Broodmare Advice

[SilverRose Farms]

I have a 7 year old mare. Shes just had her fourth baby. And has the extremely bad habit of feeding every foal in the field its not uncommon to look out and see two nursing on her at once. She of course looses weight. She has always been in a herd and so separating her makes her loose weight as well since she runs the fence and calls and wont stop or let her own foal nurse. So the question is how can I get her to keep weight on and not chance foundering her.. she is on grass and gets alfalfa hay three times a day and the Miniature Horse feed to its directions.

I have asked the vet and her suggestion is to just keep feeding her everything she can possibly eat and use something that makes her eat even more. Im worried over doing that because I dont want her to founder.

The year she had off from a foal she milked up and fed the other babies anyway even though she didnt have one of her own.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Personally I would not feed the miniature horse feed to a broodmare, especially one that is feeding multiple babies like that. Just not enough fat and protein and you have to feed a lot to keep weight on. I would personally find a jr. horse feed or sr. horse feed. I really like the glo feeds by ADM and I switched to that after I fed mine the mini feed by purina after he stopped eating it and he just did not look or feel good and he had to eat quite a bit of it. He looks so much better this year and his performance is a whole lot better too.

 

[HGFarm]

Good hay and grain- a simple diet should be sufficient. Can you seperate her with perhaps just one other mare and foal, or a mare whose foal has been weaned already? Or do you have a gelding? That way she has company and wont fret, but everybody's kids are not nursing on her all the time. Any way you can split a smaller section off of your pasture for her and another horse?

 

[targetsmom]

I agree with JMS, I think there are better feeds out there for mares & foals, with specific feeding directions for early lactation. One thing I would worry about - because it happened to one of our mares who was only nursing her own foal - is hypocalcemia. So I would want to be sure she is getting plenty of calcium and certainly the alfalfa hay will help. I am adding U-Gard to that mares feed now as a way to get more calcium in her - my idea not my vets. She was getting several grams of calcium a day in a dosing syringe when she first came home from the hospital.

Do you feed her well before she foals so she starts out in good weight? How soon do you start the foals on grain? Again, because of the one mare being hospitalized, all our foals are getting grain (Nutrena Safe Choice, same as mares) plus Calf Manna, plus soaked alfalfa cubes and they were also getting milk replacer for awhile. This will leave more grain for the mares, although we find one mare really likes the Calf Manna with its anise flavor.

 

[SilverRose Farms]

She has been fed alfalfa all through her pregnancy. She looks great right now. Its only her foal on her currently. But the other two mares are due any day now. Which is why Im asking. Im using the mini/pony feed only because it seems to be keeping good weight on my other guys. They were on the safe choice but their weights including my stallions went on a roller coaster ride. She gets a coat mixture of Calf Mana Wheat Germ Brewers Yeast and a bunch of other stuff. In addition to getting Horse Guard. We do a beet pulp / oats mixture at night served slightly warm. Ill look into the U Gard. The foals are started on grain the moment they start showing interest in mommy's grain. Shes in a herd of three mares. If I take anyone of them away she flips out and runs. And this will go on for DAYS!!!. IF it was simply a day or so I wouldn't worry. But shes done it (EVEN Sharing a fence line with the others) For almost 5 days. When the vet and I talked about it and said it was worse for her to be doing that then feeding the others. Hes done a blood panel on her so he has a base line for her. In case she starts dropping the weight again. Then we have something to go from. Instead of just something in the middle of it all.

This is only the second foal she has had for us. But like I said last year when we didnt breed her she still milked up and fed the foals.

 

[supaspot]

Ive used Equi jewel and found it very good

"he fat found in rice bran is an extraordinary source of dietary energy. In fact, fat contains more than two times the energy that carbohydrates and proteins do, thereby fueling horses more efficiently. Fat is considered a “cool” feedstuff because it does not cause the hormone spikes that lead to excitability. Adding stabilized rice bran to your horse’s diet allows you to decrease the amount of starchy concentrates (grains) you feed, reducing the risk of colic and laminitis resulting from grain overload."

"Equi-Jewel’s balanced calcium-to-phosphorus ratio means you don’t have to worry about mineral imbalances"

http://kppusa.com/al...cts/equi-jewel/

 

[SilverRose Farms]

Ill see if thats available here. I know we have a rice bran but not sure if its formulated the same. I was also thinking of trying Cool Calories as well.

 

[bevann]

No advice here, but do you realize what an extremely valuable mare you have?I know breeders who would give you lots of money for her since she would be a goldmine if you had an orphan foal or one who was rejected by its dam.Hope you find a way to keep weight on her.

 

[Mareish Mom]

Ditto on adding Omolene 300. You could also add ground flax seed prepared especially for horses (Nutra-Flax from Horsetech); it is stabilized with calcium so would be a good supplementary source for that as well as healthy fat. If she typically drops weight I'm not sure why you are worried that she will founder if you feed her more. Has she foundered in the past?

 

[Charlotte]

I have to agree with bevann on that mare being a treasure.

I'm going to come at this from a different direction....My advice: follow the KISS method. In most cases the simple way will be best.

Your mare is on grass pasture and alfalfa, but you don't say how much alfalfa. Alfalfa is a very good diet for breeding mares and growing youngsters. It has a good balance of the micronutrients they need. Can you really increase her alfalfa if she needs weight? How about adding alfalfa pellets too? They are a more concentrated form of alfalfa and already ground up.

Then if something is still needed for her weight I would look for a mare and foal feed or a 'foal starter & creep' type of feed to boost the calorie level. You want a concentrate product specifically designed for lactating mares or for foals or it will likely be lacking in some important nutrients. Check what type of hay/pasture is recommended for that product.

And that's it. Any time you add various ingredients/supplements to a commercially balanced feed you are throwing off the vitamin/mineral balance. The more stuff you add the worse the imbalances are likely to get. So keep it simple. (Remember, supplements are designed to make money for the manufacturing company)

Founder is unlikely unless your horse is seriously overweight or unless you throw a lot of carbohydrates at the horse all of a sudden....so make diet changes over a period of several days.

And good for you for taking good care of this mare who is a 'little different'!

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I highly agree with Charlotte you got to keep it simple. If you decide to mix the mini feed and add Omolene 300 you will throw everything off. Both feeds are meant to feed by themselves not mixing a whole bunch of different feeds together. Also I agree adding a whole bunch of supplements just isn't necessary. Your adding things that your current feed is just lacking and I guarantee you would be much happier just sticking to a mare and foal feed. I'm personally not a fan of the sweet feed and of course thats what the Omolene feeds are, not really a fan of Purina period but if Purina is what you want to stick with I would go with the Equine Jr., it is a complete feed but I would still give her the alfalfa hay.

I highly recommend JuniorGLO by ADM. All these added supplements this feed has it already in it. I have one on it now and she just looks awesome. She is getting a 1lb of grain a day and 5lbs of orchard grass a day right now. Of course she isn't nursing a baby or babies but she is also a performance mare.

http://www.admani.com/horse/Products/Horse%20JuniorGlo%20Feed.htm

The only type of supplement I give is a MoorMan's GroStrong Minerals Pro-Vita-Min Tub that they can go and lick off of anytime they want and my horses love it.

Do you know how much exactly in weight you are giving of alfalfa? I'm assuming with 3 feedings of it it's probably adequate.

 

[SilverRose Farms]

Basically since Ive had her its been a learning curve. Last year she didnt have a foal but still nursed everyone she didnt loose as much weight. I love the fact that she will allow the babies to nurse as I have a mare who was never suppose to be able to catch who is nearly full term. And she HATES her bag being touched so I dont know if she will actually feed her own foal.

I would rather keep it simple. She is right now on as much alfalfa as she is willing to eat. The only reason Im worried about founder is by forcing her to eat more than she would normally want to as the vet suggested. They suggested Visorbin (SP) Its used to increase the appetite on halter quarter horses a lot.

I was just curious really if anyone had a mare that did the same thing and what they did to try and help her keep weight on.

Shes an active mare and loves to run around and play. She loves the foals soo much. Its so sweet.

I can add alfalfa pellets and soaked cubes if she needs that thats not a problem for sure. And the foals all eat with her. She shares with the foals. The other mares eat the foals food but she always shares.

I wouldnt change her cause I NEVER have to worry about a foal going hungry. Just feel bad for her when she looses weight. I had one person try and tell me I starved her even though there was an alfalfa round bale in her field on top of the grass. (I cover the round bale so it doesnt go bad)

 

[Lewella]

I had a mare that would feed every foal in the pasture BUT if she was the first one to foal she didn't. She only nursed the other mare's foals if she was one of the ones that foaled later. Chances of foundering a mare that is nursing are pretty slim unless you do a drastic change in feeding suddenly.

 

[Hayley~Diaz]

It takes a lot of nutrients and energy out of a mare to feed her foal. I would be feeding her good quality feed, specified for broodmares and a lot of roughage. Keep her feed simple.

Get a vet to do a blood test to see where her nutrient levels are at.

I would be surprised if she founded while a foal was at foot, as long as you feed her right!

Supplementing calcium may be a good idea.

But if your that concerned, do a blood test