Feeding the Weanling

Before weaning, your foal should be regularly eating forage (hay and/or pasture) and a quality commercial concentrate ration designed for growing foals. Equine nutritionists recommend not feeding a foal more than one pound of concentrate per day per month of age. This means, a four-month-old foal can eat up to four pounds per day, although it shouldn’t all be fed at one time. This recommendation only applies up to the age of six months. After this age, the average weanling should be eating anywhere from ½ to 1-1/4 pounds of concentrate per 100 pounds of body weight per day, in addition to forage. Talk to your veterinarian about your weanling’s nutritional requirements so you can develop a proper feeding program tailored specifically for him.