Feeding a bran mash was mentionned in the Complete Foaling Manual (by Theresa Jones) as a preventative measure to post-foaling colic. Having gone through that last year, I am willing to try anything to try to prevent it! But, as far as I know, a bran mash, while they appreciate it, will do nothing for colic… Or am I wrong?
Otherwise, are there tried and true preventative measures to follow in hopes to avoid post-foaling colic?
TIA 
Never heard of using that…my experience has been most mares aren’t that interested in eating for the first hour or so after foaling.
Personally, I’d go with a light dose of Banamine instead…when the mare started to act crampy, I’ve done that and it’s worked great.
I think that information is outdated, personally. I think the worst thing you can do for a post-foaling mare is change her diet like that. There is nothing magic about bran-mash preventing colic. The big thing is that it increases water intake, which is, of course, helpful for preventing impactions. Bran is high in fiber, which is also helpful, but so is hay 
Post foaling colic has a lot of causes, impactions, torsions, displacements, so there is no one preventive/cure.
[QUOTE=Hillside H Ranch;5533470]
I think that information is outdated, personally. I think the worst thing you can do for a post-foaling mare is change her diet like that. There is nothing magic about bran-mash preventing colic. The big thing is that it increases water intake, which is, of course, helpful for preventing impactions. Bran is high in fiber, which is also helpful, but so is hay
Post foaling colic has a lot of causes, impactions, torsions, displacements, so there is no one preventive/cure.[/QUOTE]
My thoughts exactly! Bran is not higher in fiber than hay… I could start feeding her some bran prior to foaling (ie 2 weeks before) and then, I could give her some on foaling day without worrying about the sudden changes to the diet. The mare I have in mind LOVES a good bran mash so it wouldn’t be too hard to convince her to have a bit of it in the last weeks when she gets pickier… But I doubt it’ll change much to prevent colic… sigh.
[QUOTE=Hillside H Ranch;5533470]
There is nothing magic about bran-mash preventing colic. The big thing is that it increases water intake, which is, of course, helpful for preventing impactions.[/QUOTE]
and that puts the thought out there about if you get more water into a horse with feed, soaking hay, etc, do they drink less, because they are less thirsty? :winkgrin:
I always give my mares a pound of sweet feed (their normal feed) as soon as they get up, and finish checking out the foal. I began to do this after having my baby. Right after delivery, they brought me a BLT and a coke. I asked why, and they said the body needs sugar after all of that work. Made sense to me, so that is what I do.
I have luckily, never had a post foaling impaction colic. <knocks wood>
I always give my mares a warm mash immediately after foaling. I put the feed tub right at their heads, to keep them lying down, and give the blood a chance to flow through the umbulical before the mare gets up and breaks it.
That said, it is not a true bran mash. I mix about 2 parts regular pellets (Gro’n Win) with 1 part bran. I add a tablespoon each of salt and brown sugar. This is to increase palatability, give an energy boost, and increase thirst, so the mare will drink). It is pre-mixed, so I just have to add the hot water.(almost soupy result)
I always give them lukewarm water after foaling too, as this also encourages drinking. Lots of hay.
Just my routine, which has worked thus far to increase initial energy and liquid intake.
[QUOTE=Hillside H Ranch;5533470]
I think that information is outdated, personally. I think the worst thing you can do for a post-foaling mare is change her diet like that. There is nothing magic about bran-mash preventing colic. The big thing is that it increases water intake, which is, of course, helpful for preventing impactions. Bran is high in fiber, which is also helpful, but so is hay
Post foaling colic has a lot of causes, impactions, torsions, displacements, so there is no one preventive/cure.[/QUOTE]
I also believe the use of high starch feeds contributes to the cause. After foaling, the mare has an open void in her body cavity until things get “back into shape.” If you “meal” feed enough of a high NSC feed (usually for milk production and to maintain body weight) you’ll run the risk of “starch bypass” into the hind gut. Gas is one of the byproducts of the fermentation of starches and sugars in the hind gut. The gas produced may or may not be enough to cause a gas colic, but why chance it? IMO, lactating mares should be fed concentrates multiple times a day vs 2 or 3.
I imagine it is based on the theory of everything in “that” area is slightly stretched out/displaced and that you want to keep everything moving. Similar to nurses keeping a close eye on the status of a woman’s bowl movements after she has a child.
My mares get their regular dinner with a extra portion of really wet hay cubes.
If you want to help keep things moving, add water to her normal feed if she’ll eat it that way, and 1/2c Metamucil (or generic) for several days after.
Or, as mentioned, soaked hay pellets/cubes.
Mine loves soaked beet pulp, so that’s a really nice way to get more water into her.
Alfalfa has a bit of a laxative effect on its own, so if she likes alfalfa pellets, and will eat them soaked, that could be nice too.
It is crazy though for me to be asking this. My mares have hay and water in front of them at.all.times.
Their gut should be nice and full and moving around well when they foal! :rolleyes: But since I am going through a bad luck streak, I want to stack the deck in my favor… 
I always give my mares a warm mash after foaling. Not bran though, I use their regular feed (Grow n win). Mine haven’t had post foaling colics either.
Just a note about bran mash since I had never heard this before… (not colic related, sorry to side track with this)… Don’t give a mare who’s IR bran mash. It can cause them to founder becuase it converts to sugar quickly.
I gave my mare a couple pounds of her ration balancer post foaling the other night not so much to prevent colic but to get her to stand still for a couple of minutes. She was very agitated and crampy so she was stall walking like crazy and keeping the baby moving too much. She doesn’t ever stall walk any other time. Banamine didn’t help so I eventually gave her some xylazine while she was down rolling. That forced her to lie still for about 20 minutes and when she got up she was much quieter. She was nowhere near her normal self but better than she was before.
Grass. High in water. Laxative. And it is what a mare would eat post foaling in nature.
I will hand walk a mare after foaling and bonding and nursing to eat grass.
I read somewhere that bran mash was actually NOT good to give ANYTIME. I have NEVER in my life given a bran mash. In 35 years the only colics I have had were related to poor water intake. There are lots of ways to get water in.
I had a post foaling colic several years ago which resulted in the mare and foal spending several nights in the Equine Specialty Hospital and many $$ spent. Luckily the mare ended up being fine. What the vet then recommended (and I have done for the last 4 or 5 years with good results) is the following: About 2 weeks before foaling, our mares are gradually switched to Purina Equine Sr feed which we feed wet along with free choice 2nd cutting hay and appropriate supplements. Purina Sr. is a very easily digested feed with built in fiber and feeding it wet helps to keep the mare hydrated. They stay on the wet Sr. feed for at least 2 weeks post foaling and then are gradually switched back over to Strategy Healthy Edge. I also give 1/2 cup mineral oil in the wet Sr. feed for the first couple of feedings post foaling until the mare’s digestion seems to working well and she is passing manure normally. Even if you offer plenty of water at all times, sometimes the fluid intake goes to milk production and doesnt end up sufficiently hydrating the digestive process. And while grass is great for new moms, it is not usually available where I live in early Spring - we often still have snow on the ground and then mud for weeks.
LOL, unless you have a foal with a mind of his own who wants to dash off, and a frantic mare who is insistent she follow him everywhere :lol:
I read somewhere that bran mash was actually NOT good to give ANYTIME. I have NEVER in my life given a bran mash. In 35 years the only colics I have had were related to poor water intake. There are lots of ways to get water in.
Bran is not inherently bad. Wheat bran is less nutritional than rice bran, both are high in phosphorous, but in small amounts neither are harmful. Many horses REALLY love the taste of wheat bran, so a cup or a pound a day can be very helpful and not at all harmful.
It’s the once a week or once a month many pounds of wheat bran that replaces a meal that is more likely to get a horse into trouble.
I was told years ago by a top equine nutritionist that feeding the occasional bran mash only makes the owner feel good. Introducing a different “feed” to the equine digestive system tends to strip the existing flora in order to develop a different strain for the “new” feed. This is why bran mashes quite often result in loose stools…
Any mare is in danger of colic post foaling because her whole digestive tract has been displaced by the growing foal and now needs to go back into place. This takes about 30 to 60 days and that’s when there’s the risk for colic. I had one mare whose small or large intestine got hung up on the cecum and she had to have surgery to correct that.
There are no magic potions to prevent post-foaling colics.
30-60 days? Wow, I did not realize it took that long 
[QUOTE=JB;5535257]
30-60 days? Wow, I did not realize it took that long :([/QUOTE]
Interesting how the 30-60 time frame coincides with approximately the length of time it takes a mare to lose body condition, which is usually followed by an increase of grain in her diet.
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