Weaning foals

[WinchesterGirl30]

Just wondering what everyone's opinion is on how I should go about weaning. With my last foals a few years ago I just left to one I kept but her mother let her suckle way to long and was in poor condition after a few months. So now I have a 6 and 7 month old foals. I would like to try the abrupt method as I me it seems tr least stressful (yes I know many would disagree) and I do have secure fields to separate foals and mares but they won't be vet far apart. Easily within sight and sound range which I have heard is a bad idea...so what's everyone's opinions?

 

[chandab]

My horse corrals are such that they are all within sound range and some within sight. It's best to move the mares, so the foals are familiar with their surroundings, reduces the stress a little bit. If they are eating well, at 6 and 7 months, anytime you want to try it, go for it. Many have luck weaning with the signs from the Farmer's Almanac. [There is an on-line version, but I've heard it varies a bit from the printed version.]

 

At that age, I would just separate and be done with it. I weaned my foals at 4 months, and they were always within ear shot and visual sight of one another, and never had a problem. I'll be surprised if you have any.

I know one set of 4 month olds, I went to separate from their mommas, to find that both foals had already been weaned by their mommas. Neither mother had any milk, and the foals were eating just fine.

Good luck, I'm sure it will go well. ~~Diane

 

[WinchesterGirl30]

Oh they are definitely eating fine but they are also still suckling. Neither mom will do it, they don't even try. So even if they are only like 20 yards apart it should be fine? Good glad the thing I read that said it wasn't was wrong then lol

 

[Rocklone Miniature Horses]

I think it ups the stress if they can see each other but sometimes you just have to go with what you have. I'm another vote for just do it lol i don't think it benefits them to pamper them about things like this. They just need to accept it. They won't be taken to a show alone by going away from the herd for 5 mins then back etc etc. Just do it and deal with what happens after.

 

[WinchesterGirl30]

It's already done lol. And they are not happy. I had planned on just doing it that way till I heard that it wasn't a good idea but it seems it's ok so they will deal with it...trust me mine definitely aren't pampered lol.

 

[madmax]

I weaned over 40 foals and they were kept within sight and sound of their dams, in fact just a fence line between them, and they were happier to see mom. All went well every time.

 

[WinchesterGirl30]

Yeah everything is good with mine too just wanted to make sure it was ok before I did.

 

[paintponylvr]

I have weaned many different ways.

Several years in a row, I separated the foals until all the mares "dried up". Then the foals were turned back out to be part of the herd. Then one year, when one of the mares foaled again - I'd often come out to the pasture and she'd have 3 ponies on each side of her and they'd each take a turn nursing. She was nursing her current year foal, her yearling, two other yearlings AND a 2 - 2 yr olds from other mares and she was bred back. It wasn't all the time and it didn't seem to hurt anyone, so I just mega-increased Sioux's feed and sometimes put her and her current foal in the roundpen to be by themselves (at which time she had access to free choice alfalfa pellets as well).

I've weaned one foal as early as 2 days and raised her via a bucket of mare's formula mixed milk and other ponies for company. Her dam wanted nothing to do with the filly (that was our first shetland foal in 1996). And just 3 years later, our first Shetland filly out of a different mare was doing great and we weaned her from her dam at 2 months of age to take her down the road to the boarding barn to keep company with an orphan TWH filly who'd just lost her dam and was "depressed". That filly stayed w/ the TWH filly until the big one got to be 5 months - at which time our filly came back to our pasture.

I think you need to base your weaning age on how your foals are doing - both physically and mentally - and how the mare is doing. I prefer to leave the foals w/ thier dams now up to 6/7 months of age, but that usually pulls the mares down too much so we wean earlier. I DO try to have more than 1 foal to wean together - but that doesn't always work either!

 

[paintponylvr]

Sorry, didn't quite address the OP w/ the right weaning answer!

We've done both the fence in between, a paddock in between and taking all the mares away to a pasture further away where they could neither be seen or heard (by us - bet the ponies could still hear)...

The way that worked best for me was teaching both the mares/foals that separation is ok/good. In that learning, from an early age, weaning just comes natural later. The working mares with foals seemed to have an easier time w/ weaning their foals than the ones who always stayed in the pasture(s) with the foals. When working our mares, sometimes the foals were left in the barn, in what we called a "nursery" stall. Other times, the foals were tied to either fences/in pens or to the trailer while the mares "working" (being ridden or driven) - did this with both large horses and the shetland ponies.

 

I always gave "lessons" to my little ones by tying them to the barn, and then "running the line" picking up feet, grooming, talking to them, clipping, etc, The mom's were moved to an adjoining pasture not 30 feet away, but seldom did anything more than look over and keep grazing. Then, after the "lessons", the mom's were brought back to the mare/foal pasture, and their day resumed as normal. It seemed to work well, and I did it over several weeks until the haltering, tying, etc., were learned, then did the leading. Since the mom's were pretty much ignoring them during lessons, when it came time to wean, it just seemed to be another "lesson day", but the mom's weren't returned to them.

They all just "stuck together" and food was left out 24/7 for them to creep feed, and all was well. They were REALLY happy to see me when I came to refill feeders, etc. Worked for me for many years.

 

[WinchesterGirl30]

Well all seems to be going well...except for the one afternoon I came home to this...I wasn't pleased but everyone is separated again and seems to be doing well.