Some questions from reading my book....

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MrsMagoo

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I've been reading 'from foal to full grown' to get myself prepared for things next year lol
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and have a few silly questions:

When did you start to change/add your feed? Star has at the mo a scoop of molichaff and 1 scoop of pasture mx for din and small scoop of mix for breakkie.

Book said a few days before to stop feeding forage? Is this right? And also a few days before to start feeding laxative feed like bran etc?? really...

What do you all bed your mares down on, does it have to be straw??

Any other advice appreciated, thanks
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Hello,

I'm in no way an expert but am just about to start my final year of a degree at Hartpury, so let's hope I've been paying attention!

We feed our mares stud balancer during the last three months as it seems to have all the vitamins and minerals that they need without being too bulky, and haylage out in the field. As the foal grows, it's harder for mares to eat big meals so it is recommended (according to my uni lecturer!) to feed two small meals a day, one in the morning and one in the evening.

I would say yes to bedding down on straw. Shavings or shredded paper can get in the foal's nostrils and they have very delicate membranes that can become damaged, and also when the mare is licking the foal after birth, there is a possibility of her ingesting any shavings or shredded paper.

Hope that helps, and good luck with your foal next year!
 
[ QUOTE ]


When did you start to change/add your feed? Star has at the mo a scoop of molichaff and 1 scoop of pasture mx for din and small scoop of mix for breakkie.

Book said a few days before to stop feeding forage? Is this right? And also a few days before to start feeding laxative feed like bran etc?? really...

What do you all bed your mares down on, does it have to be straw??


[/ QUOTE ]

Generally my mares do rather too well and don't get fed (other than haylage and a good min/vit mix until they come onto foal watch at 321 days, when a small feed of stud balancer is introdduced.

I'm a bit horrified that anyone would recommend stopping forage 'a few days before foaling' - WHY??? I would have thought that a recipe for colic - mine have always had ad lib haylage all the way through pregnancy and lactation! They may eat a little less haylage close to foaling (although I've found that a sudden voracious appetite for haylage is a sign foaling is imminent - foalie shifts backwards and makes more room in the stomach!
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I've never fed laxative feeds - either before or after foaling.

And I foal on paper - never had any problem with it! I wouldn't use shavings because they DO get stuck in a foal's mouth.
 
We fed Baileys Stud Balancer over the last 3 months of pregnancy, not necessarily at the quantities that they recommend ... judged it on the quality of grasss available, amount of weight the mare was carrying, etc .... but both seemed to do very well on this, and had plenty of milk, and VERY healthy foals.

Ditto on stopping feeding forage - would never do this, and would be wary about feeding any laxative feed prior to foaling.
 
You don't have to foal on straw, I used Ned Bedz (a chopped straw bedding, dust extracted and treated with antibacterial agents to make it taste bitter) as my mare likes to eat straw, and when I say eat it I mean she will clear a stable in one night!! It worked a treat and I found the idea of using an antibacterial bedding reassuring as part of my cleaning routine.

I fed my mare (a good doer) stud balancer until the last 3 months when I added mare and youngstock mix and I have to say she did look a bit better for it (she looked great anyway but it just added a certain something for her). The last week I did add a bit of bran to her meals, she seemed to enjoy it. After she foaled I added a bit of epsom salts to help her along (on vets advice).

I didn't cut down on forage, and although I heard lots of people say they lose their appetite close to foaling, mine was still stuffing her face 30 secs before her waters broke!!

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We use it Cruiseline! Two belonging to my friends get a scoop a day with plenty of water along side 12hr or 24hr soaked hay.

One is a fattie and the other a severe laminitic.
 
Yep, we give a bran mash after foaling....as do an enormous amount of people.
Mares do always tend to be a bit 'bunged up' after foaling, bran has a laxative effect (although I think modern research suggests this is because you are giving the horse strange food rather than the fact it is bran) and gets everything moving again. A warm mash is also a nice, easy thing for a mare to eat if she's had a difficult foaling.
 
We also give a nice warm bran mash post foaling, my boss still feeds it to all her horses so its easy to get hold of!

I read an article just the other day and cant for the life of me remember where, that said 'latest' research was that mares actually need correct nutirition the whole way through pregnancy, with elevated vits and minerals etc etc, not just in the last 3 months, as although the foal grows in size in the last period of gestation, all the important foundations are laid before that. I know if I tried to give me mares any hard feed at this time of year they would burst - they are on very good pasture and doing quite well enough.

I do tend to swop their winter hard feed over to a stud mix or balancer (depending on the mare) 3 months pre foaling, and yes I always foal on straw.
 
Yes Volatis, I think that is from 'fairly' new research that increased nutrition is of benefit all the way through gestation. I do think for the most part decent pasture does most mares in foal very well (up until the last trimester when they should have additional feed), but I have put my girls on a stud balancer this year...its not wildly expensive and doesn't make them fat - we shall see what the babies come out like!

Re. the original post....witholding forage?! Are you sure you have read that correctly? Please please please don't do that!
 
I fed my mare baileys stud balancer throughout her pregnancy along with her usual feed then introduced stud mix in the last trimester, I presumed this was the thing to do as the stud balancer contained all the correct vitamins and minerals needed, she kept amazing condition throughout and after her pregnancy and the foal is great too!
 
I fed TopSpec complete balancer all the way through too. Reason being was it was what she was on previously, I rang TopSpec who said there was no problem with carrying it on, just put her onto Alfa A instead of a plain chaff.
 
Yup, everywhere I've ever worked, both here and in KY, has fed a warm bran mash post foaling and I did it for B both times she's foaled - except I did not buy a whole sack of the stuff, I went to Holland and Barrett and bought a small bag for about 60 odd pence.

You took the words right out of my mouth Volatis. The new research (and I too have forgotten the source off hand, though I'm pretty certain I have it in the office at work) indicates that there is a link to OCD/DOD and possible development in-utero, without support from the correct levels of vits/mins throughout pregnancy, as well as during lactation etc... However, I have a strong suspicion that this research was funded by a leading feed company, so do we believe them......?

ETS - to the OP, PLEASE do not with hold roughage from your mare prior to foaling. For one thing, what happens if she foals 2 weeks later than you expect? You may find that she will eat a LOT less in the last few weeks prior to foaling and if she is a poor doer, you might want to feed her 3 or more times a day, but very small feeds.
 
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