Drying a mare's milk up.

[Tezzy]

I have taken the foal of his mum. He is 6 months old & the mare was starting to kick out most of the time at him. He wouldn't leave her alone at all. He was biting at her & even kicking. He is in the stable for now.
Is there anything I can give to the mare to help her dry up the milk? Or do I leave her?
I want to do the best thing for the mare & help her if I can. I haven't feed her any hard feed since I took him away & wonder if this is the best thing to do.
I am going to phone the vet & ask for their advice as well.
Many thanks in advance

 

[Tnavas]

I know it sounds mean but the best way is to reduce food and water to the bare minimum for a couple of days. Keep an eye out for mastitis - udder will be very full and if she develops mastitis will become hot and painful.

 

[maggiesmum]

^^^ what she said

 

[mcnaughty]

You need to wean the foal completely away for starters and do not touch the udder as this will stimulate the milk production.

Cut back drastically on the hard feed for a week or two but not fluids and turn her out as much as possible as exercise will help.

I weaned our foal at the end of October and the mare's udder is now completely back to normal.

 

[intouch]

Believe it or not (and I'm a lactation consultant) the best way is to remove the foal for 12 hours, then allow him to have one really good feed, then remove him completely for a couple of weeks. This dries up the milk almost immediately, works for human mums too, which is where I first learned about it.
I'd be inclined to let him have one more feed even at this stage - although she probably won't let him.

 

[Daisychain]

Thats exactly what i have always done, gradually if the udder is actually bulging then let foal drain it off, then if just produces less and less!