Need to put some weight on a pregnant mare we purchased

[Chelley]

We purchased a pregnant mare (full sized horse) and she is a little thin-you can see slight definition of ribs and her hips bones are a little prominent. She had a foal in May though and I know my minis lose the roundness in their rumps for awhile after delivery, but I would like to see her filled out a little more especially for winter and the fact that she was bred back. Besides a good grain and hay regimen, what else can I do?

I hear people talking about a beet pulp, alfalfa and oil mixture-what ratio and what kind of oil? I have also heard of people adding oil to their grain-again, what kind, how much, how often? Also, I just purchased a weight builder supplement (maybe Farnam?-green and white tub-can't remember for sure) that we put in her grain-any thoughts on that or any good results?

Need something good and reasonably priced...if that exists.

Thanks so much!

 

[chandab]

Do you have any idea what feed program she was on before she came to you? How big is she? How old? What are you currently feeding her? What feeds do you have access to? Don't rush weight gain, it'll be better for her if its relatively slow. And, keep it relatively simple, don't go throwing this and that at her just because someone else uses it. Start with the basics: Good quality hay and grain (or pellets, depending on your preference), give that time to work before adding this and that to help. It may be something as simple as she's not getting enough or the right thing to fill out where she needs to.

 

[Kiss This]

When is she due, because if you feed her now to put weight on her you will only be putting weight on the foal & making it to big. The best thing you can do for her is to get the best quality vitamin & mineral pellets you can get plus 1 gallon of 16% feed twice a day plus as much good hay as she can eat. This is what a mare in good weight would get. As soon as she foals then you can up her feed to 2 gallons twice a day. Just make sure she has vitamins & minerals that is the most important thing for the foal, so not to take it away from the mare.

 

[Chelley]

She is about 15 hands, not a stocky-type, 14 years old, had foal in May and was bred back. Like I said, not horribly skinny, just a little thin. I have no idea what they were giving her, but she had been stabled somewhere and all the guy that we got her from said was that he was not happy with her care there. She gets all the prairie hay she can eat, a couple of large scoops of 12% pelleted grain a day with a scoop of the fat builder added, and some alfalfa pellets....don't really have a good regimen yet, just trying to figure out what she needs. And yes, I don't want to add too much too quickly, but with her being pregnant I am not sure what she actually requires each day. Any thoughts...well any encouraging thoughts

...would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Chelley]

She was bred in June, so due next May. So if I keep giving her the fat builder in her food that will just make the foal too big? Looks like I should up the pellets from 12% to 16% then, and she is already getting all the hay she can eat. She just never seems satisfied...even more so than the other horses. She will search for every last nibble of grain and then keep returning to look for any lost morsels. Makes me feel like she is starving or something.

When is she due, because if you feed her now to put weight on her you will only be putting weight on the foal & making it to big. The best thing you can do for her is to get the best quality vitamin & mineral pellets you can get plus 1 gallon of 16% feed twice a day plus as much good hay as she can eat. This is what a mare in good weight would get. As soon as she foals then you can up her feed to 2 gallons twice a day. Just make sure she has vitamins & minerals that is the most important thing for the foal, so not to take it away from the mare.

 

[Chelley]

We also gave her all her shots and wormed her-had some worms in the stool after worming but nothing excessive.

 

[chandab]

She is about 15 hands, not a stocky-type, 14 years old, had foal in May and was bred back. Like I said, not horribly skinny, just a little thin. I have no idea what they were giving her, but she had been stabled somewhere and all the guy that we got her from said was that he was not happy with her care there. She gets all the prairie hay she can eat, a couple of large scoops of 12% pelleted grain a day with a scoop of the fat builder added, and some alfalfa pellets....don't really have a good regimen yet, just trying to figure out what she needs. And yes, I don't want to add too much too quickly, but with her being pregnant I am not sure what she actually requires each day. Any thoughts...well any encouraging thoughts

...would be greatly appreciated.

To be honest, this sounds like a good place to start. If your prairie hay is like ours, its pretty much just grass, and moderate quality, so... I'd probably slowly increase the alfalfa pellets, til she's getting 3-5# daily, and see what that does for her. Leave the grain as it is for now, how much she needs depends on just how big those scoops are (and partially what the feed directions say to feed). Feed should really be measured by weight, cause your scoop might not be the same size as my scoop, and different feeds weigh different amount per volume. And, you'll probably find as she progresses with her pregnancy, she won't eat as much hay, so at that time will probably need an increase in her alfalfal pellets and grain.

 

[Chelley]

Thanks! The scoop is one of the large feed scoops, gallon sized. Why do they decrease hay intake the further along in pregnancy they are? So much to learn!

To be honest, this sounds like a good place to start. If your prairie hay is like ours, its pretty much just grass, and moderate quality, so... I'd probably slowly increase the alfalfa pellets, til she's getting 3-5# daily, and see what that does for her. Leave the grain as it is for now, how much she needs depends on just how big those scoops are (and partially what the feed directions say to feed). Feed should really be measured by weight, cause your scoop might not be the same size as my scoop, and different feeds weigh different amount per volume. And, you'll probably find as she progresses with her pregnancy, she won't eat as much hay, so at that time will probably need an increase in her alfalfal pellets and grain.

 

[kaykay]

None of mine have ever slowed down eating hay at the end.

I would feed her a good pelleted feed and the best hay you can get.

I agree all hay and feed should be fed in pounds. If you go by scoops you really do not know how much you are feeding.

If it was me I would not worry about the foal getting too big unless you make the mare obese. It can be very hard to get a pregnant mare up to weight if they start out thin, especially with winter coming.

I would probably put her on body builder a couple weeks just to get her going and then feed good pelleted feed (not sweet feed) and hay.

Make all feed changes slowly

 

[HGFarm]

Just plain ol' good feed and a lot of it. Hay, hay and more hay- of good quality. Make SURE she has been dewormed and she doesnt have teeth that are a problem (yes even at a youngish age they can have issues) With plenty of food to munch on she should regain her weight well.

 

[chandab]

Thanks! The scoop is one of the large feed scoops, gallon sized. Why do they decrease hay intake the further along in pregnancy they are? So much to learn!

My AQHA mare, when she was pregnant with her first, ate less hay her last few weeks, I attributed it to the size of her foal and how long she went, there just wasn't much room for bulky feed in her digestive tract with as much room as the foal was taking up. She went almost a year to the day from breeding to foaling, her filly was huge and came out ready to eat foal feed (she was eating a good amount of foal feed within a week of foaling). [The mare wasn't a huge milker wiht her first foal.]

My mini mares don't slow down on their hay intake, but my stock mares have.

 

[Chelley]

Thanks! It will be interesting to see if I notice a change in eating habits-we have one pregnant mini and this pregnant mare we just got for my daughter. She is a great mare but I was not so excited about her being bred. We have not had great experiences with our deliveries. We had a wonderful experience with the mini mare we have now. She had a really beautiful filly with no problems and it was so much fun...BUT we had 2 horrible dystocias that even with vet intervention we lost...SAD, so needless to say we are apprehensive about anything that is pregnant. I want to get her to a healthier looking weight, but don't want to make a big baby, as someone earlier suggested could happen. So many variables with feed and each horse is so different-no one size fits all answer.

My AQHA mare, when she was pregnant with her first, ate less hay her last few weeks, I attributed it to the size of her foal and how long she went, there just wasn't much room for bulky feed in her digestive tract with as much room as the foal was taking up. She went almost a year to the day from breeding to foaling, her filly was huge and came out ready to eat foal feed (she was eating a good amount of foal feed within a week of foaling). [The mare wasn't a huge milker wiht her first foal.]

My mini mares don't slow down on their hay intake, but my stock mares have.