Calf mana

[sixshooterfarm]

I believe I have heard people giving calf mana to their minis. I give it to my goats and it is great, they put weight on, keep their weight, and their coats are nice and shiny. I am feeding myminis a complete feed then a little bit of grain for stallions and brood mares and boss. I think the calf mana would be good for the minis but it has a lot of protein. what do u guys think?

 

[Joyce]

I feed a little calf manna to mares who are nursing foals and get a little run down. I also use it as an additive to the daily grain to minis who need to put a little weight on. I've had good luck with it.

Joyce

 

[appypintolady]

I started feeding it to my weanlings when I read about it in Barbara Naviaux's book "Miniature Horses,Their Care, Breeding and Coat Colors". She advocates giving Calf Manna to them to meet their increased need for a high protein diet at this critical time in their life. She said it prevents the large hay belly that weanlings can sometimes get if they are weaned before 6 months og age. It has worked well for me and my fillys absolutely love it!!

 

[Marty]

Calf manna can be great stuff if used wisely. Yes it's very high in protein 33 1/3 %.

I agree with Joyce. It can be a good tool to feed a mare who may be getting run down or a horse that needs to gain weight.

However I would not give it to a foal or a growing youngster. There is always the problem that you can bring on ephysitis and I don't want that around here.

 

[Robin_C]

I have been a faithful Calf Manna user for big horses and minis for 30+ years. It was around a LONG time before there were such things as "ration balancers" which also list protein at about 30% or more. The trick is that you are adding it to the regular diet in such small amounts (generally just ounces per day), that it does little to alter the overall protein percentages across the diet as a whole. In other words, if you are feeding an average grass hay at about 8% protein, you probably NEED to add a supplement that is high in protein to bring the overall dietary protein percentage up to the 10-12% range. Broodmares in late gestation and early nursing phase will need even more protein in the diet (14-16%).

I routinely use Calf Manna for all of my broodmares starting their last 30 days and the first 60 days of nursing. It is also my foals' first feed, wetted into a mash. It is also my first line of treatment for any underweight rescue horses. Most equines find the taste irresistable (probably the ferungeek which gives it a bit of a licorice smell).

Do be careful, however, when offering it to overweight minis, previously foundered horses or horses with recurrent laminitis or other metabolic issues. The main difference between Calf Manna and ration balancers is the starch values. Calf Manna previously used animal protein as its protein source, but thankfully has changed their formula to utilize soy instead. However, CM is HIGH in starch as the pellets contain a good amount of ground corn. This is probably why is it so good at building and maintaining weight, but a high starch diet may be detrimental to horses with metabolic issues. One way to boost the protein percentage and nutrient levels for these types of horses is to add a small amount of ration balancer to their regular mare/foal feed or add additional flax seed (2-3 oz per day). The ration balancer will pump up the protein a bit, plus add some additional vitamins/minerals but WITHOUT the added starch. The flax seed will provide extra calories and protein.

Robin C

 

[Dandy]

Last year someone on the forum said they used calf manna the last couple months of their mares pregnancy and that the resulting foals had no problems being up on their hooves. (not problem with lax tendons). So I tried it and none of my foals were down like in the previous year. I used amanamax which is the same thing just a different company. I think one is Purina and one is Nutrena. Anyway, I am going to use it again this year.

 

[HGFarm]

I also have used Calf Manna for many many years with great success. Just dont over do.

 

[sixshooterfarm]

How much would you guys feed a mini mare that is about 2 months pregnant and is a little underweight. She has slowly but surely gaining weight since when i got her she was litterally skin and bones and now since i have added the calf mana she is really doing well but i give her about a 1/4 of a cup in her food. How much do you guys feed?

 

[Mulligans Run]

Are you reading my mind here? I'm so glad you posted this! We have used Calf Manna for over a year now and my horses and foals LOVE it. But this week my vets (all of them) found out we were using and and told us to stop.

Their concern is that the tanks that they're made in (or that haul it) aren't always cleaned out well and because it's a "cattle" feed, there could be chemicals/additives in other feeds that are left over in the tanks and are lethal to horses. We've been advised NOT to use it anymore.

I've also had other people advise that using ANYTHING that is made for cattle is dangerous for this same reason.

I've tried supplementing with the FoalLac pellets, but my mares don't like it.

Has anyone else heard this?

 

[Robin_C]

Unfortunately there are risks with any commercial product that you purchase. Similar to your example above re: the trucks hauling, think about the grain elevators where even our highest quality horse feeds are packaged. They don't have one for each type of feed. They run product after product, one after another, on the lines to fill up the bags of feed. Your horse feed could come right after a run of cattle feed. There have been documented cases of rumensin poisoning in horses due to this phenomenon. Have you ever found bits and pieces of "other feeds" in your feed? I have. Occasionally I will run across several kernals of corn in my pellets. All due to the way the grain mills package the products. You're bound to sooner or later get some of the "cross-over" bags when they end one run of product and start the next.

Calf Manna may have been developed for cows initially -- the product goes WAY back and I don't have the history on it. However, the formula has been changed and updated over the years and the package instructions clearly give information on feeding all types of animals, including horses. I have no fear of feeding CM, at least no more fear of feeding any other commercial product, have been using it for over 30 years (even before the new formulation) and have never had a negative issue with it. But I certainly wouldn't try to convince someone to use the product (or any product) once they were spooked off of it, especially by a vet.

But heck...I'm more afraid of, and vigilant of, the hay I have to purchase in the feed stores than any commercially bagged feed product. Now THAT's scary!!!!! :new_shocked:

Robin C