excellent for maintaining dry, pregnant mares in the first stages of pregnancy. As an average, most mares will require from 1.5 to 1.75 percent of their body weight in high quality roughage daily to satisfy nutrient requirements.
What do you feed a broodmare?
Good-quality alfalfa or alfalfa-grass hays are suitable for lactating mares. Good-quality pasture is also an excellent forage source, and hay may not be necessary when pasture is abundant. Broodmares should be fed a concentrate that is formulated for the needs of mares and foals.
Feeding the Broodmare
With an 11 month long gestation period, mares can generally be easy keepers early on in their pregnancy. If your mare is already in great body condition during conception, she may be able to continue on her current diet which likely includes forage and vitamin and mineral supplementation for the first half of her pregnancy.
Feeding the Lactating Mare and New Foal
The best part has come and your new foal is here! No doubt you’re in love, but it is a critical time once again as the foal needs to begin nursing within a few hours in order to benefit from the colostrum – the first milk produced by the mother that is packed full with antibodies to protect from illness – or else it is digested as any other protein and the foal will not benefit from it’s immunity benefits.
Feeding the Growing Foal
After about six weeks, the foal will begin to show an interest in the mare’s forage and feed. Luckily, if you’ve been feeding a formula made for both mom and baby to the mare through the final stages of gestation into lactation, the foal will have been reaping the benefits of it’s nutrition.
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How long should a suckling foal nurse?
It is normal for suckling foals to nurse for one to two minutes three to seven times an hour. Excessive bouts of nursing, a foal that is constantly butting the mare’s udder, a mare that is antagonistic because the foal is continually trying to nurse or below-normal weight gains all point to poor milk production.
How much milk does a mare produce?
Milk is 98 percent water, and at peak lactation a mare produces about 4 gallons of milk daily.
How much do foals gain in a month?
For the first four months of their lives, foals gain between 3 and 5 pounds daily, and in the first two months, a foal depends on its dam for 100 percent of his nutrition. The mare’s energy needs are double what they were in her second trimester and three times what they were in the first.
How old is a foal before it can eat creep feed?
Before he is 2 or 3 months old, the foal’s immature digestive tract cannot break down and utilize grain-based creep feeds. His teeth are not equipped for chewing grains well, and his gut does not yet have a full complement of microbes and enzymes to process grain.
How long does it take for a mare to get good nutrition?
During Pregnancy. Good nutrition for foals starts with good nutrition for their dams. During the average 340 days between conception and foaling, the mare provides 100 percent of the nutrition needed by the growing fetus.
How to wean a mare?
Start the weaning process by cutting the mare’s calories to reduce her milk production. About a week prior to weaning, cut calorie intake about 20 percent by halving the mare’s grain ration. Three days before weaning, cut calories about 20 percent again by removing all grain.
What is the growth phase of a horse?
Good nutrition is critical during this growth phase of a horse’s life for the animal to reach his full genetic potential. This critical growth phase begins while the foal is developing in his dam’s uterus. Without it, growth may be stunted or orthopedic problems may result. During Pregnancy.
How much milk should a foal eat?
At day 1, a foal can consume mare milk amounting to 10% of its body weight. This can be increased to 25% of the bodyweight gradually till the weaning phase commences. For instance, a foal of 100 lbs of body weight will need 25 lbs of milk for proper skeletal growth.
How long does it take for a mare to wean?
4-7 Months: Weaning Foals. By 4 months of age, the foal is grown beyond the mare milk’s capability to fulfill nutritional requirements. Although this phase can be very taxing and stressful for foals, the pre-weaning phase helps them to prepare their body for solid food consumption already.
How long does it take for a foal to eat mare milk?
In fact, according to research, within only 4-8 hours of giving birth, the antibodies can be reduced by 15% in the colostrum. This clearly proves the need to get the foal sucking on mare milk in the initial hours of birth for a disease-free and better health condition.
How much milk does a mare produce in a day?
Here is the milk production math: During the first 2 months of lactation, the mare produces 2.3-3.8 kg of milk per 220 lbs (100kg) of body weight daily. In the late lactation phase, only 2 kg of milk per 220 lbs of body weight is produced on a per day basis. You will find a foal of 110 lbs consuming 15 liters of milk in a day.
What is the most important meal for a foal?
Colostrum: The Most Important Meal For a Foal. An important part of feeding foals is colostrum. Colostrum is the first milk that starts producing and secreting just before the mare starts foaling and continues for the next 24 hours after the foaling is done.
How do foals get their fill?
Within a few days of birth, foals can be seen getting its fill from the dam’s food and feces. This not only helps when the mare milk is insufficient but also establishes the normal gut flora for easy digestion of regular solid feed. This extra feeding along with the milk consumption is called creep feeding.
What to feed a mare in the last trimester?
Attend to the mare’s feeding needs appropriately in the last trimester. Vitamin E, corn oil, and probiotics can be added to the mare diet. Use Brix refractometer to check colostrum quality. If the reading is low, supplement the foal with extra colostrum.
What are the nutrients a mare needs to grow?
To support this rapid foetal growth, the mare’s requirements for energy, protein, minerals and vitamins increase. The requirements for trace minerals are especially critical since the mare will fortify the unborn foal liver with minerals such as copper, zinc and selenium.
Why is careful management necessary in this class of mares?
Careful management is necessary in this class of mares because individual requirements will vary greatly. A foal can quickly lower condition in the mare, and lactating mares in thin condition may take longer to rebreed and have lower pregnancy rates than mares in a moderate to fleshy condition.
How long do mares produce milk?
Mares are expected to grow a healthy foal inside them for 11 months and produce enough milk for that foal for up to 6 months. Furthermore, many mares are expected to raise healthy foals year ...
What is the highest nutrient requirement for a horse?
Lactation. The lactating mare has the highest nutrient requirements of any horse on the farm. To produce milk and to repair the reproductive tract in preparation for future pregnancy, the mare requires substantial amounts of energy, protein, calcium and phosphorus.
What percentage of a mare's body weight is in the foetus?
During early and mid pregnancy the developing foetus is very small, less than 20% of birth weight. This represents less than 2% of the mare’s body weight. The nutrient requirements of the mare during early pregnancy are very similar to the nutrient requirements of a non-pregnant mare. A common feeding mistake is to over feed mare’s calories ...
What is the nutritional management of a broodmare?
Nutritional management is a simple, yet cost effective ...
Where is Mare's milk stored?
Mare’s milk is not a good source of these trace minerals therefore they must be stored in the foal’s liver prior to birth. The foal utilizes these minerals during the first two months of life to support proper skeletal growth. Without proper liver stores of trace minerals, the foal may be predisposed to growth disorders.
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Feeding The Broodmare
- From three months, the nutrition in mare’s milk will start decreasing ready for weaning, a significant transition in a foal’s life, occurring around 4 to 6 months. Small amounts of a suitable complementary feed, based on the foal’s growth and condition, can be introduced to coincide wi…
Feeding The Lactating Mare and New Foal
Feeding The Growing Foal
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