What Do You Feed A Newborn Horse?

Colostrum is the mare’s first milk containing protective antibodies for the foal. The best alternative to colostrum is antibodies from equine plasma, which is given by your veterinarian. The best alternative to mare’s milk is an equine milk replacer.

What do you feed a baby foal?

Foals this age will nibble dry feed, so provide Purina^® Omolene^® #300, Strategy^® GX or Ultium^® Growth horse feed in small meals throughout the day. They should be eating a minimum of 1 pound of dry feed per month of age per day, and nibbling small amounts of grass or hay in addition to milk replacer.

Do baby horses need milk?

In general, mare’s milk provides all the nutritional needs of foals in the first six to eight weeks of life. By seven days old, foals drink 25% of their body weight in milk each day. Though milk is unquestionably the mainstay of a young foal’s diet, the transition to traditional feeds may be swift.

When should a foal start eating grain?

At eight to 10 weeks of age, mare’s milk alone may not adequately meet the foal’s nutritional needs, depending on the desired growth rate an owner wants for a foal. In order to achieve a more rapid rate of gain, high-quality grains and forage should be added to the foal’s diet.

What is the best feed for a nursing mare?

Legume hay such as lucerne hay or chaff are good quality forage for lactating mares. Lucerne hay and chaff have a higher protein and energy content then grass hay. Grass hay can be fed in larger amounts and must be supplemented with a concentrate to correct nutrient deficiencies.

How do you take care of newborn foals?

A checklist follows.

1. Make sure the foal is breathing.
2. Put iodine on the foal’s umbilical stump.
3. Make sure the foal (including orphan foals) receives colostrum soon after birth.
4. Make sure the foal is protected against tetanus, either through the colostrum or by a tetanus antitoxin injection.

How long can a newborn foal go without eating?

It’s an emergency if: the foal has not stood within two hours and nursed within three to five hours. Failure to do these things may indicate a problem that requires urgent medical care. And time is critical because he needs to ingest colostrum within the first six to eight hours of birth.

When should you worm a foal?

Foals should receive their first worming treatment no earlier than 2-3 months of age⁴ with a benzimidazole (BZ) wormer (eg. STRATEGY-T^®). Treating foals less than 2 months of age is not recommended as there will be very few adult worms present at this age.

When should you blanket a foal?

Newborn foals often need a blanket when turned out in harsh winter weather. Keep an eye on young foals inside, too. On very cold days, a foal may even need to be blanketed in the barn. If a foal — or any horse — is shivering, he’s cold.

How often should a newborn foal drink?

The suckle reflex begins at approximately 20 minutes after birth, and becomes stronger and stronger with time. Normal foals nurse every 30 minutes, and failure to suckle is the first sign of a neonatal problem.

What helps a mare produce more milk?

Supplements for Lactating Mares
150g per day added to the feed of lactating mares will ensure that the mare has adequate reserves of minerals such as manganese, copper, magnesium and zinc which are required for the development of cartilage, tendons and ligaments. Amino acids are the “ingredients” for protein.

What Should I feed My first horse?

For a first horse or pony, 80-100% of its total diet will be hay or grass, with the rest as hard feed. If your new horse is a fatty, it needs to go on a diet. Reduce the calories and increase the workload. Go for a low-energy feed and provide total hay and hard feed at 1.5% of its bodyweight instead of the usual 2%.

What shots do pregnant mares need?

The mare should be vaccinated for Eastern and Western encephalomyelitis, West Nile virus, influenza and tetanus at the beginning of pregnancy. A booster should be given one month prior to foaling to increase the antibody level in the mare’s colostrum (first milk) and help protect the newborn foal from disease.

Do newborn foals need water?

A research study of mares and foals on pasture reported that the youngest age a foal was observed to drink water was three weeks old, with some foals never observed to drink water until weaning. With that said, you should always allow the mare and foal to have free access to fresh water.

What temperature is too cold for a foal?

A foal is considered hypothermic if its temperature is less than 99. Hypothermic foals will expend a lot of energy trying to keep themselves warm and can become weak very quickly.

What shots do newborn foals need?

It is generally advised that foals be vaccinated beginning at an appropriate age with a series of immunizations against tetanus, sleeping sickness, influenza, rhinopneumonitis and West Nile virus.

Can you touch a newborn foal?

“I like to start handling a foal before he’s even standing, if at all possible, and definitely within the first few days after he is born,” she explains. “I pet and rub him from head to hoof! I scratch him lightly on his chest and behind his ears and make it a very pleasant experience for him to have me in his space.”

When can newborn horses start walking?

Foals can stand, walk, and trot shortly after birth. Ideally, a foal should be up and nursing within two hours of birth. If the foal takes longer, it may be a good idea to call the veterinarian.

Can a foal survive without its mother?

Foals can absolutely not survive without their mothers until they are about 3 to 4 months old. A newborn has in fact only 6 hrs time, to be rescued before it is not viable. Gideon is a good example of that and with some intensive effort, he made it!

Do horses need light at night?

So he doesn’t necessarily need it to be dark (sometimes horses get their best sleep stretched out in the middle of a pasture on a bright, warm sunny day!), but he does need to perceive the immediate area as not dangerous.

How much space does a foal need?

Stall Size:
Bigger isn’t always better, but smaller is almost always worse. Your mare needs space to roll around and get comfortable during her pregnancy. At a minimum, we recommend a 12’x18′ stall. An ideal foaling stall size is 12×24 or 20×20.