Feeding and Care Tips for Foals

You have waited. From the time you poured through the magazines and flyers agonizing over your choice of stallion, waited anxiously through the breeding process and gestation, waited up all night for that first sign that your foal’s arrival was eminent, you have waited. Now you have that little beauty to play with, love, and FEED. For the most part the mare takes care of this but……….

Now it’s three months later and the little darling is growing like a weed. During the third month, the mare is at her peak lactation, and can produce 2-3% of her body weight in milk or 20 – 40 pounds of milk daily, and needs about double her normal feeding requirement.  As for the foal, the mare is providing 50% of the daily requirements, but it’s up to you to provide the other 50%. Special attention to nutrition sets the foal up for success in the future of its growth. Having a balanced diet for your foal of vitamins and minerals, as well as protein, can help to ensure healthy growth patterns for strong bones, joints and connective tissues.

While the nutritional needs of each mare and foal need to be catered to, the following are some basics to start out your foal feeding program.

1. Provide high-quality roughage (hay and pasture) free choice.

2. Supplement with a high-quality, properly-balanced grain concentrate at weaning, or earlier if more rapid rates of gain are desired.

3. Start by feeding one percent of a foal's body weight per day, (i.e. one pound of feed for each 100 pounds of body weight), or one pound of feed per month of age.

4. Weigh and adjust the feed ration based on growth and fitness. A weight tape can help you approximate a foal's size.

5. Foals have small stomach’s, so divide the daily ration into two to three feedings.

6. Make sure feeds contain the proper balance of vitamins, minerals, energy and protein.

7. Use a creep feeder or feed the foal separate from the mare so it can eat its own ration. Try to avoid group creep feeding situations.

8. Remove uneaten portions between feedings.

9. Do not overfeed. Overweight foals are more prone to developmental orthopedic disease (DOD).

10. Provide unlimited fresh, clean water.

11. Provide opportunity for abundant exercise.

As you consider each item listed, remember that with any changes, make them gradually. When feeding your mare and foal, try to be consistent with portions, adding or subtracting in increments. Watch your mare and foal eat occasionally to make sure that the food is getting eaten as you think it should be, and adjust as needed. Keep an eye out for structure changes that are effected by nutrition such as contracted tendons, Epiphysitis, angular limb deformities, Osteochondrosis. If you see something that is out of sorts bring it to your veterinarian’s attention and monitor it. Since the foal is growing very fast it is possible to treat issues with non-invasive methods with great success if addressed when the issue starts.

For more in depth specifics about foal nutrition, you can refer to the following articles:  http://www.aaep.org/health_articles_view.php?id=63 and http://americashorsedaily.com/nutritional-support-for-the-lactating-mare-and-growing-foal/.

By: Anne Wicke, Sampson County REINS Volunteer