Last 3 months pre-foaling : advice on feed?

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no_no_nanette

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My IDxTB mare is due to foal end April/beginning May, is currently turned out all day, and has one feed of HiFi Lite, a small handful of Pasture Mix, vits + mins, and carrots... She has a large haynet overnight. Should I put her on to Stud Mix for the last 3 months of her pregnancy? Feed companies advise I should, but friend advises not. She's a very good doer, and is currently about an ideal weight (even if she has an ENORMOUS tum!) As this is our first foaling, I'd welcome any advice on feeding in the last months of her pregnancy!
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Dilema that i've been going through. AmyMay will be entering her last three months at the end of February. She is a very good doer - and in fact I'm having to cut her haylage ration right down and start mixing straw in to it.

The feed companies will always recommend that you feed something - because it is selling their product.

Baileys do what seems like an excellent feed for good doer brood mares, which has a very low calorie value, but high nutritional value. If I do start feeding Amy that is what I'll be giving.

However I think it more likely than not that she will stay on her current diet of Happy Hoof with her feedmark suppliment increased in line with their recommendations.

There are quite a few people on here who breed regularly - so hopefully you'll get some additional (and expert) advice.

My horses pregnancy is a first for both of us!!
 
I think you will be ok for a little while yet. Foaling later on, there is nothing worse than a fat broodmare (my uncle gets his so fat - by the time they are about to drop they can barely walk).
As long as she is getting all the extras she needs from the supplement then she should be fine. I am interested in trying the Topspec Bloodstock version myself, this may be a good option for you.
Has anyone tried it?
 
Stud mix or nuts have everything in them for expectant mummy and baby in the first months. I added Raspberrry leaves from Hilton herbs, apparently this really helps with the foaling, I think my girl must have farted and out came sprog, she didn't sweat or get stressed and as a result the foaling alarm didn't go off (big waste of money!). My neddy was also a very good doer and seemed fine on stud mix fed as per manufacturer recomendations. Good luck and pickies expected.
 
We feed stud mix through the winter once a day to each of the mares that are in foal. We don't feed anymore than that and then when the weather gets better we scale it down to wean them off the hard feed to co-inside with the spring grass. For a first foal wouldn't feed too much as it is better for mum if foal isn't too large as you may end up with problems with the birth of the new foal.
 
Thanks everyone! Squirtlys Mum, where did you get the raspberry leaves from? Can't find them on Hilton Herbs site ... maybe they've stopped doing them. I remember being advised to drink raspberry leaf tea by a friend when I was heavily pregnant, and my daughter was certainly born very easily! Vet coming to give Beth her 2nd EHV vaccination next week, so will also ask his advice, as he's apparently an expert in the management of brood mares. Of course, as this is our first foal, I'm sure that I'm fussing far too much!!
 
I fed my girlie the stud mix and everything that could possibly need supplement wise, firts time mummy too for both of us and tbh I think I overacted she ended up v big at foaling,

However foal was a big girlie and at 3 now she is standing about 16.2hh the one thing I will say is after baby she dropped weight drastically and I found the feed companies particularly bailies very helpful!

Good luck and enjoy it, its fab!!

N
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I will say is after baby she dropped weight drastically

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Yes I am anticipating needing to definately feed after foaly born.
 
Two of our mares are due in April and we don't feed them anything!! They just live out 24/7 with a big bale of hay in the field with the other two girls. Seem to be a little on the fat side though i guess that is to be expected to some extent being that they're both welsh cobs!
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Seem to be a little on the fat side though i guess that is to be expected to some extent being that they're both welsh cobs!

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This is what Amy is - and I am determined that she will not get fat. She looks great now, but remains on rations.
 
I haven't changed anything to be honest. Our first mare is due to foal at the very beginning of April and she is still very fit, healthy and not overweight in the slightest......just very round
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She goes out for a ride once every 3 or 4 days, just gentle walking and it keeps her ticking over. She has a large 10 acre field which she mosies around in. All she is on is ad-lib alfalfa/timothy hay and her hard feed is oats, hi-fibre pellets, sunflower seeds, tiny bit of coarse-mix and a supplement. She has access to salt at all times and she seems perfectly happy with this arrangement. I live in a area where I can't get all of this special feedstuffs so I have to make do with feeding naturals and it seems to work well.

I sometimes think that people worry too much, although I realise this can't be helped, so keeping it simple sometimes is best.
 
i fed my VERY good doer ISH mare(who was fat on winter paddocks out 24/7, no rugs and worked for an hour everyday!) on baileys stud balancer with a bit of hifi lite(less as she got bigger and appitite decreased)(which was great as it didnt put weight on her and didnt fizz her up!) and low calorie hay and she grazed all day.
her foal was born mid march(6days late) as well so the weather was still really cold and there wasnt a spring flush yet!
she looked really well on the balancer i was really happy with it,foal has no issues and was really strong-stood within 45mins and bounced about within a few hours!LOL
for 1 week after foaling she got half stud balacner and half stud cubes then she started to pile back loads of weight(LOL) and with the spring grass underway i cut her down to her balancer again and thats what she had for the rest of lactation.
if i wouldnt get hold of the baileys i fed blue chip but that did tend to put abit more weight on and fizz her up very slightly.
 
Think we must be the only people who don't change anything feed wise with our mare...lives out all year round with no rugs and on normal feed of the mill's own mont mix, mollychop and sugarbeet with abit of oil and both mare and foals thrive!
 
vicijp we usr the Topspec bloodstock balancer and have found it very good.
We will either feed 3kg of stud cube + 600gms of balancer or just the 1000gms of balancer depending on the mare.
You can vary it depending on what else you feed but on the whole mine will have a small handful of Alfa oil a mug of linseed lozenges and some soya oil.
I can honestly say they have never looked so well , they have really good topline and coats but not fat.
Thoroughly recommend it .
 
Our half bred mare is due to foal early May - she is on Alfa A, Speedi beet and TopSpec and looks in 'blooming ' health. Apparently you should ignore the tummy which varies from mare to mare and watch the topline. Certainly our mare is a very good doer and will stay on her current diet until at least March when I will review her condition before possibly putting her on a Top Spec stud mix.
Very imprortant not to over feed at this stage.
 
Brilliant info, thanks everyone! Looks like I should try her on Bailey's Stud Balancer in a month or so (Baileys sent me really useful email with lots of background on feeding broodmares) - but will also investigate the Topspec bloodstock balancer, thanks vicijp. I think that the challenge this year is probably going to be keeping the weight down, as its so mild that it looks like the spring grass will come through early, so am trying to manage her field to cope with waterlogged bits/muddy gateway/need to rest a good section so that it recovers asap ...
 
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