3 months
It was suggested that I should be creep feeding. That it would build more muscle and topline. I think she looks perfect (but I may be biased). My plan is to start grain at weaning - at 6 months give or take.
Mom gets Progressive Grass Balancer. I know baby gets a few nibbles.
Thoughts? Recommendations?
i think she looks great! Keep up the good work!
I think she looks like she’s in great weight. I wouldn’t worry about feeding more to try to build more muscle, she’s a foal! I wouldn’t want to risk overfeeding and creating a fat baby.
I usually start introducing foals to their own ration alongside mom about 2-3 weeks before weaning. Though we do have a foal this year whose mother is a very hard keeper, and the foal was looking notably less developed than the other foals, with clear, though faint, rib showing at three months, so I starting giving her a meal of her own while her mother eats, for both of their sakes.
[QUOTE=epowers;8242662]
I think she looks like she’s in great weight. I wouldn’t worry about feeding more to try to build more muscle, she’s a foal! I wouldn’t want to risk overfeeding and creating a fat baby.
I usually start introducing foals to their own ration alongside mom about 2-3 weeks before weaning. Though we do have a foal this year whose mother is a very hard keeper, and the foal was looking notably less developed than the other foals, with clear, though faint, rib showing at three months, so I starting giving her a meal of her own while her mother eats, for both of their sakes.[/QUOTE]
I have the opposite problem with my hard-keeper momma, I worry about him getting chunky because mom shares her meals with him and she gets large meals 3x’s a day.
She looks awesome! And super cute in the video, too. As others have said, you don’t want fat foals (or fat youngsters in general.)
For comparison, here’s my filly at 3 months old. Took her forever to shed out her foal coat but she was in good shape then.
ETA: one of the things I have learned as a first-time owner of a baby is that it’s very easy to keep panicking over how they look … and usually if you wait two weeks, they’ll look completely different.
Everything in moderation; and also each situation is different. For me - I creep feed about 1/2-1 pound of soaked feed per meal, in the foal’s own bucket, and I tie up the dam with her own food on the other side of the stall. I start this as soon as the foal takes interest in it (roughly 2 1/2 - 3 months of age). Basically once I see the kid chowing down on mom’s vittles I offer them a bucket of their own. At this point the amount of milk the mare is producing starts to decline so adding a few calories doesn’t hurt. For harder keeper mares, it takes some of the burden off of them. I have not had any problems with fat foals.
My foals are also grazing quite a bit by this age and sneaking alfalfa from mom’s hay bag. When they are ready to wean they are already very accustomed to eating on their own.
She looks wonderful. I would give her a small grain meal of her own just to get her eating well before you wean. I always fed baby when mom was eating.
What is this person’s definition of “creep feed”? Some people define it as allowing free choice access to whatever feed, often oats. Gah. No. Others define it as simply a foal feed fed as a meal in a “creep feeder” so only the foal’s nose can get in there, not mom’s. That’s fine, but that’s just a delivery method, nothing to do with how/what to feed.
At 3 months, if she needed more weight (she doesn’t) I would not use anything but a milk-based foal pellet.
At 4 months you can start a regular growth feed, or a ration balancer. I used Progressive Foal’s First Foal Starter, and transitioned to their Grass Balancer. Any ration balancer will be fine. If she ends up needing more calories, then you need a good quality low sugar feed.
So in your case, you could start offering her a small amount of the Grass Balancer at 4 months, and work up to her recommended amount
Whatever you choose, get her used to it before you wean, so it’s one less change you make.
[QUOTE=Toaster;8242778]
I have the opposite problem with my hard-keeper momma, I worry about him getting chunky because mom shares her meals with him and she gets large meals 3x’s a day.[/QUOTE]
Well, I feed the mares so that the foals cannot steal the grain, because most of the time our foals don’t need any grain, and I want to be sure my mares, especially the harder keeper, is getting all the food I designate for her and is consuming all of her supplements.
Ditto what JB said - in its entirety. Very good advice.
Update- decided to try Progressives Milk Starter pellets then move to their growth in a few weeks.
Filly won’t touch it. Mom tries to mug me for it. I have not bought a creep feeder. Tried tying mom putting creep feed in mom’s dish since filly steals bites of the grass balancer anyway. Also tried feeding her out of a smaller bucket, still not interested.
I was hoping to be able to feed them at same time each day but would either tie mom or feed filly outside of the stall.
Any suggestions? Did I just waste $44 
I bought a creep feeder. Foal can feed at will and mom can’t access foal’s ration. The foal would likely eat it and check it out on it’s own time.
To be honest your foal looks to be in fabulous condition. I usually worry more about the dam as large foals can take so much out of them.
I’d introduce feed closer to weaning. Less is more for foals. I like them to look athletic not fat.
I would just keep offering the FF to the filly,and wouldn’t be opposed to mixing a handful of mom’s food with a handful of FF to start that way.
However, she doesn’t need her own feed right now - she doesn’t need more calories 
But since you have the bag, unless you can find someone to sell it to, you can work up slowly. I know my colt inhaled the stuff LOL
It is kinda too bad you got the FF though 
She didn’t need anything extra now, and by the time she does, she won’t need it to be milk-based. But, assuming you can get her to eat the FF, she can have it in small amounts now, and you can just finish it off by mixing with whatever she needs later.
I would not assume you will just get the Growth feed. If she remains a relatively easy keeper, that will be too much food for her. It’s just easier then to use a ration balancer as the base, and add alf pellets or something for times when extra calories is needed - just easier than switching feeds based on growth spurts
Vet was out yesterday and he suggested the grain so I went for it.
I just fed breakfast and baby ate several bites from my hand but inside a bucket. So thats a start.
She will always be on the same schedule as the big horses. Once weaned, she’ll probably want atleast a handful of something when everyone else gets their grain.
Probably a waste of money since I’m sure I won’t feed near the amount the bag suggests.
What was his reason for suggesting the grain?
I just don’t see any reason for it for a 3 (almost 4) month old who’s in good flesh.
At this point, now that she’s at least starting to eat it, you can just keep her on 1/2lb or so for entertainment more than anything, and then as it comes closer to switching to a ration balancer, you can mix in that same 1/2lb or so until it runs out, no big deal
Um, I just asked “should I?” and he said yes. Sorry This is my first so I rely heavily on his recommendations.
LOL! It would be good info to know his reason, for future reference
What JB said. I never gave my foals much in the way of creep feeding until they were nearly ready to wean. It is good that you got the milk pellets rather than encouraging the foal to eat grain before it can digest it. I would do exactly what JB suggests. When the foal needs the extra nutrients, it will eat it more enthusiastically. The milk pellets won’t hurt the mare at all. Enjoy your first foal!
It’s like when you go to your Dr. and totally forget to ask the important questions. 
I ALWAYS forget the important questions… And then when I ask simple questions I get the most complicated answers! Lol
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