[Heavenly Jumper]

Tiffany is like a whole NEW mare...I have never seen her eat with such gusto. She even nickered at me for food! A total first! I am happy to see her interested in food...

Now that the baby is born, how should I change her diet if at all?

She is getting - (split into two meals)

Turnout 24/7 on mediocre pasture
1 lb BOSS
5 lbs Beet Pulp
5 lbs Triple Crown Complete
1 cup Rice Bran
5 pounds Alfalfa Cubes
10 pounds hay (coastal I believe)

Can you see enough of her to tell a little about her body score? I am going to guess her at about a 5.5 or so...

[Xiphias]

Honestly, more hay, or as much as she will eat....but me personally would be feeding her a mare and foal feed, they are made for lactating mares, I'm sure that what she is getting will be fine....if she starts to drop weight, then you will want to up her feed.....get some foal feed, and a foal feeder, so baby can start to test the feed, the sooner baby is eating foal feed, the better....they sell those foal feeders, that only the foal can get their little noses into, and the mare can't ....the best things invented....gives baby an head start before weaning....what a cute pic...I want to drive down there and hug her.... Cathy

[Heavenly Jumper]

Thanks Cathy.

The amount of hay I listed, is what she'll eat so far. If I go check and she's empty...I'll throw more

I was also thinking of adding in some "mare plus" powdered supplement too. I wonder how good that is?

And for the foal feeder...I have the top wire cover for one...but no plastic bowl for it. I wonder if anyone on here just has the bottom? The barn had an old one in one of the stalls but the bars inside it are too rusty and I think it's a lost cause...

[Xiphias]

You can get a brand new one for just over 20 bucks, here at Jeffers....
http://www.jeffersequine.com/ssc/search_results.asp?CID=1&mscssid=KS2G9FSTCUT59N23X 1FFQNX03QLL6AX9&keywords=foal%20feeder&cmkw=foal%2 0feeder

your baby will not be eating any feed just yet, but in a month it would be great for her to have her own feeder full of nice foal feed....as for a powdered suppliment...sometning like pellets would be better....ask, SueB or Sandra, what they think about mare suppliments, I have only fed weanlings, never had to feed a mare, with a foal....except at the barns that I worked, and they had their own feed mix, that I have no idea what was in it....as long as Tiffy is not losing weight, I would just keep on with what you are feeding her....Cathy

[Blistering Winds]

changing her diet should have been done months ago.

What I would do, take the EXACT same thing you are giving her twice a day, and add a 3rd meal.

That would be the best for her body at this time. 3-4 meals instead of changing things up

Mare/foal feed...the thing with that, is many calories, smaller "portions" technically....so you don't have to feed 3-4 meals supposively....though everything I've ever been taught, even with those feeds, you still can't keep up with a lactating mare.

[JBandRio]

Her weight looks fine. I worry about the nutritional value though, mostly for the foal.

How much of the TC Complete is she supposed to be getting, according to the bag? I'd bet more than 5lb for a 1000lb (?) lactating mare.

I would seriously look at adding a ration balancer - the TC 30 would likely compliment her diet nicely.

You can up the boss to 2lb and the rice bran to 2lb if weight becomes and issue.

[ches]

What about some alfalfa for the extra calcium?

[Sue B]

I wouldn't worry about increasing hay or other forage intake...with free choice pasture and about 15 lbs of alternative forages....she is getting more than enought. In addition, the TC Compelete and BOSS are also high in fiber.

The mare should have had something with appropriate nutrients added at least 3 months ago. But, too late to go back now. The TC Complete is faily well formulated...however not designed for a lactating mare...too low in protein for one thing. Because of its high fat content it most likely has more than enough calories. However, it is also formulated to be fed at a rate of 6-8 lbs/day. Because you are not feeding that amount (and I would not suggest that you do) your mare and foal are not getting adequate nutrition. You also are providing many things that are high in calcium and not balancing the phosphorous to match.

I'm with JB...adding a quality vit/min mix or better yet a ration balancer (TC 30% would be a good one) would help provide appropriate nutirnets.

[Dawn]

Given the situation and the stage of the game, I'd also vote for adding a ration balancer to the mix. She's not even getting enough of the complete to provide for the nutritional needs of an idle horse, much less a lactating one. If you keep her on the current amount of Complete and add in 1/2-3/4 of a serving of the 30% supplement a day, it should balance you out pretty evenly.

[Heavenly Jumper]

What!? I thought everything was good with her feed months ago! I posted about it and got her diet critiqued... I feel sad now that I was missing something...

Goes to find TC 30%....