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Re: [RC] feeding broodmares - Susan Garlinghouse, DVM. I'd appreciate any advice anyone may have about feeding her while she's pregnant, supplementing, etc. . . Congrats on your new upcoming kid---babies are such a blast. Okay, about her nutrition and supplementing. For the first two trimesters, just feed her as though she weren't pregnant. If she's thin, you'd want to get some good weight onto her (though not obese), if she's already in good flesh, then no worries. During her third trimester (somewhere around the seventh month or so), start slowly adding a good quality broodmare and foal pellet. Repeat, a ration formulated for mares and foals, not just any old grain mix---the mineral levels are higher and alot of those nutrients are going into the foal's liver for utilization later on, as well as supplying the nutrients for fetal growth. About two-thirds of the fetal growth occurs during the last trimester, so this is a good thing to get right. Even if your mare is at a good weight at this point, start adding in the broodmare pellets. It's okay if she gets a little chunky---she'll need the extra reserves during peak lactation and chubbiness in horses doesn't mean foaling problems as it can in humans and cows. You don't want her getting outright obese, as the fat can infiltrate the udder and interfere with milk production to some extent, but a bit plump is fine (and even desirable if you were planning on a breed-back). The other reason why you want to start adding pellets in the third trimester is so that you aren't making rapid feed changes after foaling and when she suddenly starts losing weight during lactation. Other than the foal pellets, the only other supplementation I particularly suggest is some extra vitamin E---maybe an extra 1000 IU per day. There was a nice study published that demonstrated that mare's supplemented with extra vitamin E had higher levels of the protective antibodies in their colostrum, and their foals in turn had higher IgG serum levels and thus a stronger immune system. Good green grass is a nifty source of natural vitamin E, but add in an extra 1000 IU into the ration, anyway. Cheap insurance. As for forage, grass hay or pasture is fine. You can add in some alfalfa towards the end---the extra protein and calcium is nice, and usually easy for the lil critter to nibble on for the first few months. However, you don't want to ever provide free choice alfalfa to a foal over the age of about four months, so my preference is to provide grass or grass hay as at least half the forage ration, and then gradually delete the alfalfa as the foal approaches four months. One last thing, you might want to take a look at your mare's water source during lactation---she'll be producing around five gallons or more of milk a day and that warrants a source of water that's really pristine. A neat study observed that milk production at a commercial dairy increased by 10% (which is a huge amount) when they improved the water quality, so stands to reason it would probably apply to broodmares as well. I think horses drink more and better when they have a clean tub or trough to drink from, so you might consider that even if she normally drinks from an automatic waterer. Good luck and have fun! Susan G =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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