When should new foals have access to water?

[twinoaks]

When should a healthy foal have access to a bucket of water? My new foal, now almost 2 days old, is thriving very well, and nursing well, but everything I have read does not mention when a foal should have access to the mare's water bucket. Can an experienced person please help me on this?

 

[vickie gee]

I worry about them stumbling into a bucket of water head first for the first couple of days. Before the mare foals and for a couple of days afterwards I keep the bucket of water suspended to the wall low enough for her to drink out of but high enough that a foal could not get into it. Once the foal is comfortable in the stall wondering about I lower it enough for the foal to drink out of. By then they are loving water just as they love mom's milk. My biggest worry is a mare birthing standing up and the foal going head first into the water bucket or while it is getting it's sealegs tripping head first into a water bucket. Yep, I worry too much no doubt. Your foal looks healthy and mobile enough for you to go ahead and put a bucket of water on the floor.

 

[Eagle]

I totally agree with Vicky, I lift buckets and then lower them when the foal is about a week or at least in control of his little legs and balance.

 

[twinoaks]

Thanks for all the great advice. That's what I was thinking; keep the water up for a few days to a week and then have it accessible. I have a large bucket for Mom out of reach of the foal at this point. Baby is pretty good on her feet. She was running and bucking in the stall this morning. Thanks again!

 

[Joanne]

We have our water down where the mare and foal have access to it. We do find that the babies play in the water with their muzzle, but do not feel they drink enough to matter.

The thing the foals seem to crave is the salt mineral block from birth on. They seem to need and enjoy this.

We have raised over 150 foals in the last 19 years with no problems with the foals drinking water.

We just have a 5 gallon bucket in the stall, so no danger of the foals drowning.

 

[Becky]

I don't withold water from foals. I do raise the water bucket in the stall of a foaling mare for the first 24 hours after a foal is born. I want a foal to be steady on his feet before he could access a bucket, but dehydrated foals are at risk for death. After the first 24 hours, a foal is generally pretty steady and will drink water as needed.

I've been raising horses since the 1970's and I've never experienced a foal of any size that preferred water over his dam's milk. They drink both as needed and my foals are always fat and well filled out.

I have a client who lost a newborn foal from dehydration last year, unfortunately.

 

[AnnaC]

We always have our water buckets up at mare height in the foaling stalls for at least a week after baby's birth. Our buckets are 3 gallon ones and if they were at ground level, maybe a foal would knock them over and not drown, but if a new born, staggering around to find its feet, were to tip forward and go in head first it could surely breathe in quite an amount of water before backing off or falling over. Not worth the risk in my opinion. For the first 3 days after the birth the mare and foal go out alone in a smallish paddock for 1 and a half hours morning and afternoon - loads of grass, no water. Then they join the other mares and foals in one of our big fields where there are several special water bins - about 3' in length x 2' width and only 8" deep - should a foal 'fall' in, there is plenty of room for it to gather itself, get up and step out! Once they are all about a month old, they move on round our other fields where there are normal automatic drinking troughs.

 

[Charlotte]

our foals have access to water from birth on. I want baby to learn to drink water as soon as possible should something terrible happen and mom not survive.

The same with feed. Mom gets a bucket of alfalfa soup right after foaling but after that she gets her concentrate and alfalfa pellets in a big pan on the floor. Most foals show an interest in the first few days unless mom is selfish with her feed in which case baby gets his own pan.

 

[Becky]

Diane, this was a newborn foal, that likely overheated from our extremely high temps last summer (110+). While it may have been too young to be drinking much water. my point is that I don't want my foals to not have access to water at any time.

Charlotte brings up a very good point. It's a very good idea to have foals used to drinking and eating well early on in the off chance something should happen to it's dam.

 

[Jill]

We've never restricted the access.