Feeding the nursing mare

[MooreAcres]

My mare is way too thin for my liking. She is nursing a 2 1/2 month old colt. It is too early to wean, but I dont know what to do to help her gain weight.

They are currently getting about 6-8 cups (soaked) of beet pulp (equals 4 quarts, because it fills my 8 quart bucket halfway), plus 4 cups of LMF Development grain TWICE a day...and all the hay they can eat.

Ideas please... Increase her food intake more? If so, how much? Switch grains? Add other supplements?

 

[Reble]

My mare is way too thin for my liking. She is nursing a 2 1/2 month old colt. It is too early to wean, but I dont know what to do to help her gain weight.
They are currently getting about 6-8 cups (soaked) of beet pulp (equals 4 quarts, because it fills my 8 quart bucket halfway), plus 4 cups of LMF Development grain TWICE a day...and all the hay they can eat.

Ideas please... Increase her food intake more? If so, how much? Switch grains? Add other supplements?

I would think that would be plenty, has she been dewormed lately?

I would talk to a specialized in feed, where you get your feed now.

My suggestion would be a feed for mare & foal or

http://www.agribrands.ca/Screens/Equilizer.aspx

My horses are out on pasture & get 1 cup once or twice a day of equilizer from Purina

This way I can feed all my horses the same thing, foals, mares, gelding and stallions.

Works for me....

 

[MiniDashofBlue]

I dont know if this will help but I thought I might put it out there. A mare I know was getting very thin while nursing her 3 month old colt. She gets about 4-5 cups of pellets along with supplements as well as a big pile of hay. One night we were watching them eat and we saw that the colt would eat all or most of the pellets and the mare would rather munch on the hay. So now we have started giving the pellets first and waiting until the mare eats the pellets before giving them the hay. We also moved the feeder up a little higher so the colt cannot reach it. However, now the little stinker has figured out how to climb the side of the stalls so that he can get to the feeder, but themare is now eating almost all of it.

So basically I am saying, is there a chance your colt is eating more than he should?

 

[MooreAcres]

She was dewormed within the last month or so, shouldn't be due for another month at least. The grain (LMF Development) is a mare and foal feed, 16%. But I will talk to my feed dealer.

Both the mare and foal eat out of the feed bucket, but I dont think the foal is getting more than his fair share. This mare is a piggy, she digs right in and doesn't bother with the hay until that bucket is licked clean. The foal usually inhales a few good mouthfuls of the grain/beet pulp, then munches the hay for a few minutes before coming back for more grain.

 

[MountainMeadows]

I would add some corn oil to her feed - about 1/2 cup per feeding - it is straight fat and will help her thru this period. I would also start supplementing your colt with his own rations - probably 3X a day, I add Calf Manna to my foal's feed for the first year - if you can fill him up more regularly then he won't be so inclined to pull her down.

Stacy