Feeding the third trimester broodmare

Hi all,
I was curious what everyone is feeding their late term broodies. My girl is 254 days. She’s been on 1.5 pounds of a ration balancer and 2 pounds of a high fiber pellet (per day, split into 2 feedings) basically for the last 100 days. She’s an easy keeper. She also gets about 1.5%-2% BW of T&A (mostly T) and is on pasture 24/7 (but the grass is pretty nil right now).

I’m wondering if I should make changes as she approaches 3rd trimester. I know they are supposed to be on a “rising plane of nutrition” but I don’t want her getting any heavier.

What is everyone else’s protocol for comparison?

Hi, I bred my mare a 5 years back, and although i don’t exactly remember the percentage of everything, by towards the end of her pregnancy we kept her with TnA (south florida “pastures” don’t provide any nutrition) at all times in paddock with open stall. Fed 1 scoop morning and afternoon (std. plastic 3qt) of Triple Crown Growth. 1 scoop soaked alfalfa cubes 3 times a day, with ~ 1cup of veg. oil. as well as pre-natal supplements she administered by injection. All this was recommended/prescribed by my vet who is a pre-natal and neonatal specialist. The foal turned out a healthy and beautiful girl currently 4 yo in training. But, it’s wisest to consult your vet as different mares need different programs.

Super easy keeping broodmares are a challenge, and I have one who is a super-fluff, so I hear you on the difficulties of how easy it is to over-feed. She needs enough volume to satisfy the chew urge all horses have and settle her appetite, but not so much that she explodes. It’s a very tight line to walk.

The best thing you can do is read the labels of your balancer. If it says that it is nutritionally formulated for pegnant and lactating broodmares, then you are good to go. Just start increasing the protein in her diet - and in your case it would be better to do this via a protein-sourced hay. It may take some tweaking to keep her from either losing weight or blossoming into a potato.

I feed timothy to my easy-keeper, which is 10-12% protein, plus timothy is fairly balanced calcium : phosphorous. As she gets to day 270, then I might add 3-5 pounds of alfalfa and this provides a bump in protein and adds some extra lysine. If she starts turning into a potato, then I may reduce the timothy, but maintain the alfalfa, or sometimes what I do is start taking the mare for walks in hand to increase her exercise so I can continue with the same volume of hay. This way we both get our exercise. :wink:

As long as she continues with a nice layer of fat over her ribs, she’s doing well. You don’t want her losing weight at all, ever, this stage in the game. Even if she is overweight, just work to maintain. The lactation demands after baby is born will automatically cause weight loss. In the meantime, the pregnant/lactating mare balancer will continue to serve as her mineral/vitamin source.

I have a round mare due in April. It is FREEZING here… it was 1 degree yesterday. I don’t turn them out under 10 degrees but when it’s this cold they get alfalfa/timothy mix outside instead of just timothy. She always has a haybag of goo quality grass hay that’s not too rich, but I have been tossing in two of the alfalfa/timothy mix flakes as well. And, in addition to her 1.5 lbs of Essential K GC plus, she’s getting 1/2 pound of Kalm Ultra (not calming, just low NSC with lots of fat). Everyone in the barn is getting a little “hotter” food with these temps, and they seem to be looking good. My broodmare is shedding out in a big way, praying this is a sign of early spring :slight_smile:

My mare that foaled last year got fat on air. I also feed Timothy hay (anything richer and she wouldn’t fit through the stall door!) and a ration balancer. She was getting the minimum recommended amount, but that was enough for the vitamins and minerals she needed. She stayed on the same diet all through lactation as well. Cheapest broodie to feed, ever.

With your easier keeper mare, I would work on the full amounts of the ration balancer before going to any regular fortified feed. That’s the first way to keep calories down and nutrition high.

So, up the ration balancer and remove the pellet.

Your mare sounds like mine–though a TB, a very easy keeper when she’s home on the farm and in foal. She’s been on a KER formulated ration balancer made by CFC: the 25% supplement pellets. I’ve added alfalfa pellets, and CFC Breeder’s Cubes (also a concentrate at 16% protein). She’s getting grass hay right now, pretty much free choice while it’s so cold, and soaking the grain ration.

Her daughter had our last foal–that one is 1/2 wb, and even more of an air fern. She has had only the ration balancer her whole life, including when she was in foal, with only a slight increase during her third trimester. Even when she was nursing heavily, she stayed very fat.

FYI, free nutrition consultation at:

http://www.ker.com/consultation/HorseOwners/ask.html