#cashfriday: Every Friday, both locations are offering a 3% discount on any purchases made with cash!
That means if you pay with cash on a Friday, you get 3% off your purchase!
As if Fridays couldn’t get any better…#cashfriday
Visit either one of Kissimmee Valley Feed’s locations to take advantage of the discount. Don’t forget to bring cash!
New Kalmbach Rabbit Feed: Store #2 welcomes Kalmbach Rabbit Feed to our shelves! We now carry four of their products.
Click on each product to learn more about their individual qualities. Kalmbach Feeds is a trusted manufacturer since 1963. We are excited to add on to our Rabbit selection!
These products are available at Store #2, located at 215 13th Street, St. Cloud, FL 34769. Contact us at 407-892-4040 with any questions! Visit us Mon-Fri: 9:00 am – 7:00 pm or Sat: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm to check out the new selections for yourself.
See an overview of Kalmbach’s Rabbit Feeds in the video below:
Head on over to Kissimmee Valley Feed Store #2 to take advantage of these February Astro Sales. Savings valid at our 215 13th Street St. Cloud, FL 34769 only. Stock up and save today! Please note the varying expiration dates. Don’t forget to download the Astro Loyalty App!
Oxbow – $2.00 off Select Hay:
February 2022
February Astro Loyalty Sales are valid at our 13th Street, St. Cloud location only, while supplies last.
Lighting & Nutrition for Breeding Late Winter/Early Spring: Mares that are not pregnant at the end of the year should be getting careful attention in December and January to make certain that they are ready for the start of the breeding season.
Horses in North America have a universal birthday January 1st. It may be desired in some cases to be breeding as early as possible while making certain that foals do not arrive in December.
The use of artificial lighting to help prepare mares for breeding is a fairly standard management tool. A common practice is to put mares under lights in early December. As a result, help get mares cycling by mid to late February.
Breeding earlier than mid-February is not recommended. A short gestation period might result in a December foal and a very young yearling!
There are multiple lighting systems, but all deliver 16 hours of combined artificial and natural light.
While you can use a light meter to measure illumination, a common rule of thumb is that you should be able to comfortably read a newspaper in any of the stall or paddock area when the lights are on. (Reading your backlit smartphone does not count!)
One caveat is that if you have mares that are due to foal very early, you may want to avoid putting them under lights as this has been reported to shorten gestation a few days. Again, you do not want yearlings that are only a few days old!
Body condition is also very important at this time of the year. If you have open mares that are below Body Condition Score 5, now is a good time to increase the plane of nutrition so that they are maintaining or gaining a slight bit of weight.
If they are over BCS 6, do NOT put them on a diet. A negative energy balance (losing weight) may interfere with normal estrus cycle.
Much of the country is having some unusually cold weather in late December 2017 and early January 2018.
Mares that are experiencing cold weather need to have access to unfrozen water, loose salt and adequate quality forage, supplemented with a balancer or grain product to maintain body condition.
Proper veterinarian examination, artificial lighting and good nutrition can set the stage for a successful early breeding season.
In conclusion, for more Lighting & Nutrition for Breeding Late Winter/Early Spring tips, visit Kissimmee Valley Feed. Check out our Horse Feed selection here.
Artificial Lighting: Preparing for Early Breeding, Bradford W. Daigneault, M.S. University of Illinois/U.S. Department of Agriculture/Local Extension Councils Cooperating, November 2012 is a good article on lighting for reference.
Article Source: Nutrena’s Horse Feed Blog
Omega-3 Fatty Acids Benefit Foaling Mares Before Rebreeding: When compared to cows, ewes, and sows, mares experience a short interval between birth and their next heat cycle. After foaling, the uterus undergoes involution. Involution is a process that reduces uterine size, repairs uterine tissues, and restores the uterine environment to a nonpregnant state. Supporting uterine involution is critical. The 11-month gestation of the mare often makes it difficult to maintain every-year foaling. Commercial breeders prefer every-year foaling. In a recent study, researchers set out to determine the effects of feeding docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid, on uterine involution in the weeks after foaling.
Visit Kissimmee Valley Feed for Omega-rich horse products.
The study used eighteen pregnant mares. The mares were assigned to one of two groups, a treatment group in which a microalgae rich in DHA was fed daily at 0.6 g/kg body weight or a control group. The treatment was fed from 90 days prior to the expected foaling date until seven days after first postpartum ovulation. Otherwise, the mares were fed similarly to maintain moderate to moderately fleshy body condition, including access to Bermudagrass pasture and a commercial concentrate at a rate of 1 kg/day (2.2 lb/day) before foaling and 2 kg/day (4.4 lb/day) after foaling.
Research ascertained reproductive health parameters. For example, through rectal palpation and ultrasonographic examination, including uterine and endometrium diameters, intrauterine fluid, uterine tone, and uterine echogenicity. Echogenicity measures the ability of a tissue to reflect an ultrasound wave.
Mares fed the DHA-rich supplement had smaller uterine horn diameters after foaling compared to control mares. Interestingly, DHA-fed mares had greater uterine echogenicity scores. Low echogenicity is generally related to increased estradiol. Estradiol induces edema and estrus behavior, so researchers expected lower scores as mares readied for rebreeding.
No treatment effects were observed for the other parameters evaluated.
Researchers concluded that “supplementation with DHA during peripartum may benefit uterine involution process and odds of early conception.”
“This research adds to the emerging volume of work that indicates omega-3 fatty acids, particularly DHA, is a useful nutritional supplement for broodmares,” explained Catherine Whitehouse, M.S., a nutritionist with Kentucky Equine Research. Studies in other species show omega-3s have beneficial effects on reproduction. For example, by modifying prostaglandin synthesis and metabolism, and by regulating genes integral to uterine function.
“The source of omega-3 fatty acids is important. Choose a high-quality supplement that delivers DHA directly, such as marine-derived EO-3,” Whitehouse advised.
Article Source: Kentucky Equine Research
Saint Cloud, FL 34769..
Phone: 407-957-4100
Fax: 407-957-0450
Mon-Fri: 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sat: 8:00 am - 2:00 pm
Sunday Closed
St. Cloud, FL 34769
Phone: 407-892-4040
Mon-Fri: 9:00 am - 7:00 pm
Sat: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sunday: Closed