"I'm Just a Baby!" ; Feeding the Weaned Foal

By: Dr Rosie Alcorn BVSc PG Cert VPS Cert AVP MRCVS

I'm just a baby!

Feeding the weaned foal

Weaning is the process of separating the foal from the mare. This typically occurs around four to seven months of age. The transition from a diet supplemented with the mare’s milk is a pivotal moment in their development. It’s a time when they may experience stress, lose condition, and fail to thrive. Weaning often occurs when we move into the winter months, where bad weather can also impact our weanlings' growth.

Why is nutrition post-weaning important?

Simply put, a balanced and optimal diet is key to a foal's successful growth. Foals with inadequate nutrition may lose condition and grow slowly, while those with excess nutrition are at risk of obesity and developing developmental orthopedic disease. Our goal is to provide a diet that supports steady development, ensuring our foals mature into healthy, successful horses in their future careers.

What are our goals with feeding at weaning?

It is not necessary to feed the weanling excessive quantities of feed. A good condition for the weanling is when you can feel a rib without having a significant layer of fat over it. Our aim is to provide an easy-to-eat, well-formulated diet that targets growth in bone, cartilage, tendon, and muscle and provides adequate nutrients to ensure optimal but not excessive growth. Providing a balanced ratio is imperative at this time. 

How do we achieve this?

Forage-Based Diets

As with our older horses, our diets should be based on feeding good-quality forage such as grass, hay, or haylage. This will provide the majority of energy needed in our weanlings’ diet. Good-quality forage is essential for growth. Recent research has shown that foals fed well-balanced, fiber-based diets have similar growth rates and improved gut health compared to those fed high-cereal-based feeds (1).

Introducing Concentrate Feed Gradually

Due to fluctuations in forage quality, we recommend that a stud balancer or stud feed should be added to the diet to ensure a consistent supply of correctly balanced nutrients and, for some foals, extra calories for weight gain. When introducing concentrate feed to a weanling, it's crucial to do so gradually. This approach allows the digestive system to adapt, ensuring the foal’s comfort and health. Fortunately, in many cases, foals will already eat small amounts of hard feed from their mums’ rations and will have naturally introduced themselves to a change in diet.

Suitable Starch Level

High starch levels in the diets of both mares and foals have been shown to predispose foals to osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD). Put simply, OCD, often referred to by owners as the presence of “chips” on radiographs, encompasses a much wider range of clinical orthopedic issues. This condition can have long-term health, sales, and performance consequences for our horses, as well as significant expenses. When feeding concentrates, we should make sure the starch content of the feed is no more than 100g/kg body weight. If you need help working out this figure in your weanling's diet, feel free to give us a shout!

Consistent and Quality Proteins

Proteins are the building blocks of our weanlings. They are made from chains of amino acids that, when put together, help form bones, tendons, muscles, and many more vital structures. Feeding high-quality protein sources provides our weanlings with the best possible materials for their growth.

Allow Adequate Levels of Exercise

Allowing weanlings to move and exercise is essential for their development. This can often be hard to achieve with our winter climate. Research suggests that paddock exercise increases bone strength and cortical thickness. However, it must be done for at least 12 hours daily, or bone density will decrease. In the UK and Ireland, we often keep groups of yearlings in barns where they have the ability to move freely. If your weanling is stabled, it is a good idea to try and allow access to some turnout, such as a field or arena, daily.

Keyflow Stud Range

Keyflow offers nutritionally balanced stud feeds designed for feeding in groups. Nurture and Nurture Pro are intended to be fed off the ground or on haylage at low feed rates. They are suitable for all broodmares and young stock. Nurture Pro is scientifically designed to provide the correct amino acids, vitamins, and mineral complexes for optimal growth. Nurture contains the same correct amino acid, vitamin, and mineral complexes, with the addition of extra calories. This feed is perfect for foals needing an extra source of energy.

References
Moore-Colyer M, Tuthill P, Bannister I, Daniels S. Growth Rates of Thoroughbred Foals and In Vitro Gut Health Parameters When Fed a Cereal or an All-Fiber Creep Feed. J Equine Vet Sci. 2020 Oct;93:103191. doi: 10.1016/j.jevs.2020.103191. Epub 2020 Jul 15. PMID: 32972676.