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Re: [RC] feeding broodmares - Bette LamoreHi SusanGrass hay is VERY expensive here in Paso Robles ($15-18/bale) and I wind up feeding alfalfa during the winter and forage to my main herd when the pasture gets low but I always keep my pregnant mares on alfalfa. The vets here tell me that it provides the extra calcium they need and prevents colic due to its laxative effect. They have cautioned me about adding grain of ANY sort as, Hal's foals in particular, the foal can become too big for the mare due to the fact that most of the grain goes to the foal's development. I have to say I've seen epithicytis (I never can remember how to spell that word!) in a foal and it was terrible and also a couple of windswept foals and the vet attributed both to grain during gestation. Ironic--- I've only seen crooked legs (although the windswept look went away in two weeks) in foals whose dams were supplemented with grain. The vets did say to give the mare and foal alfalfa and 8 pounds each of mare and foal pellets/day after foaling--- just not before. So far I have had big healthy foals--- any comments on this feeding regime? Oh, on the rare occasions the mare has become a little ribby from a huge foal, I have to admit I have supplemented with Senior (but not Purina--- a local one here that has 15% protein and some vitamins) just to keep her weight on but not make her hot. Has research lately dispelled the local vets' theories? Bette Susan Garlinghouse, DVM wrote: Yup, that's all true, alot of good mares will maintain weight very well on good quality grass hay alone. I still prefer adding in the broodmare pellets anyway just for the higher levels of minerals (especially copper and zinc) provided by the pellets. Somewhere around here I have a study that discussed a lower incidence of angular limb deformity issues in foals whose moms were supplemented during gestation, versus those that were not. We sure got alot of crooked-leg foals at CSU and invariably, the mare was on an inappropriate ration during pregnancy, though of course that's not the only factor involved. In addition, I have a farm that I work with whose incidence of ALDs went from 28% to 0% once the mineral profiles were fiddled with a bit.
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