Feeding Foals!

mturnbull

mturnbull

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Hi,

I am looking for any general feeding tips on feeding a warmblood filly who will be arriving with us in October and due to the hard expected winter to come this year I want to make the best feeding decisions possible. I'm open to new ideas and feeds other than just stud mixes and chaff or this may still be the best option!

I am also wondering if anyone knows what the recommended amounts of nutritional specifications are for foal for example for protein/oil/fibre/calcium. No one seems to be able to give me a rough idea of what’s recommended.

Thanks look forward to hearing from you all!
 
I feed my TB cross WB yearling on 'Mare and Youngstock' by Dodson&Horrell, hes been having one pan a day but i'll probably begin to increase that through autumn to winter, perhaps start adding some chaff..Hes always had a lovely healthy coat, and looks generally really well and healthy, plus its reasonably priced and a good quality mix. :)
 
Ellky said:
I feed my TB cross WB yearling on 'Mare and Youngstock' by Dodson&Horrell, hes been having one pan a day but i'll probably begin to increase that through autumn to winter, perhaps start adding some chaff..Hes always had a lovely healthy coat, and looks generally really well and healthy, plus its reasonably priced and a good quality mix. :)
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Thanks :) shes just being started on hard feed but not quite so keen on it yet! Shes being fed Baileys No. 7 Stud Mix and Alfa A Oil (or will be if she decides to have a munch). Im assuming No. 7 will be similar to Mare and Youngstock mix, just seeing whats on the market now or if its best to stick to stud mix and chaff!
 
Hi, i have a Westphalian Warmblood yearling, she is currently 15hh. i had her with her mum last year and she was weaned about October last year. i used Equilibrium Growth, it is about £13 a bag. If you have a look on their website it tells you all about the nutrition, protein etc is all balanced for a growing foal. it cuts out the cereal which can over stimulate bone growth. it is a complete food and looks like Alfa A Oil with small pellets in it. She really really loves it and did really well, but im sure there are many others that are just as good, its just that that one worked well for me and My foal.
I also fed her Haylage, as much as she wanted and she had 2 small feeds a day of the equilibrium. I never had a lot of weight on her as i heard horror stories about feeding too much can cause Joint problems later in life if they grow too quick. Im definately no expert and alot of people on here are, and breed etc, but the Equilibrium sorts out all their nutritional needs etc out and you dont have to worry your giving them ALL of the things they need as it is done for you.
Hope that helps.xx
 
b8xey said:
Hi, i have a Westphalian Warmblood yearling, she is currently 15hh. i had her with her mum last year and she was weaned about October last year. i used Equilibrium Growth, it is about £13 a bag. If you have a look on their website it tells you all about the nutrition, protein etc is all balanced for a growing foal. it cuts out the cereal which can over stimulate bone growth. it is a complete food and looks like Alfa A Oil with small pellets in it. She really really loves it and did really well, but im sure there are many others that are just as good, its just that that one worked well for me and My foal.
I also fed her Haylage, as much as she wanted and she had 2 small feeds a day of the equilibrium. I never had a lot of weight on her as i heard horror stories about feeding too much can cause Joint problems later in life if they grow too quick. Im definately no expert and alot of people on here are, and breed etc, but the Equilibrium sorts out all their nutritional needs etc out and you dont have to worry your giving them ALL of the things they need as it is done for you.
Hope that helps.xx
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Thanks :) never thought of Equilibrium so will go have a look. Yeah i suppose it must work in the same way as a balancer for older horses. I too want to make sure she is eating well but not doing any damage to herself as shes expected to grow to 16.2hh ish so has a lot of growing from the little foal she is just now! She will be stabled at nights all winter with access to as much haylage and one morning and one evening feed a day so sounds similar to your situation. Thanks for your help :)
 
BonneMaman said:
Call a couple of the top feed producing companies - they all have advice lines and are free!
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Yes, and they will sell you their products and tell you to feed the maximum amount which in most cases is way over the top so you end up with growth problems.

Young horses do not need all these mixes which contain way to much sugar.

I have grown young horses for a long time and fell into the 'mix' trap although I never fed by the amounts I was advised. I went back to straights many years ago and all my youngsters get is top quality hay or haulage, Equilibra and a grass chaff with all time access to a mineral block.
They are growing well, nice and steadily with good bloom to their coats and no growth problems
 
My feed of choice for a weanling is D & H Suregrow, a complete pellet which has everything a growing youngster needs. If you give their feedline a ring they are very helpful and it's a feed that you feed very little of so no risk of forcing young limbs before they are ready which is possible with some stud mixes. I don't feed anything else with it at all other than good quality haylage. Please be careful feeding foals on any chaff as they don't have the teeth and digestion to cope with short feed like that yet and it could cause impaction.
 
I am reading this with interest as my weanling comes in october. I had already decided to feed him Suregrow but I would like to know what is the difference between feeding haylage, which he will be having, and chaff? Is it not just chopped straw and hay? Is it the length of the chaff that is the problem for foals? At what age can they digest chop? Sorry for all the questions but I want to get it right.
 
Mare and Youngstock for me, but you don't need to feed mega quantities, I would rather find some soft meadow hay for babies, haylage can vary, but can be too rich, it is most important that the foal is brought up in a herd environment, as they need to learn how to behave, so two are better than one, also monitor the worming program very carefully.
 
MrsD123 said:
Mare and Youngstock for me, but you don't need to feed mega quantities, I would rather find some soft meadow hay for babies, haylage can vary, but can be too rich, it is most important that the foal is brought up in a herd environment, as they need to learn how to behave, so two are better than one, also monitor the worming program very carefully.
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I agree totally with the feed quantities, and as Maesfen alludes to above its the nutrition that is the important factor, rather than forcing huge amounts of feed down them that they don't need and can cause complications during growth. I also agree entirely about chaff. Don't feed it to foals or weanlings.

Haylage is perfect for yountstock, and I've never come accross an incident of it being too rich.

The key thing for you is to ensure an adequate and unlimited supply of haylage, good balanced nutrition, warmth and of course youngstock company.
 
All of mine have been fed Topspec balancer (about 1-2 mugs a day depending on size) and ad-lib haylage until they are 4-5yros and in enough work to warrant more feed.

They have all done well without hard feed and grown well and steadily.

I had one youngster who needed more calories as was quite lightweight when he came to me at 5 months and he had Topspec super conditioning flakes which have lots of calories but low starch, so suitable for growing and developing horses, but I wouldn't recommend a mix/hard feed of any type unless you have a very poor foal.
 
Slave2Magic said:
I am reading this with interest as my weanling comes in october. I had already decided to feed him Suregrow but I would like to know what is the difference between feeding haylage, which he will be having, and chaff? Is it not just chopped straw and hay? Is it the length of the chaff that is the problem for foals? At what age can they digest chop? Sorry for all the questions but I want to get it right.
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Their jaws/teeth/digestion aren't developed until later to be able to cope with chaff. Chaff is very short which makes it harder for them to chew so you stand the risk of it going straight through without mastication which can lead to impaction colic. Hay/haylage is longer and they find it easier to chew/digest. Not very scientific I'm afraid but based on long experience.

Before you get your weanling, please ask the breeder to include a bucket of the feed it is already on so that you can introduce the Suregrow slowly over a few days; either that or ask them to feed Suregrow to it beforehand even if you have to buy a bag yourself for this. Foals are notorious for thinking new feed will kill them and at this stressful time for them they are better off sticking with the diet they know until they've settled even if it's not the feed of your choice.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies will take them all on board :)

I hadn't ever heard about not feeding foals chaff but I read with interest and may turn to google after this to have a wee read up!

My filly will have access to hay or haylage but feel she may benefit more from the haylage which we have at the yard. Where possible over winter she will have access to grazing where she will share the large field with 6 other horses ranging from yearlings to OAPs!

She will be getting delivered with her current feed at the time and of course I will introduce any changes slowly.

Also still have the question of does anyone know the nutritional values which foals should be recieving, each feed whether it be specifically for foals or not seems to have different percentages of each and I can't find the recomended percentages anywhere, I know each foal is different but just a rough guideline would be so nice!

Thanks to everyone again :)
 
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