Congratulations! You’re now the proud human parent of a beautiful bouncing baby! New foals are such a joy to have in the barn. Watching them explore the world around them and grow into their potential is such a wonderful experience. As with all babies, foals grow very quickly! You’ll want to make sure you are giving your foal the correct nutrition to support this growth and maintain good health. Integrity Mare & Foal is formulated specifically to meet these needs.
Foaling – 2 Months
- Your foal is born weighing 90 pounds!
- He gets 100% of his nutrition from mother’s milk
- He is rapidly growing! By 2 months, he’ll have reached over 20% of his mature weight!
- Introduce Integrity Mare & Foal as early as 3 weeks but no later than 8 weeks.
- Use the creep feeding method (feeding foals separately from mares).
- Feed conservatively, start with ½ pound per day, split in to 2 feedings.
- The 5/32 inch pellet size is easily broken down by your foal’s saliva, so it’s easy for baby to chew.
- Its 16% protein is from sources containing high enough levels of Lysine, an amino acid required for growth.
- It is calcium-phosphorus balanced, and contains balanced levels of nutrients your foal needs.
- By 3 weeks, your foal will start to explore mother’s food, munching hay and drinking water.
- By 8 weeks, your growing foal requires more energy than mother’s milk alone can supply.
- Her milk supply will also begin to naturally decrease during this time.
3 Months – Weaning
- At 4 months, your foal is 36% of his mature weight (360 pounds)
- He will gain an average 2 pounds per day!
- At 6 months, your foal is 46% of his mature weight (460 pounds)
- He will gain an average 1.4 pounds per day!
- Foals that are creep fed early on experience less stress during weaning.
- Your foal will eat a combination of mother’s milk, forage, and Integrity Mare & Foal until it is time to be weaned.
7 Months – Yearling
- Continue feeding Integrity Mare & Foal.
- Feed a total of 2.4-2.7% of your foal’s body weight daily.
- Your foal weighing 500 pounds should eat a total of 12- 13 ½ pounds of food daily.
- Feed 45 – 60 % of the total portion in forage, 40 – 55% of the total portion in Integrity Mare & Foal.
- Your foal should eat about 7 ¼ – 8 pounds of forage per day.
- Your foal should eat about 4 ½ – 5 ½ pounds of Integrity Mare & Foal per day.
- At 10 months, transition your foal to Integrity Growth.
- It’s lower protein and higher fiber content is more suitable for this growth phase.
If you have any questions, ask an expert! Speak with your trusted equine veterinarian, or contact Dr. Bray through our website.