Help Again Foals

[Zipper]

My motto is going to be It takes a forum to raise a foal.

The foals are 1-7mths old

2-6.5 mths old

1-6mths old

The wry mouth foal is 5mths old and the smallest is 3mths old.

They have been here 48 hours, when can I start putting halter on the foals and trying to get the burrs out.

They have never been handled and never had a halter on.

When do I start them on their weanling feed?

How long before I can separate them as I will put the colts together and the fillies together.

Thanks to everyone that is helping me.

 

[ionafarm]

My motto is going to be It takes a forum to raise a foal.

The foals are 1-7mths old

2-6.5 mths old

1-6mths old

The wry mouth foal is 5mths old and the smallest is 3mths old.

They have been here 48 hours, when can I start putting halter on the foals and trying to get the burrs out.

They have never been handled and never had a halter on.

When do I start them on their weanling feed?

How long before I can separate them as I will put the colts together and the fillies together.

Thanks to everyone that is helping me.

First I am comfused as to the ages of your foals. They should be on their mothers until they are at least three months old. They begin eating "weanling feed" along side their mother during this time.I am not sure what you are calling weanling feed. When they are weaned at 3-4 months they are then ready for hay and grain on their own.

The earlier the better for getting halters on, but do not leave them on when you go away as they will get hung up on something. Sounds like you need to just put time on them getting them used to you if they have never been handled. Any weanling will be hard to get to stand long enough to get burrs out. They have a very short attention span and love to jump around a lot. You may have to work a little at a time. Do not tie up a weanling to work on the other end. They tend to flop around and trash a lot and it is very easy for a weanling to break its neck that way. You can separate or keep the colts and fillies together any time. You are probably safe to leave them together for the winter. We usually leave ours together until spring and then separate

 

[targetsmom]

I am confused-- were these foals all just weaned and separated from their dams if they have only been at your place 48 hours?? I would be very concerned about the stress they are under and would be not adding to the stress until they settled in. For me, I would be feeding them all Stomach Soother or something like Maalox to help prevent ulcers. Alfalfa in any form would also be good. I would separate them soon (a month or so) but not immediately, again to reduce extra stress. Ditto for changing their feed - I would feed them whatever they were getting, maybe in more frequent meals, and make any chances very gradually.

Good luck.

 

[Minimor]

My motto is going to be It takes a forum to raise a foal.

The foals are 1-7mths old

2-6.5 mths old

1-6mths old

The wry mouth foal is 5mths old and the smallest is 3mths old.

They have been here 48 hours, when can I start putting halter on the foals and trying to get the burrs out.

They have never been handled and never had a halter on.

When do I start them on their weanling feed?

How long before I can separate them as I will put the colts together and the fillies together.

Thanks to everyone that is helping me.

I would give them a few days to settle in & get used to me before I started doing much with them. I would start putting the halter on them now, but only as a part of handling them to get them used to me--I wouldn't really work on actual leading for a couple more days--would just get hold of them, pet them, give them a few scratches in places they are likely to have itchies, talk to them, put the halter on, take it off, pet them some more & turn them loose. I'd leave the burrs for now--get them quieted down a little bit & leading a little bit so that they are easier to hang onto, and then make a start on the burrs. When they're not used to being handled and have never had a halter on they are not going to like having you pull on their manes & tails.

I would start them on their weanling feed right away. I have gotten foals right off the mares, in a couple cases as young as 3 months, and I want them to have the best feed available as soon as possible. In some cases they were on pasture & eating plain oats with their moms right up until they came here. I do not put them on pasture when they come here--for one thing this time of year the pastures are pretty much useless, the grass doesn't have enough nutrition in it for newly weaned foals, so they have to be kept in and they have to learn to eat hay and grain. When it comes to grain, I give them what they will eat, usually plain oats to start with, then I start adding a pelleted feed--some of them take to pellets right off, others don't like pellets at all, sometimes a foal will eat the regular foal pellets I use and sometimes the foal refuses those pellets but will eat calf manna--I keep trying until I find something the baby likes. Same with hay--I like to give them alfalfa, but if one foal won't eat anything but grass hay, then grass hay he gets, with a bit of alfalfa alongside, just in case he changes his mind.

You can separate them any time--right away, or leave them all together for awhile, it doesn't matter at this stage, though I would watch to make sure none are being picked on by one or more of the others. I would be a bit concerned that the 3 month old might be bullied by the older ones--I would divide them by how they get along and by eating habits more than by sex at this stage. If all eat at about the same speed that is okay, but if one eats the grain quickly & then pushes another one out & eats his grain too, that is no good.

I don't know what grain you're using; I really like the Front Runner Phase One or Phase Two pellets for the weanlings; both feeds contain brewers yeast and I find it is excellent for the babies that are newly weaned and might otherwise end up dropping some weight & getting bellies on them.

 

[AnnaC]

Sorry if I'm mistaken but if I remember correctly from your last forum topic, all these mares have now arrived at your place bringing their foals with them? If this is so then for the moment I would simply turn them out together in as large an area/paddock as you can - suppliment with piles of hay spread round the area if grass is lacking - and just give them time to settle in and get used to you.

If the mares are friendly and happy to have you 'do things' to them, then concentrate on them, ignore the babies. The babies will soon get used to having you around/near by and will take comfort from the fact that their dams are not worried by you. Go and sit down in the paddock and wait for the babies to come and 'investigate' you, gently reach out and offer neck scratches when the oportunity arises.

If you have stalls available, then once the mares are relaxed, move a couple of them at a time into the stalls (always more that one if possible so they have company) and just 'fiddle/groom' the mare, finishing off with a 'crouch' down on the floor to give the foal a chance to come over and say hello. Before very long you will find the foals wanting to come and see you and as they gain in confidence they will become more relaxed with you and you can progress from short spells of scratches to fiddling with manes and then tails etc to remove the burrs. There is no rush, just enjoy being with them, and in no time at all you will have you little ones clammering for your attention!

I am a complete opposite of any normal person where foals are concerned LOL!! None of our foals are weaned until they are 6 months old and none see a headcollar until AFTER weaning! All our foals are wormed and have their feet trimmed while out in the fields with their dams - just using scratches and friendliness to keep them still. Once weaned they are already used to us 'fiddling' with them and also to following us about for the fun of it, plus more scratches, so popping headcollars on simply becomes part of just another game and they are happy to play! Headcollars are put on and off while they are all together in a large barn, then perhaps a rope is attached to one while we walk it round the barn - they follow automatically as they have always done. They are only called into the barn for a short spell each day for their food - youngstock pellets, we have loads of grass! - and when they are ready to leave one is headcollared and 'lead' out again, following us and its companions, after a short way, the headcollar is removed and the weanling free to join its friends.

It only takes us about 5 days to have them all leading happily and we then move on to leading them further and away from their friends, they then learn to stop and start on request and get the real feel of control on the end of a rope. No problems and all handling is done in a quiet and relaxed way. I would never grab and grapple with a nervous foal just to get a headcollar on it (unless it was for medical reasons) I'm all for time, time and more time until a relaxed foal is happy and confident! Two months after weaning, daughter was having to clip two of our weanings for their first small local show......their reaction? "Clipping??? Oh it is just another of the games we play - no problem" LOL!!

Told you the we are quite mad here - but it works for us.

Sorry for the long post - I do tend to ramble on!

 

[Zipper]

Yes the mares are with the foals. One of the 6.5 foal did not come with her mom.

They were pretty wild when they got here so I put 4 in a box stall, 5 in another and the mare and 3mth old in another.

I havent let them outside yet.

I am just feeding hay and water.

I have 2 mares their mane and tail completely combed out it took me a day each to do it but they are beautiful and I have 2 foals tails combed

out just by standing and doing it while they were interested in the hay.

I just wonder what I should be doing as I dont want them to get sick.

Should I be starting the foals on their Purina Juvenille(that is what the feed store man suggested) because one of them has no mare with her.

Or is it to soon to add something new?

Everybody is eating the hay and drinking they are eating hay 24/7 like they have never seen it the foals are to but then they are big.

Thanks everybody for helping me.

 

[chandab]

Yes the mares are with the foals. One of the 6.5 foal did not come with her mom.

They were pretty wild when they got here so I put 4 in a box stall, 5 in another and the mare and 3mth old in another.

I havent let them outside yet.

I am just feeding hay and water.

I have 2 mares their mane and tail completely combed out it took me a day each to do it but they are beautiful and I have 2 foals tails combed

out just by standing and doing it while they were interested in the hay.

I just wonder what I should be doing as I dont want them to get sick.

Should I be starting the foals on their Purina Juvenille(that is what the feed store man suggested) because one of them has no mare with her.

Or is it to soon to add something new?

Everybody is eating the hay and drinking they are eating hay 24/7 like they have never seen it the foals are to but then they are big.

Thanks everybody for helping me.

I would slowly start introducing the foals to the Purina Juvenile feed, just a small handful each to start til they acquire a taste for it and then slowly increase the amount over time til they are at the recommended amount.

Of those that you have both the mare and foal; if they are still on the mare, let them settle in for a week or two, then start weaning the oldest foals. If he's doing well, I'd leave the wry mouth foal with his dam til he's eating solid feed very well, and even then I might leave him a bit longer. And, the little 3 month old foal, leave it with its mother for another 2-3 months, as long as its not dragging her down (and even this little guy can be introduced to the juvenile feed, now).

 

[AnnaC]

You need to let them all out as soon as possible - exercise is most important for the mares as well as the foals. If, as I think you said, you have 4 mares and foals in together in one place and 5 mares and foals in another, you will not be able to start feeding your foals (or the mares) unless they are seperated - they will fight! Also how big are these two 'areas' they are sharing? It would help if we knew a little about your set up and the amount of time you have.

As I said before you need to get them all outside, and then bring one mare and foal at a time into each of your indoor 'areas' to feed them and work with them individually.

Do you have grass paddocks - were they all out on grass paddocks before they came to you or were they in dry lots. This can make all the difference as to how you proceed with your feeding programme, so a quick explanation would help us give you better advice.

 

[Zipper]

You need to let them all out as soon as possible - exercise is most important for the mares as well as the foals. If, as I think you said, you have 4 mares and foals in together in one place and 5 mares and foals in another, you will not be able to start feeding your foals (or the mares) unless they are seperated - they will fight! Also how big are these two 'areas' they are sharing? It would help if we knew a little about your set up and the amount of time you have.

As I said before you need to get them all outside, and then bring one mare and foal at a time into each of your indoor 'areas' to feed them and work with them individually.

Do you have grass paddocks - were they all out on grass paddocks before they came to you or were they in dry lots. This can make all the difference as to how you proceed with your feeding programme, so a quick explanation would help us give you better advice.

They were on grass in a great big field and they could get in to one part of a barn for shelter. I dont have grass I feed hay year round.

I have 2mares and 2 foals in one box stall and I have 2 mares and 3 foals in another bigger box stall and I have one mare and foal in another box stall.

I havent let them out as they just had there vac. on the day I got them and it has been raining here ever since so tomorrow it is suppose to be nice out I am going to let each group out for awhile and then I can separate and maybe starting feeding a bit of their food as for the mares I got Purina Elite.

We have the fencing just have to get it up so that they are safe.