FEEDING THE FOAL Y From Birth to Weaning

By Marty Adams, PhD, PAS Cargill Technical Services Equine Nutri�onist

Your new foal arrives, and you want to provide for its proper growth and health. The first considera�on is to make sure that the foal receives an adequate amount of quality colostrum from the dam.

Your mare’s first milk is called colostrum, and it contains an�bodies that provide immunity for the foal against infec�ous diseases. These an�bodies are absorbed directly into the foal’s bloodstream from the diges�ve tract. This direct absorp�on of an�bodies can only occur in the first two days of the foal’s life and is more efficient during the first 12 hours a�er the foal is born.

Normally, the foal will nurse o�en enough, and the mare’s colostrum will contain enough an�bodies or immunoglobulins (IgG) to provide sufficient immunity. Within 12 hours a�er birth, foals should have nursed colostrum from the dam, been fed a colostrum replacement, or had colostrum administered by nasogastric tube by a veterinarian. Colostrum can be frozen for up to two years, and sources of frozen colostrum are available and can be found locally at large breeding farms or through the internet (cyberfoal.com).

Foals can have the IgG concentra�on in the blood checked at 12 to 24 hours a�er birth to ensure that an adequate level has been achieved. If no colostrum has been provided to the foal by the third day or the IgG level is too low (<400 mg/dl), blood plasma can be administered intravenously by a veterinarian to provide a sufficient an�body concentra�on.

An orphan foal can be the result of the dam’s death, rejec�on, illness or lack of milk produc�on. Alterna�ve sources of milk for a foal include a nurse mare and milk replacer. The use of a nurse mare, typically a dra� breed, would be the ideal situa�on for the foal, but the expense for leasing a nurse mare could exceed the value of the foal. If the use of a nurse mare is imprac�cal, the alterna�ve is to provide a milk replacer and hand-raise the foal.

A high-quality milk replacer should have similar composi�on to mare’s milk and contain only milk-based protein sources. Progressive® Nutri�on Foals First® is a high-quality milk replacer that can be bucket fed, even in a free-choice manner (prognutriton.com).

The easiest and safest method to feed milk replacer to foals is by bucket. To train a foal to drink from a bucket, start with a pan that is so shallow the foal’s mouth can touch the bo�om of the pan without submerging its nostrils. Place your fingers in the foal’s mouth to s�mulate a suckle reflex. Change to a bucket with larger capacity as the foal learns to drink and the amount of milk replacer fed is increased.

Foals are normally weaned at 4.5 to six months. Milk produc�on by the mare is usually sufficient to provide a desired growth rate for the first two to three months and then declines to a level that will not allow a desirable growth rate.

Creep feeding allows the foal to consume feed on its own without having to compete with the dam. Creep feeding not only allows the foal supplemental nutrients to con�nue an op�mum growth rate un�l weaning, but also provides a balanced diet to prevent developmental orthopedic disease (DOD) during the first three months by supplying nutrients deficient in mare’s milk.

A desired creep feed for foals should be very palatable and contain high quality protein sources (i.e. soybean meal and milk protein), guaranteed amino acids (lysine, threonine, methionine and tryptophan), and high levels of major and trace minerals as well as vitamins A, D and E. An example of a high-quality creep feed is Progressive® Nutri�on Starter & Creep Feed (prognutri�on.com).

Start creep feeding the foal at one month of age and provide access to good quality hay at this �me also. The foal’s diges�ve system does not produce enzymes in sufficient quan�ty to digest sugars and starches un�l at least three weeks of age and should be provided only a milk-based diet un�l then.

Feed one pound of creep feed per month of age for the first three months if the mare produces a normal amount of milk for light horse breeds. Then increase the amount of feed to 1.25% to 1.5% of body weight daily un�l weaning, and adjust the amount of feed according to the desired growth rate and hay or pasture quality.

A�er weaning, the growing foal can be transi�oned from a creep feed to a quality feed for growing horses, such as ProElite® Growth (proelitehorsefeed.com), SafeChoice® Mare & Foal (nutrenaworld.com) or Legends® Growth (legendhorsefeed.com). Con�nue to feed at the rate of 1% to 1.5% body weight per day according to desired growth rate and hay or pasture quality.

Following these steps will help to ensure that you have a properly growing and healthy foal.