Lactation
Lactation is the period during which the mother mare produces milk for the foal. Mare’s milk has a high sugar content (lactose). The milk produced in the first hours after birth is known as colostrum. It contains a high level of antibodies and is therefore very rich in protein. Over the weeks and months of lactation, the protein, fat and energy content of the milk decreases, while the lactose content increases as a percentage.
The mare’s milk yield increases significantly within the first 2 weeks after birth and reaches its maximum towards the end of the first month of lactation, at around 20 litres per day for a warmblood mare. From the second to third month onwards, the daily milk yield decreases again. By this stage, the foal is already covering part of its nutrient requirements additionally through solid feed.
If the mother mare does not produce enough milk, a milk replacer must be fed using a teat bottle. Due to the different composition, calf or lamb milk powder must not be used for this purpose; instead, a specific foal milk replacer must be used.
Nowadays, many foals are weaned at around 6 months of age. At this point, a warmblood mare still produces around 10 to 15 litres of milk per day. The high-quality milk protein that the foal lacks after weaning must be replaced with high-quality feed. After weaning, the mare’s mammary glands regress.
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