What should I feed my foal??

[SeaGale]

He's 9/10m old, currently on Young stock cubes, stud balancer and chaff, but I don't know if that's the best diet for him? The young stock cubes have almost run out so if I do a swap I'd like to do it soon so I can gradually transfer over.

He's a full Forester, very fond of his food 😂 He needs to put on a bit of weight. He has 3/4 feeds a day and access to unlimited hay. He's currently being kept in because of the mud (yard decision, not mine) so limited exercise but I expect that will change soon.

What would you be feeding him?? This is my first youngster.

I'd not be feeding him very much at all - youngsters need to not be too fat as they will put strain on growing joints.

I fed my (native) foal very little and only in the winter - a handful of Alpha-A type chaff and a handful of soaked beet and that was mainly because hay was put out for a herd in a big field and he wouldn't really compete with the bigger horses for it. But he's a native so by definition a good do-er!

If he has ad-lib hay does he really need anything else, especially if it's good quality? Would be worth emailing one of the feed companies for advice.

The helplines are a great resource. Are you sure he needs to put on weight, he shouldn't be getting too much feed as rapid growth not good. I think I am a good diet too myself, definitely need less food!!

I've fed foals a good quality stud balancer along with an alfalfa chaff. If they need a bit more over winter, maybe add a fibre beet type feed.

Top spec do excellent stud balancers, one is conditioning and the other is low calorie. However, one of my natives is intolerant to soya so I fed him thunderbrook base mix instead, and he did really well.

Nothing beats good grass and hay though, so you might find an improvement once the spring grass arrives.

I know it's very muddy, but it's really not good management to keep a foal stabled. You would be doing better by him by finding somewhere he can be turned out with his peers, preferably 24/7. I have had foals from 6 months, and, even if it meant sending them a distance away, (which I did do, as our land was heavy clay) I would always favour that over keeping them in. They need interaction with other to learn how to behave. Are you really going to keep him in all winter for the greater part of the day and night until he is 4? You may end up with a very screwed up youngster.