Can pregnant horses eat fescue?

Asked by: Gina Ryan

Until they are in the last trimester of pregnancy, mares can safely graze fescue pastures and eat hay that contains fescue. Most experts recommend removing the infected grass and hay from the mares’ diets for about the last 90 days of pregnancy to avoid problems.

What can pregnant horses not eat?

Salt, water, and fescue.

One type of hay or pasture to avoid is fescue, which is often infected with an endophyte that causes problems in pregnant mares, including prolonged gestation, difficult delivery, and lack of milk.

What should you feed pregnant horses?

Dry mares in early gestation can basically be fed like any other mature, idle horse. Good quality pasture or hay along with a supplement such as Purina^® Free Balance 12:12 vitamin/mineral supplement or Enrich Plus^® Ration Balancing horse feed may be all that is necessary to meet these mares’ nutritional requirements.

What hay can pregnant mares eat?

During the first eight months of pregnancy, most mares can maintain themselves on good pasture with minimal supplementary feed, as long as good quality lucerne or meadow hay is fed during times of reduced pasture availability or quality.

Can you feed horses while pregnant?

GUIDELINES FOR FEEDING DURING GESTATION

During the early part of pregnancy, mares should be fed at a maintenance level of 1 Mcal/per lb of feed. This generally equates to 15 lb of good quality pasture and forage for the average sized mare (1,100 to 1,200 lb mare), with free-choice access to a trace mineral block.

Why can’t pregnant mares eat fescue?

Mares that continue to eat fescue are at greatly increased risk of prolonged pregnancy and a difficult delivery of the overmature foal; thickening of the placenta leading to suffocation of the foal during birth; premature placental separation; and failure to produce colostrum or milk.

What is fescue hay?

Tall fescue is a grass which grows on approximately 35 million acres of land in the United States. As many as 700,000 horses may graze fescue pastures or be fed fescue hay each year.

Is alfalfa good for pregnant mares?

The short answer is yes, it is perfectly acceptable to feed your mares alfalfa hay. If the hay is moderate quality or better, your mares will likely have no trouble maintaining their weight.

When should I feed my pregnant mare?

For the first seven or eight months of pregnancy, the mare requires no increase in levels of energy fed. She does, however, need sufficient intake of high-quality feedstuffs to maintain moderate body condition. be provided via a compound feed, a balancer pellet or a vitamin and mineral supplement.

Can a mare nurse while pregnant?

While frequency of suckling did not change in relation to pregnancy it means pregnant mares did not restrict, but increased filling of foal’s needs compared to non-pregnant herdmates. It suggests that lactating pregnant mares enhanced maternal investment to a nursed foal during early stages of pregnancy.

What kind of hay should I feed my pregnant mare?

If allowed to self-regulate her intake, she will likely consume 2.5 to 3.5 percent of her body weight as forage. Alfalfa hay should also be included to balance her protein needs. Alfalfa should never be fed exclusively (due to potential mineral imbalances). Strive for a 60:40 ratio of grass hay to alfalfa hay.

What do you feed a mare after foaling?

At peak lactation rate (six to eight weeks after foaling), an average-sized mare (500-550kg) will produce up to 20 litres of milk daily. The dietary areas to consider are energy, protein, calcium, vitamins and minerals. The mare needs to be fed at a sufficient level to keep her in good, but not fat, condition.

Can pregnant mares eat beet pulp?

Nonetheless, mares late in pregnancy are frequently offered additional energy in the form of concentrated feeds, such as those containing oats, soybean, barley, corn, beet pulp, stabilized rice bran, and other feedstuffs.