I really ought to feed her Lami Low-Cal but I thought she is supposed to be on Prime Original. Will she still get enough of a top up of nutrition for herself and the foal whilst she is on Lami Low-Cal?
It’s always instinctive to presume a broodmare must need ‘more’, and this is why a lot of them are overweight to start with. Particularly in the early months of pregnancy. We would always recommend Lami Low-Cal for any overweight horse – regardless of their individual circumstances. An overweight broodmare is certainly not ideal. As we don’t want to promote further weight gain, Lami Low-Cal is definitely the way forward to help keep those essential nutrients up during pregnancy without providing extra calories.
Depending on how her weight goes over the first 6 months would then determine whether or not to swap her to Prime Original for the last 3 months. If she is still quite a bit overweight it’s a good indication that she’ll have plenty to give to the foal once it arrives. So I would suggest continuing with Lami Low-Cal throughout the pregnancy. If she has lost some weight then she could be swapped to Prime Original as she is likely to lose further weight once she is feeding her foal.
Just as you would if feeding Prime Original, the amount of Lami Low-Cal can always be increased by 100g per day on top of the usual recommended feeding rate for the last 3 months of gestation, but if the mare is overweight this often isn’t necessary.
