LAminiatures
Well-Known Member
We all childproof our homes I am wondering what are the things that are best to do for the foaling stall and turnout areas to keep these curious little babies safe.
Foal proofing your stall and turnout area
- Thread starter LAminiatures
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I haven't had any foals yet but I can speak for the one that came with a mare for breeding. My dry lot joins our four board fence on one short side. The bottom board is only about 8 or 10" off the ground. Somehow that baby (that was 3 weeks old) rolled under that bottom board and was outside the fence. It wasn't out long when I found it but it did colic, either from the distress or maybe the colic is what caused it to roll and go under the fence. Either way I was distressed.
So all spaces that "look" too small - figured they need to be covered as those babies can and will find a way to get into trouble.
So all spaces that "look" too small - figured they need to be covered as those babies can and will find a way to get into trouble.
targetsmom
Well-Known Member
We go over the stall to make sure there is nothing sharp anywhere and no places that a tiny hoof (or head) can get into. So doors go all the way to ground, and we even lined a stall with bales of hay to keep the foal away from concrete foundation. Water bucket(s) for mare (refilled often) too high for foal to reach and in corner of stall. When Rusty was born he was running laps around his dam before she even got up and we had to move the water bucket out of his way!
For turnout areas, we have had good luck with lining our fencing temporarily with deer netting, attached with zip ties. No room for little heads or hoofs (or full bodies) to get caught or through. Living in New England, we have a lot of rocks in our pastures, so we try to remove the big ones or else cover them with little manure piles or bedding. We know someone who lost a foal that fell on a salt block and died. So salt blocks only go in corners!
I don't think there is anything you can do to keep them 100% safe, but everything helps. For example, last year our stallion dug a hole under the fence separating him from the mare and foal, and Rusty slipped under the fence (despite the deer netting). Both boys seemed pleased as punch about it though. Good thing I found them before mom or foal got frantic.
For turnout areas, we have had good luck with lining our fencing temporarily with deer netting, attached with zip ties. No room for little heads or hoofs (or full bodies) to get caught or through. Living in New England, we have a lot of rocks in our pastures, so we try to remove the big ones or else cover them with little manure piles or bedding. We know someone who lost a foal that fell on a salt block and died. So salt blocks only go in corners!
I don't think there is anything you can do to keep them 100% safe, but everything helps. For example, last year our stallion dug a hole under the fence separating him from the mare and foal, and Rusty slipped under the fence (despite the deer netting). Both boys seemed pleased as punch about it though. Good thing I found them before mom or foal got frantic.
LAminiatures
Well-Known Member
Thanks so much! I really want to be sure I have all bases covered. I know how curious all animals can get I wanted to ask the experts just to prepare myself.
Do you take your water and feed buckets off the wall?
Thanks for your help
Do you take your water and feed buckets off the wall?
Thanks for your help
rubyviewminis
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I just want to say that thanks to all the advise and postings here for the last four years now, I was able to provide our first foal with a safe and foalproof enclosure and stall, at least I think it's mini foal proof. We used a safe bucket holder that nothing could get caught on, and raised the bucket out of babies reach.
We used leach line pipe cut in half to cover the gap in between gate hinges, and the hinges themselves. It is more flexible and soft so-to-speak than other pvc pipe and worked wonderful, still there.
I was horrified when I read about the possibilities of mini foals drowning in a bucket, I hadn't thought of that danger. And thanks for the rock advice, these are things folks like us who don't have many foals would never think of. We even screwed rubber mats over a corner we had for outside water buckets. It was a railroad tie in the corner and pea gravel inside to have drainage when the yearlings played in the water in summer. I soon saw that our adventurous filly thought pea gravel was real tasty. Twice I had to open her little mouth and dig out gravel before we were able to finish covering that! She was sequestered in the stall until we were able to rake and hand pick every piece of pea gravel out of that pen.
We have 5 foot horse fence for those 40' X 40' pens and metal 4' mesh gates. The kind with smaller squares on the bottom. And hot wire across the top where the pens join the large horse pasture. I want to make sure no dog had even a chance at getting in.
I also used oat hay, with grass hay on top for stall bedding. The straw was too slick at first for baby, she had enough problems getting that front leg straightened out that was pinned under her while delivering. I read on here where shavings are not good to use for the foaling stalls for many reasons.
We took out the metal hay rack and used a metal barrel 3' high for our mares hay. Even at 20" that foal couldn't reach over and fall in. I watched them religiously on the camera for about a month too, I'm kind of protective I guess
.
We used leach line pipe cut in half to cover the gap in between gate hinges, and the hinges themselves. It is more flexible and soft so-to-speak than other pvc pipe and worked wonderful, still there.
I was horrified when I read about the possibilities of mini foals drowning in a bucket, I hadn't thought of that danger. And thanks for the rock advice, these are things folks like us who don't have many foals would never think of. We even screwed rubber mats over a corner we had for outside water buckets. It was a railroad tie in the corner and pea gravel inside to have drainage when the yearlings played in the water in summer. I soon saw that our adventurous filly thought pea gravel was real tasty. Twice I had to open her little mouth and dig out gravel before we were able to finish covering that! She was sequestered in the stall until we were able to rake and hand pick every piece of pea gravel out of that pen.
We have 5 foot horse fence for those 40' X 40' pens and metal 4' mesh gates. The kind with smaller squares on the bottom. And hot wire across the top where the pens join the large horse pasture. I want to make sure no dog had even a chance at getting in.
I also used oat hay, with grass hay on top for stall bedding. The straw was too slick at first for baby, she had enough problems getting that front leg straightened out that was pinned under her while delivering. I read on here where shavings are not good to use for the foaling stalls for many reasons.
We took out the metal hay rack and used a metal barrel 3' high for our mares hay. Even at 20" that foal couldn't reach over and fall in. I watched them religiously on the camera for about a month too, I'm kind of protective I guess
We TRY not to go crazy, but we do have solid walls in our stalls and on our slider gates and buckets are raised just above a foal's reach. We check for anything sharp or could potentially hook up a youngster wearing a foal blanket. If you use a heat lamp, keep it just out of head/nose height of the mare.
Our healthy foals are allowed outside of the barn when they are two or three days old. The paddock has two low water troughs (goat sized) and fenced with metal panels with plastic overlay mesh on them..... In the end you need to use your own judgment with what to use.
I've said this before, but when it comes to horse management -- that's where "horse sense" comes from.
Our healthy foals are allowed outside of the barn when they are two or three days old. The paddock has two low water troughs (goat sized) and fenced with metal panels with plastic overlay mesh on them..... In the end you need to use your own judgment with what to use.
I've said this before, but when it comes to horse management -- that's where "horse sense" comes from.
GrullaBlue
Well-Known Member
We used a smaller water bucket, raised higher, and just filled it more often. Taped the handles (where the loop is)....just didn't want to risk baby getting its head in the bucket. The turn out, I removed the standing hay feeders and just fed hay on the ground. I'm just paranoid I guess...and just did this for the first couple of weeks. When we had a small paddock fenced in white vinyl fencing, I actually took some spare boards of vinyl and tied them standing on their sides along the sides of the posts so the foals wouldn't roll underneath the fence, but now we have mesh fence, so I don't have to worry about that. And I also kept the fencer off....since I have a solid barrier already, (the electric is just to keep them from pushing/rubbing on it) I didn't want the foal to have to learn so rudely about what an electric fence was. Once the foal was used to the solid boundary, I'd turn the fence back on.
Angie
Angie
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