Caring for the lactating mare
© Barastoc
Be prepared! If you are breeding your mare, once you finally have your new ‘super star’ hit the ground your mares’ nutritional requirements go into over drive. Your newborn foal will be growing at 1-2kg per day. The mare will be producing up to 20 litres of milk per day. As a result your mares’ energy requirement will be nearly double (175%), protein will be (220%), Calcium and Phosphorous increase to (270-280%). It is nearly impossible for your mare to actually consume this amount of nutrients so she will have to draw on body reserves to ensure she maintains milk production for the foal. This is why it is important to make sure you keep your mare in a good to moderately fleshy (CS3.5-4) condition score during the last trimester of pregnancy.
READ THE LATEST NEWS ARTICLES HERE
