Good nutrition is essential from the time of conception to the birth of a healthy foal. Once the foal arrives, nutrition continues to be vital for both mare and foal to support optimum growth and development. Lisa Elliott – MSc of Equine Nutrition Solutions, offers essential advice to help produce a healthy youngster.
The first few months
During the first few months, most of the foal’s nutrition comes from milk so the focus should be on feeding your mare to support optimum lactation.
Lactation itself is the most physiologically demanding period in a mare’s life. A lactating mare gives 3% of her body weight daily in milk production and nutrient requirements are greater than any other class of horse except racehorses in full training!
During peak lactation (0-3 months), her energy requirements are double that of maintenance with an increased appetite (2.5 – 3% of body weight) to fuel milk production. Providing suitable energy and quality protein so your mare can produce nutritious milk to support the rapid growth of her foal in the first few months is essential.
Mares in peak lactation can produce up to 5 gallons of milk daily, so fresh water should always be available. Micronutrients like vitamin A, calcium, phosphorus, iron, copper and zinc will also be in high demand. These essential vitamins and minerals can be supplied through daily use of MULTIVIT Pro, fed alongside Coligone Powder or liquid which are full of calcium, to provide all the necessities you mare needs for optimum lactation.
Coligone also provides generous levels of yeast in the form of yea-sacc, which research has shown to improve both the quality of the mare’s milk and the growth efficiency of the foal. This makes Coligone Powder or liquid an extremely beneficial addition to your lactating mare’s diet.
Whilst good grazing makes a significant contribution to your mare’s requirements, she will likely need additional feed to meet the demands of lactation and balance deficiencies in the grass. If your mare is in good condition, then a vitamin and mineral supplement like MULTIVIT PRO, which also provides essential amino acids to build quality protein is all that’s needed.
However, if your mare needs some additional energy to support good condition, sources of digestible fibre and oil like Coligone Fibre Cubes, and ExSelenium Oil can help provide it.
Weaning and building a healthy Microbiome
From three months, the nutrition in mare’s milk will start decreasing ready for weaning. This is a significant transition in a foal’s life, occurring at around 4 to 6 months. Small amounts of a suitable complementary feed, based on the foal’s growth and condition can be introduced to coincide with this decline. This will not only help maintain condition when weaned but also help the foal’s digestive system and microbes get used to having feeds. Coligone Fibre Cubes are ideal option to get your youngster started with regular feeds and contain 10 per cent Coligone to support hind gut microbes and help keep the transition as smooth as possible.
Coligone Power and liquid contain a blend of pro and prebiotics designed to support, build and create a healthy, stable hindgut microbiome, essential for optimum digestive health. This is particularly important for foals, who need to build this microbiome from the moment they are born. Introducing Coligone around the time of weaning can really help achieve this.
Weaning itself can be one of the most stressful experiences in a young horse’s life. It can also negatively impact the digestive system and lead to potentially damaging imbalances within the hindgut microbiome. Feeding Coligone around a week prior to weaning will help keep things balanced, supporting the beneficial microbes and helping to mitigate the effects of stress to maintain optimum digestive health.
As the nutrition in your mare’s milk declines, her feed can be reduced. After weaning, she can be fed as normal, based on condition and workload. However, if your mare has lost condition following lactation, it’s important to re-build it.
Post-Weaning and Beyond
Regardless of the foal’s future use, the main aim is to support their genetic growth potential. Weanlings need good-quality protein containing the essential amino acids lysine, threonine and methionine for growth. MULTIVIT PRO has a great amino acid profile and when fed alongside good grazing will provide the essential protein needed to support early growth and development in your youngster.
Foals reach 50% of their adult height by 6 months and 90% by the first year but they need to maintain slow and steady growth, so the right energy is important. Forage should always form the basis of the diet for good digestive health and is ideal for correct growth. If your foal is weaned during summer, grass should supply all the energy they need. If weaning occurs in the autumn or winter, good-quality, digestible forage like haylage, is perfect for growth and condition.
If your foal needs additional calories, highly digestible fibre helps provide additional energy when needed. Coligone Fibre Cubes are an ideal choice as they are full of beneficial digestible fibre. Oil rich feeds like ExSelenium Oil are also great to help meet increased energy requirements. Feeds like these will help provide the right energy for controlled and steady growth, whilst reducing the chance of developmental disorders associated with feeding high levels of cereals.
Vitamins A, D, E and minerals like calcium, phosphorus, copper and zinc, are all fundamental for growth and development. Again, these can be provided through MULTIVIT PRO fed alongside Coligone to supply optimum calcium. Continuing to feed Coligone Power or Liquid, will also help support your weanling’s microbiome as they continue to develop and grow and provide consistent nutrition for a healthy digestive system.
Monitoring Growth
Monitoring your foal’s growth by regular weight taping and plotting this on a graph can help assess any potential problems. Youngsters that are growing rapidly will produce an upright curve which is an indication of too many calories and those that are growing slowly will show a flatter curve. These observations will allow you make necessary adjustments to get a steadier growth curve.
Muscle scoring is useful as it helps assess how well the youngsters’ protein requirements are being met. You can then adjust the protein supply, if necessary, for optimal muscle development Regular use of a Body Condition Scoring chart (BCS) is also beneficial to help maintain a steady rate of growth.
With the correct care and nutrition for your mare and foal through all stages of growth and development, you can help produce a strong, sound youngster with the right foundations for a long and successful career, whatever that may be.
If you have any questions about creating the best diet for your mare and foal, please contact us at sales@hbradshaws.co.uk
