Weaning Age

UnaB

UnaB

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Was just wondering what age everyone weans their foals.

A USA based forum I use has a lot of people talking about weaning their 4 month old (or less!!!) foals and it seems to be normal practice over there. My baby is just coming up to 4 months and very much still on mum and I wouldnt have thought she is ready to be weaned, I was planning to wean her around 6 months or so.

Was just surprised how young others were weaning so thought it might be interesting to see what people on here do :)
 
depends a lot on the mare and foal but I would normally expect 5 months as earliest unless there was a veterinary reason for the foal to be weaned before that.
 
The foal i've just bought will be 2 weeks from being 6 month's old when i get him - i do feel it's a little young but any later then it'll be into winter and he may struggle.. i'd rather do it now (when breeders suggest) and have a month or so to get him back on track (weight wise) before winter.. than leave it till he's 7/8 months and have him leave him mother and go down hill and struggle through the winter.. :)

I think usually it's 6 months.. FIL/MIL weaned there foal at 9 months but he had a awful start and it did him the world of good. Mare dragged MIL up lorry ramp to get away and foal just tucked into his dinner without even a whinny. Easy peasy. :D
 
4 months in North America is pretty normal from what I see. A couple of years ago I bought foals aged 4.5 and 3 months (it was me or the auction ring - they'd been weaned and that was that)

I wean at anything from 5 months onwards. As others have said there are a lot of variables. How the foal is thriving? How independent it is. How the mare is? Is she in foal again? Some mares drop weight dreadfully and it is in their best interest to have a foal off them before winter sets in.

I will be weaning my May/June colts in November, they'll stay in an adjoining paddock for around a month until the mares have dried up and will then either go back in with the mare herd for the winter, or in with geldings if I have anything suitable for them to go with. I prefer them to spend their first winter with adults.
 
I have just finished weaning. Had to wean one this year at just over 4 months as she was growing way too fast and also had pulled mum down to nothing and so the vets recommended weaning early - she has taken it like a pro and never looked back.
Yesterday we weaned the other two...one is 6 months and the other 5 months. Both more than ready to be weaned and bar a couple of neighs today (24 hours after weaning) from one, they have not thought about it. The 5 months old one is loving being weaned as her dam has been terribly foal proud and is almost relieved now to be away from her as she has been marching up to people for cuddles where before her mum simply wouldn't allow it.
 
my youngster was weaned at 6 months and made a terrible fuss:o

if mare is not in foal and not needed to come back into work i would for as long as everyone is happy and coping with it

where i keep mine there 's a mare and her 7yr old offspring, they have never been separated but the mare would not feed the youngster from about 11 months on
 
I usually aim to wean around 6 months, but do it over a period of a couple weeks, taking my mare out field and into adjoining yard, so they can touch but not drink, then into stable, each time lengthening the periods apart, but keeping foal with his friends and what he knows
I have had to wean a foal at 3 months, after mare was on loan and had been neglected, and once at 4months due to growing too fast and being at risk of joint problems.
One foal born in august I dont think I weaned until april the following year.
One I never weaned, because the mare kicked her off herself and stopped letting her drink, so they were all happy and stable, so left them as they were
 
Ive started about a month ago, shes now 6 months.

Ive been bringing them in seperately, making baby wait with her friends. Now i bring her in and put her in the adjoining stable, where she can still see mum.

She gets a treat of her own haylage without mum taking it, and a stable lick, that keeps her happy.

when shes turned out she runs off with the others, and spends most of the day with them. So in the next week or two, i will close her field off, so she cant get back to mum. If that doesnt work, i will take my mare off my yard for a couple weeks.
 
looks like i will have to follow in you footsteps enfys, my mare is not looking so good at the moment, little monkey bringing her right down. the little guy spends most of his time with the others and goes down for a drink of water himself but come night time i do see him at the milk bar a lot. today i took mare away for a pamper session and the little guy didnt bother till an hour had passed, trying to hang off till november but will have to play it by ear x
 
I do mine at 6 months MIN and usually a month or so longer. I've def found the older the foal the less fuss they make, especially if they are already bonded to other field companions (my last one was very independant, so i just bunged down their usual evening feed for baby and companions, then led away Mum - there wasn't even any neighing).
 
We started parting them at night at 6 months old (stable next to each other) and took it slow. He wasn't fully weaned until he was 9 months old. This was a conscious decision and I had the facilities to be able to do this.
I found this to be the least stressful way for both mare and foal. Have done it this way with 2 prior foals and will do it this way again with the next one.
 
Asha said:
Ive started about a month ago, shes now 6 months.

Ive been bringing them in seperately, making baby wait with her friends. Now i bring her in and put her in the adjoining stable, where she can still see mum.

She gets a treat of her own haylage without mum taking it, and a stable lick, that keeps her happy.

when shes turned out she runs off with the others, and spends most of the day with them. So in the next week or two, i will close her field off, so she cant get back to mum. If that doesnt work, i will take my mare off my yard for a couple weeks.
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oops just read mine back. Meant to say, ive been bringing her in and put her in a stable on her own for about an hour next to mum, with hay and a lick. Then she goes in with mum for the night. Gradually getting longer on her own in the stable. Not there yet !
 
We weaned Millie at 4.5 months- she had pulled her mum right down and was already settled with my other horses.

We took Bibi (her mum) away and left Millie with the others in the field- there was one neigh and that was it!

Bibi went to my friend's yard and never missed Millie and we could then feed her right up without Millie stealing all the goodness in milk!
Millie was happy as larry with her friends and never appeared to miss her mum- she was an extremely independent and confident foal though :)
 
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