Yearlings in foal?

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TheTrotter.

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Just wondering, as I know this is a subject which people will have diffrent views on, and its a saturday and too hot to ride here, so I need something to do!!

So what are your views of yearlings being put in foal? (So they foal at 2years old/ rising 3.)
 
I've never heard of any breeder doing this, nor have I heard of even any eejits doing it either! Some breeders do breed at 2/3 so foal arrives when filly/mare is 3/4 years old however.
 
It's not normally done, and I've not heard of anyone doing it on purpose, though it's pretty common to put 2yos in foal to foal at 3 to get a foal out of a mare before it starts ridden work.
 
I had never heard of it being common practice either, but speaking to someone I know who has possibly got a yearling filly in foal. (Owners before her had the filly running with a stallion..) yearling is now 1year and 3 months, she was bought about a month ago, so she may be in foal, would there be any problems to the fillys health if she were to foal next year?

Just found this advert for two shetland mares with foals at foot, the mares are only two.. So i guess it does happen..

http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/s...nies-with-miniature-mule-foals-very-rare.html
 
Anybody else have anything to add? Quite interested in this, and knowing whether there are any problems this can cause, and what people would reccomend doing with a yearling which is in foal? Feeding etc..
 
I bought a foal from someone I know who bought the dam unknowingly in foal from the sales. When she foaled she was about two. From a physical point of view the mare produced a healthy foal, the mare was a hat rack because she had not had the extra food she needed for her development never mind the foal. The foal was weaned at 3 and a half months with the OK of a vet as the mare was so thin, he was weaned and moved in one day and turned out with my old pony mare, he never whinnied or called for his dam once which I find odd. She had fed him well but as a baby herself had not taught him any herd skills so when at six months he was totally submissive to the point of kneeling on the floor, mouthing to other ponies over the fence. It took him nearly two years to become a normal pony, I also have a pony that was kept in isolation until I bought it at four and that has had similar problems of being at first unable to cope with herd rules.
The foal is now four and has developed normally, and I would say he is now well orientated to the herd, but I have my own land and have been able to mix and match companions as he needed.
From the mares point of view they are only themselves just learning as well as growing and to produce and raise and produce a healthy foal is a tall order.
I also have just got a welsh hill rescue pony whose mother was in poor condition, although he was thin and full of worms his herd development is normal so I can only assume that that is because his mum was an older mare.
 
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I have a yearling and hes got a load of growing to do, It would be a stupid person who bred from a yearling. would imagie there could be a lot of problems both with the pregnancy and the birth due to the yearling being imature.

People really do make me wonder sometimes, a yearling is not much more than a baby so no way should one be having a baby itself.
 
This usually happens with a field full of dealer ponies or someone is an idiot and doesn't remove their colt foals in time from the mare herd.
I once had a new livery arrive ( a pity purchase) which was a newly weaned two year old - in fact weaned the same day she arrived here! Not ideal at all and the filly was very poor as not only had she been feeding her foal but she was still growing herself. Although it took a lot of time to get her condition and mind right, she turned into a lovely mare and is still with her same owner some 22 years later and has had no health problems - she also hasn't had any other foals either.
 
I can't imagine anyone but a complete idiot would want to breed a yearling. Certainly no reputable breeder. So hopefully there is very little on feeding them etc for pregnancy purposes.
 
HBM1 said:
I can't imagine anyone but a complete idiot would want to breed a yearling. Certainly no reputable breeder. So hopefully there is very little on feeding them etc for pregnancy purposes.
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Well, hopefully there is advice on feeding them for pregnanct purposes, because thats the exact situation we are in...
 
I used to breed Lleyn sheep which are regularly tupped/covered as hoggs/yearlings. I bought some ewe lambs which were out of litters of fours and fives (the breed is also highly prolific) and a bit small. At the time, I had a very good vet who also farmed with his brother. I asked him about tupping these hoggs. He said if Nature did not intend them to breed, Nature would not have brought them into season!

Well, these small hoggs were put in with the ram along with the others. They all lambed singles or twins and both the mothers and lambs did well. I put some of these with their lambs in a local show as a breed demonstration. Farmers were quite surprised to see ewes with lambs bigger than themselves!

I think the answer is nutrition. My vet had also emphasised that I needed to feed for the growing ewe but also for the lambs they were carrying. I was careful to follow that advice and had no problems. The hoggs had good maternal instincts and skills and were generally better at looking after their lambs than the older ewes. Cruel? I don't think so, that is exactly what would happen in a feral herd and if feeding was inadequate, the foetus would be reabsorbed.

Having said all that, I have no idea if the same applies to horses. I've had a look through the classic equine breeding textbook (McKinnon & Voss) but can't find much on the subject. It just refers to the breeding of sheep and cattle as very few studies have been done on horses. I think I'd be worried that good feeding would go straight to the foal and that might lead to a difficult birth.
 
TheTrotter. said:
Well, hopefully there is advice on feeding them for pregnanct purposes, because thats the exact situation we are in...
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Going by your other thread in the breeding section of this forum - the yearling filly is only two months pregnant and aborting the pregnancy is an option. It's certainly what the experienced breeders over there have recommended.
 
Agree with Mausfan as the travellers do let colts run lose with mares and you end up with a lovely colt that is going to cost you several thousands and he's of no value to anyone but me.:(
 
TheTrotter. said:
Well, hopefully there is advice on feeding them for pregnanct purposes, because thats the exact situation we are in...
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Oops well that's not good :( Well my first piece of advice would be to abort the foal, presumably your vet has told you this is the course of action you should take. Second piece of advice should you, for whatever reason, choose to allow this pregnancy to run its course is to get the filly on a high protein diet as this foal will suck the life out of her.
 
I knew someone that bought two yearling fillies that turned out to be in foal. One died foaling and the other almost did and was very poor until long after the foal was weaned. Very bad idea.
 
Thanks FC.

I can say there's no room for manouvre on this available through no fault of the OP; it's just a situation to be got through and we just have to hope that the filly can cope.

While I agree that the filly needs a sensible diet, I personally do believe more harm than good would come of putting her onto a high protein diet as she's in pretty good nick already so I've suggested just a balancer after the goodness of the grass goes; I'd rather a small foal than something too large for the filly herself, she's only about 11 hands as she is the most important thing in this equation IMV. Would be interested in other views and suggestions of course.
 
I only feed my broodmares balancers, as they have good quality protein in them, so that's what I would recommend too, however not at the ratios they suggest on the bag. That and top quality hay/grass.
 
Be careful with the feeding, as the last thing you want is a too big foal.

We buy in store heifers and they are sometimes in calf at too young an age, it is not good news generally and about 50% successfully calve, with a traumatic calving, dead calf, sometimes damaged heifer and a vet's bill for the other 50%. The pelvis is not wide enough if they are too young.

With one the vet injected the heifer to make her calve earlier, and that worked well, as the calf was a bit small and both were OK.
 
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