Weaning ( first timers)

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Damo1

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( first timers) thought I was doing fine until, this is the situation, mare & foal have been living with my 2 donkeys, weaning time has come she is now 6 mths old, ok foal is not to bothered with the donkeys but the mare loves them. Started to bring mare & foal in at night into separate boxes, everything still fine, then 2 new weanlings come ( which I thought great as now my foal would have some new play mates till spring) introduced everyone, then kept foal in & mare went out & the 2 new weanligs next to the foal, there was a bit of shouting from both mare & foal ( but to be expected ) thought great as I would keep mother next to them all & that the foal would slowly just break away from the mare,
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all the weanligs were put out together & my foal went straight through the fencing & the weanligs just had a good gallop about, my foal is not the least bit interested in the new weanlings if anything the donkeys love them.
Can anyone help with suggestions
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this is the mares first foal
 
I would maybe give the foal a bit more time to get used to his new playmates before trying to wean? You may find that once he really is used to them he takes hardly any notice of his mum anyway.
 
Ditto above, turn the weanlings out with mare and foalie for a while. Foalie will soon start playing with the others, then it's time to start weaning.
We take mare away out of sight and earshot when we wean, so can't really advise on gradual weaning
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Breeze Mum, Thought that was the case should of kept them in a little longer ,
Good news anyway someone has took interest in my mare & she may be sold in the new year.
 
Ditto above they really have to be good friends before you start the process of removing mum however gradually you do it, as they will get scared with strangers and without her protection.

Just successfully weaned a baby from next door who is happy with her friends who she has been with all summer and who are not weaned and another maiden mare, mum is across the road and they don't bother calling each other as it was done gradually at an older age.

I am not bothering to wean mine until March as I figure why feed them through the winter when their mothers can do it far better and more naturally than me. Neither mare is in foal and they are not in work. They share mum's feed bowl and are getting a taste for food other than milk and they come out of the field on their own for training sessions without any fuss. If their mother’s don’t wean them I'll just pop them into adjacent paddocks when the time comes.
 
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