Weaning advice? (and pics)

gumpatrump

gumpatrump

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It is time to start weaning my filly tomorrow and just wondering if anyone has some advice? Am more worried about this one as the foal had quite a bad start, she was born a month early and was not able to get up. We had to milk the mare and then feed her through a tube every hour for the first few days of her life, until she was strong enough to stand on her own. Six months on she is doing well but a couple of times when she has been left in the stable just for a few seconds without mum she has gone mental, throwing herself around like a nutter! Any advice to make weaning easier or less stressful for her would be much appreciated. Thank you.
This is her a few hours old.
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This is her first outing out
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And this is her now!
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my god she has done so well.she is a credit to you.if you have any companions like a shetland then i would introduce it into a paddock with both of them.feed them every day at the same time and then the day you wean feed the foal and her companion and remove the mare to other company.works very well for us and we have never had a problem.we have a small shetland which we use specifically for this purpose and she is worth her weight in gold.


www.freewebs.com/ballyshanhorses
 
both mum and baby are gorgeous
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when my filly was weaned we introduced a nanny horse (was actually a highland pony gelding) into the field with her and her dam.
her dam was sold, and leaving in a few weeks, so she got used to having her nanny as company along with her dam.
on weaning day we took her into the stables with her nanny whilst mum was quickly loaded up and taken to her new home. once dam was out of ear shot, nanny and foal went back to the field.
she did call out a fair bit to start with (1st few hours) but soon got tired of that and settled quite well. she also tried to drink from the gelding a few times. he would tell her off and she soon stopped that too.
 
What field mates does she have?? Youngsters weaned at my yard are always left with their field mates (usually other youngsters and granny or a kindly aunt).
 
She has a yearling filly that has been out with them for a couple of months now so that she will have someone she knows to turn out with once weaned, and they are good friends already. I was just worried that by weaning her with a companion, does that not encourage her to wean her self onto that horse instead? I did a similar thing with last years foals and now I am having major separation issues with them now. Don't want that problem with this foal.
 
Yes, my yard always weans within a 'herd' which is usually a minimum of 4 or 5 horses.

Personally I wouldn't wean with just one other. But it sounds as if you have the solution, last year's foal, its companion and the weanling.........
 
I have no advice but just wanted to say your foal is absolutely gorgeous. She is exactly what i'm imagining my foal (fingers crossed all goes well) will look like as my mare is in foal to a chestnut stallion with a white blaze and 4 big white stockings! However i will have to wait till may to find out as if the foal takes after the mother then it will be bay but the mares father was chestnut so who knows. Anyway your foal is lovely.
 
We wean as a herd of youngsters with some sensible nannies; usually the babies are so 'in with the gang' that they do not fuss at all, and are way to 'cool' to want to hang out with mum any more.
We move the mares in to the next field then in a week or so move them a bit further away, then a bit more = zero stress for the foals
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