what do your pg mares eat

[yellerroseintx]

I have read many posts on feeding our mares in waiting..but I do have a question that is really bothering me and maybe someone can help. My little mare, 31" has a funny shape to start with, carries a heavy lower neck/chest..(Dolly Parden with 4 legs)...I have read soo many posts on the amounts the mares get and I am afraid she would blow up, if she ate that much. She gets 1 cup 2xs a day of 16% plus coastal hay. She is in a smaller pasture but Texas is dead and dry. I have added today 1/4 cup of a milk based supplement sorta like calf manna...she was on BOSS but I stopped that because of her weight. She seems to be one of those mares that stays fat on air, but I also want her and the baby healthy. It scares me to death that she will have problems birthing, but , heavans, I know you cannot NOT feed them.......she has hills she walks up and down daily...and is put up at night....??????? This is her 6th foal.

 

[Marty]

Thanks for asking this Kathye because I don't know if I'm really doing it right either.

Holly is nearly 34" and she is getting 2 1/2 cups of Omelene am and pm and all the hay she can eat 24-7. She has blown up like a balloon and looks similar to your mare in the stomach area but her back is pulled down too now and her nice well rounded butt is delfated. In short, she looks pretty awful. She also gets about 1 cup of Omelene at lunch time too.

I do think this is over kill. But she acts like she is starving half to death lately and I am worried that the baby will be born skinny or lacking in something. I'm just a wreck here.

 

[bulletandlacy]

I go by the feeding scheme of one pound of grain per one hundred pounds of body weight and I give my mare half a flake of hay in the morning and half at night, that should be enough to keep your mare well rounded but not obese. by the way you have a beautiful little mare!

 

[yellerroseintx]

Marty....I feel like we are in the same boat...you row for awhile..I am exhausted.....silly mares

 

[kaykay]

her neck is really thick and cresty. But i wouldnt make any changes in feed until she foals out and the foal is a few months old. After she foals though i would probably leave her open a year and try to get her weight under control. Cresty necks really worry me especially on younger horses. How old is she?

 

[wildoak]

What do pregnant mares eat? Anything and everything they can LOL. If it makes you feel any better, I have one who looks like that and isn't due till May 2006! Right now the mares due next year are only getting a cup of oats/Omolene 200 mix in the morning, along with hay, beet pulp and a handful of BOSS. Evenings they get soaked beet pulp and just a handful of oats. Also Grostrong minerals. Late term pg mares get more like 2 cups twice a day plus all the goodies but it really depends on the individual mare.

Jan

 

[yellerroseintx]

kaykay...she is 14 years old...her neck is all soft tho..very loose..ok..make me say it..flabby.....not like my stallions crest.he is a rock all over....or is it different for mares.?

Thank you all for your input...makes me feel a bit better....I think...

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Pregnant mares eat anything that has not been nailed to the ceiling

Then five minutes later they convince you they are starving!! I do not feed my pregnant ladies anything unless they are very early, in which case they are still getting winter grain. At this time of year they would be getting no grain at all, even if they were due. It does depend on the analysis of your hay, but with ad lib hay and a good vitamin supplement they really should not need anything else. We feed our little horses far to well, IME, and they suffer for it.

 

[yellerroseintx]

rabbitsfizz...thank you thank you thank you!!!!! I think you hit it right on the nose. If it were up to my husband they all would get a scoop a day. I have known ponies who get no grain and are as fat as a butterball. The hay we feed is of excellant quality, ....thank you for your response..