Developmental Orthopedic Disease in Foals

utilization but it did not appear to make them more susceptible to DOD Supplementation of the amino acids lysine and threonine have shown to be beneficial in facilitating the reduction of bone lesions characteristic of OC that were already present in other monogastric species Both of these amino acids are in plentiful supply in mares milk but their supply declines as lactation progresses Well ahead of the initiation of weaning introducing a foal to a starter pellet using a creep feed system can help offset the increasing shortfall of nutrients in the mares milk as her lactation advances In 
general diets for both weaned and preweaned foals need to be between 13 and 17 percent protein on a dry matter basis Protein must be fed in balance with energy to support healthy growth Growing foal diets that are very low in energy will not support healthy growth regardless of the protein levels 
Can a Growing Foal be Fed Too Much Calcium?
Research has shown that foals fed calcium at 300 percent of the NRC recommendation do not have any more incidence of DOD than those fed at 100 percent of NRC Extra calcium is not necessarily an issue for the growing foal as long as sufficient phosphorous is provided Calcium and phosphorous must be fed at a ratio of approximately 1 51 to a maximum of 31 respectively for optimum bone development Excessive calcium without sufficient phosphorous is not good for growing horses of any age as it can tie up the availability of other minerals such as magnesium iodine zinc and manganese just to name a few Extra calcium must also be excreted though the urine which can put undue stress on the kidneys of the growing foal Foals fed high levels of phosphorous relative to calcium will have an increased risk of DOD as phosphorous will tie up available calcium which interferes with the ossification of the chondrocytes Forages are generally low in phosphorous but grains can be high For this reason caution should be taken in supplementing the diets of growing foals with grains such as oats barley or COB corn oatsbarley 
Mares milk provides a good supply of both calcium and phosphorous but according to the NRC equine nutritional guidelines it ceases to be an adequate supply for the growing foal past about three months of age This fact again supports the concept of getting foals started on a