Nurturing Tomorrow’s Champions: The Important Role of Early Nutrition for Newborn Foals
The first few months of a foal’s life can shape its future, so it’s important to give it the best start possible. Receiving good quality colostrum within the first 8-12 hours of a foal’s life is vital and provides the newborn with a “starter pack” of antibodies, vitamins, minerals and energy. Most foals will be up and suckling within a few hours of birth and will suckle at least 30 times a day. Milk is the main source of energy and nutrients for a newborn foal, and it is important the mare has been fed correctly so she can provide the foal with enough good quality milk.
When is milk no longer enough?
The consumption of forage and creep feed starts early. Usually, the foal will start to creep feed after a few days. So, while it is still extremely important to ensure your broodmare is receiving an excellent diet, it is equally important to provide the foal with sources of good quality nutrition early on. From as early as 8 weeks, the mare’s milk alone may not be meeting the foal’s nutritional needs, and by 3 months the milk has lost a lot of its value.
It is at this stage that high quality grains, forage and supplements can be added. It is essential for these rations to be fortified with the correct vitamins and minerals. Excess or imbalances in calcium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, selenium and vitamin E are of particular concern and can lead to issues with bone development.
To ensure normal bone growth it is important to supplement the foal with calcium and phosphorus. This can help prevent the occurrence of osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD), which most commonly develops from around 5 months of age. Studies have shown that mare’s milk only provides a proportion of the requirements for these two minerals, so calcium and phosphorus should be fed in a 1.3 : 1 ratio which optimises absorption and function.
Copper acts as a co-factor for many enzymes, which means it assists in chemical reactions within the body. Without copper, thousands of metabolic and growth/repair functions in the body could not take place. It is particularly important for healthy ligaments and tendons, skin and hair quality, and red blood cell production, as well as having antioxidant properties and supporting immune health. It is important to supplement copper alongside the other essential vitamins and minerals. A critical time for copper supplementation is between 4-7 months of age, as the foal will have used up the liver reserves it was born with but will not yet be consuming enough dietary copper.
For the newborn foal, it is vital to ensure that the foal receives adequate colostrum in the first few hours of life. Getway is a colostrum substitute for foals, formulated to support the immune defences and reduce the risk of neonatal disease. It is specially formulated to provide the foal with good passive immunity in all those circumstances in which the dam’s colostrum is inadequate: debilitated broodmares, mares with mastitis, mares with inadequate colostrum or are reluctant to feed their foals and in situations where mare’s colostrum is not available.
For more information on our breeding products go to Breeding.
