When to wean?

[Brody]

Hi All,

I am curious to learn when others wean their foals, and (I'm more interested in) why you wean them at the age you do? I come from a background of working as an equine vet tech and assisting with many different breeding facilities of 'biggies,' and in the world of full size horses it was rare for a foal to be weaned before 5-6 months of age. As I've perused the forum here I have read quite a few posts of people weaning at 4 months. I also inquired of a friend who has been breeding minis for 20+ years and she said she often weans as early as 3 months. This (3-4 months) seems quite early to me, but as several people seem to do this, I imagine there must be a reason behind it - and maybe there is a difference here with minis and their full size counterparts?

I have just a few minis - a gelding, mare, and 2 month old filly. My mare is also bred back for another foal for next year. The foals (our filly and next year's hopeful arrival) will be staying with us forever - as will our mare and gelding. This will also be the final time we intend to breed. So, I have no need to wean for the purpose of selling - as our small heard will spend the rest of their days with each other. At this point my inclination is to let nature take its course, keep my little herd all together, and let the mare do the job of weaning her current foal when the time comes. I would only step in to intervene if the mares health/ weight were to be compromised in any way from both nursing a current foal and being pregnant. With my experience with full size horses, a mare would typically begin to wean her foal naturally around 6-7 months if she was pregnant with another foal.

As my experience with mini foals is limited, though, I would be grateful for any and all opinions and comments on the topic. Again, I am most in learning why others choose to wean when they do. Thanks in advance for comments and help!

 

[Riverrose28]

I've weaned at different ages and for different reasons. I have weaned one mare at four months because she was being shown that year and I didn't want her screaming for Mom in the show ring. Usually I wean at six months but I'm from the arab horse world so I guess I'm stuck in that rut. I did need to wean another filly at five months because the mare had hypocalcimia,(not sure of the spelling). Vet once told me that the mares milk start to decline after two months. This last colt I left with his mom until he was around nine months old, he started mounting her so I took her away from him. I once left an arab colt with his Mom till he was a yearling and took her away two weeks after he was gelded and put him in with the other geldings. You will get different opinions on this topic.

 

[Miniv]

This is just what WE do...since our first foal was born in 1992....

Three months is too young, IMO. We have only done it under special circumstances, such as - for the mare's health.

Normally 4 months is the absolute youngest we do.....6 months is preferable and the usual. By the 6th month the mare AND foal are

more independent from each other and the process is more natural when the separation occurs. We've used the Farmer's

Almanac as a guide for a date within each month and it really does help.

 

I have always looked to wean around four months. Usually, two are weaned at the same time. However, one year, when I was pulling the final two fillies to wean at four months, I separated them from their mommas, and then checked both mare's bags -- just to find that both had weaned their fillies themselves, and there were no "bags" left! First time that every happened to me.

I have had to wean earlier than 4 months because of a mare losing weight and not maintaining, so for her health and well being I weaned baby early. But as a general rule -- 4 months was the earliest. I have also had to wait to wean one foal until almost 6 months, because she was "slow" to develop independence from momma -- so I thought it best to wait until she showed more signs of leaving momma and being more of "her own horse" so to speak.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I wean when the mare is ready to let the foal go and the foal is fully halter trained and confident. So...it varies! I also wean in batches of at least two, so they buddy up and are not so worried. The youngest I have weaned was two months on Vet advise as Mama was sick- the foal, just like my orphans, was fine- needed supplementation, obviously, but fine.

A word of warning: Mares do not wean their foals, and also, leaving the foal on could easily make it immature and clingy- worst scenario, you could lose the colostrum meant for the next foal. Best scenario, filly could still be badly hurt when her Mama suddenly turns on her and starts driving her away because she knows the next foal is due. First foal will paw at the mare when she is foaling, could hurt the foal etc etc. Best for all to actually wean. Weaning is NOT "natural" but it IS necessary!!

 

[Brody]

Thanks all for the responses and the opinions. Jane, I was first a bit confused about your comment that weaning is not natural but necessary, but I think that is because you probably understood what I meant by 'natural' differently than what I intended. By natural I mean the way the weaning process usually happens in the wild. I realize my domestic horses are not going to behave the way horses do in the wild, and that I will have to intervene in the process - but my goal is to have my intervention replicate as closely as possible what would happen 'naturally' in the wild. So - that is what I meant to express in my first comment, definitely not that I just intend to let the filly nurse until whenever. Actually what I meant by natural seems to be what you described doing in your first couple sentences - waiting until the mare and foal are both ready. You mentioned the earliest you've weaned, I'm curious what the latest is that you have weaned (and everything went well)? I do appreciate your comment as it really got me to think, and to do a bit more research on the topic. I came across a few more research studies that discuss the topic and the general conclusions seem to be that in the wild, if a mare is pregnant and due to foal the following spring, she will start to wean her foal around 8-9 months of age and gradually cut them off before the new foal is born. This is more along the lines of what I was wanting to do. One of the main questions that I still had, and where I really appreciate the feedback I have gotten so far - is how this process might be different in minis... The wild horse studies are mostly of mustang herds and all of full-size horses, so figuring out any difference in the process between minis and biggies is where this forum is super helpful! Particularly, consideration of when is 'too late' and the foal starts to be at risk of developing undesired behaviors. So thanks for the feedback and comments.

 

[FurstPlaceMiniatures]

The mare we foaled weaned her filly at barely 3 mos baby was gumming hay from day one. They were ready. We separated them. They went their seperate ways. Wasn't dramatic at all.

When the mare starts pushing the baby away and declining milk it's time!