The mare’s nutritional requirements increase clearly during this period. Energy intake should be increased by approximately 20–30 %, and protein requirements also rise by about 25–30 %, particularly the need for the important amino acid lysine.
The need for minerals and vitamins also increases significantly. The mare requires more calcium, phosphorus and magnesium to ensure proper skeletal development of the fetus, and for breeding mares a Ca/P ratio around 2:1 is often highlighted as optimal. Copper is important for the foal’s connective tissue development, while vitamin E and selenium play a central role in supporting the development of the foal’s immune system. A tailored broodmare pellet, such as Pavo Podo Lac, helps provide both mare and foal with the building blocks required for healthy and balanced development.
Would you like to learn more about how you can, among other things through feeding, reduce the risk of OC/OCD? Read more here: https://www.pavo.se/kunskapsbank/pavo-podo/
Do more in the Avla app
This article is just part of what's inside Avla. The app is where breeders plan their next foal, whether it's your first mare or your fortieth season. Open it and you get the full picture: every guide, every stallion, and the tools to put what you read into practice.
And Avla goes well beyond browsing stallions. It’s your digital breeding partner, with you from the first “which stallion?” all the way to the foal on the ground. Calculate inbreeding between any mare and stallion in seconds, so you can match with confidence instead of crossing your fingers. Track your mare’s heat cycles, log every covering, treatment, and ultrasound, and follow her through pregnancy with a calendar that walks you week by week. And when you’re weighing your options, Stig, Avla’s AI breeding advisor, is there to talk through matches and answer your breeding questions like a friend who knows their bloodlines.
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