How old before offering salt/mineral block?

[kristi@berrett-ranch]

Our little filly is only 5 days old and she is licking on the mineral block that we have in the stall for the momma. I was wondering if that is too young? She is also beginning to nibble at the hay.

 

[HGFarm]

This is normal... and we leave salt available 24/7 all year round. We serve plain & mineral, lol. I find that the Minis consume a lot more salt than the big horses ever did- guess their systems require more. Congrats on your new baby!

 

[kristi@berrett-ranch]

This is normal... and we leave salt available 24/7 all year round. We serve plain & mineral, lol. I find that the Minis consume a lot more salt than the big horses ever did- guess their systems require more. Congrats on your new baby!

Thanks for your reply

. I have noticed that my minis do consume more of their salt blocks than my full size horses

 

[chandab]

Most of my minis hardly touch their salt blocks or loose salt.

Do watch your foal, sometimes they get carried away licking the block and get diarrhea from it.

 

[HGFarm]

Interesting, we have never limited or denied salt and never had a problem. The only diarhea we have gotten is from when the mares come in season after the foal is born.

 

[Mona]

When I raised minis, I too (like Laurie) ALWAYS has a TM Salt Block in each pasture, and not once did I ever have a problem with it being there and foals having too much.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

I don't think I'd go out of my way to give them one until weaning, but if they find mom's, no big deal

 

[TPs flat rock acres]

what about grain.?? I give the extra sorce of food by offering mom grain to make sure she has good milk and I caught the baby in eating some of it. not sure if it woudl be too rich for her.

 

[Charlotte]

Our foals have available to them whatever their mom has from day one. Pasture grass, salt blocks, concentrate feed, hay, water. Usually by two or three days old they are tasting everything.

What if something terrible happened and mom died but baby had never learned to eat anything but her milk?

We've never had any kind of problem with this plan, since those babies put EVERYTHING in their mouths anyway....including my shoe laces.

Charlotte

 

[drmatthewtaylor]

Most of my minis hardly touch their salt blocks or loose salt.

Do watch your foal, sometimes they get carried away licking the block and get diarrhea from it.

I want to be sure people understand that the terms salt block, mineral block, and trace mineral salt block are not synonyms.

Mineral blocks are molasses blocks with mineral and over eating of these can produce loose bowels just like giving caro syrup to a human baby will.

It is a myth that animals will eat what they need, when studies have been done laying out all nutrients in front of an animal to allow them to create their own diet the most eaten nutrients are the most palatable ones.

Dr Taylor

 

[Minimor]

Well, I can say that when our horses had a mineral deficiency--they were not eating the salt and mineral blocks provided--and turned to eating dirt, when I switched to a made for horses mineral block (which does contain a small amount of molasses) they really devoured those blocks. I had to wonder if they really needed/wanted that mineral, or if it was the molasses they were going for. I bought a bag of kelp & gave that to them--and once they were on the kelp they cut way back on the mineral blocks. I was actually surprised at what a difference that kelp made to their mineral block consumption. When the first bag of kelp ran out they turned again to the mineral blocks. I bought another bag of kelp--they left the mineral blocks. When that 2nd bag of kelp ran out they did use the mineral blocks again, but not to excess--consumption was then what is considered 'normal' according to the label. Their mineral levels had finally gotten to where they were supposed to be, and they did seem to know that they no longer needed to consume so much mineral.

Now....I did early on buy one tub of the molasses mineral lick--that stuff is very strong molasses, not so strong in minerals, so with that yes, the horses are going for the molasses! My girls would get into that mineral tub and forget to quit--pull their heads out and they were covered in sticky, sticky goo from muzzle to ears! I considered that tub a treat, not a good source of minerals, and won't buy another one.

 

[supaspot]

I have always given them free access to salt/mineral lick and the vitamin/mineral/molasses bucket , when the had very little grass they went for the molasses bucket the most since I moved house last year and they get alot more grass they dont touch the molasses at all but still use the salt/mineral lick