Posted 2018-04-25 9:52 PM Subject: Pregnant mare stopped eating her grain?
I keep my change in my pockets
Posts: 2985 Location: MN
My mare is due to June 15 about 2 weeks ago she refused to eat her sweet. Been giving her just about 4 cups a day. Bought a bag of race horse cleaned oats, she ate about 3 handfuls a day for 3 days and know refuses to eat the oats. She is happy eating grass hay. Should I be worried that she won't eat any grain? I keep offering her grain but no go.
Posted 2018-04-26 12:09 AM Subject: RE: Pregnant mare stopped eating her grain?
Expert
Posts: 5293
Sounds like classic ulcer symptoms. Sweet feed will do that. When they eat sweet feed they produce more acid , the acid hurts , so they learn grain causes pain. So they stop.
Posted 2018-04-26 8:59 AM Subject: RE: Pregnant mare stopped eating her grain?
Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12708
I've had many mares not want to clean up their bagged feed rations very late in their pregnancies. But your mare needs more protein than grass hay will provide to grow a healthy baby and provide high quality milk. If she doesn't want her bagged feed it should be replaced with alfalfa hay. At the end of term I replace any bagged feed with equal weight of alfalfa, and then throw the hay (grass and alfalfa) until they are on free choice. Right now my mare (day 345) is getting 3 or 4 pads of alfalfa and 4 pads of timothy for a total of 32 to 36 lbs of hay. She has enough to eat straight through to her next feeding and is a very healthy weight. Not too fat and not a rib to be seen. After foaling I will add back her beet pulp and fats if her weight falls off with lactation.
Posted 2018-04-26 9:03 AM Subject: RE: Pregnant mare stopped eating her grain?
Roan Wonder
Location: SW MO
Sometimes bred mares do that. Especially if you have her up by herself. If she is real heavy with foal they sometimes just get fuller and don't eat as much. If she won't eat grain I would give her some alfalfa with her hay. It will help her milk better.
Sometimes they stop for a week or so and start again, so I would keep offering her some.
Posted 2018-04-26 5:04 PM Subject: RE: Pregnant mare stopped eating her grain?
I keep my change in my pockets
Posts: 2985 Location: MN
Thank you cross spurs. I have been thinking about getting alfalfa hay.
Hay is in shortage up here. I went over to a neighbor today who has a show barn and she said good luck.
She is out with 3 other mares ( not bred) on a round bale of grass hay 24/7.
Would alfalfa pellets work? Since we don't have sheep anymore need don't have alfalfa around.
Posted 2018-04-27 1:28 AM Subject: RE: Pregnant mare stopped eating her grain?
Roan Wonder
Location: SW MO
dawnb - 2018-04-26 5:04 PM
Thank you cross spurs. I have been thinking about getting alfalfa hay.
Hay is in shortage up here. I went over to a neighbor today who has a show barn and she said good luck.
She is out with 3 other mares ( not bred) on a round bale of grass hay 24/7.
Would alfalfa pellets work? Since we don't have sheep anymore need don't have alfalfa around.
Yes pellets will work or if you have a store like Tractor Supply they have bagged Alfalfa. It just takes a little of either they are pretty high in protein
Pregnant mare stopped eating her grain?
