# Weaning foal early!!!



## ladybugracer (Sep 12, 2007)

* Hey all, So here is the story, I found the colt of my dreams about 5 weeks ago, went and seen him, loved him, and I bought him!! I was going to wait tell he got weaned and then bring him home. (He was born July 4th) Wanted him to stay with mom tell he was about 5-6 months. Well I get a phone call a week later and the owner of the mare said mare is getting really under weight and he knew I wanted to start woking with baby so he said why dont you just come get mom and baby. Well at the time I thought great, I will be able to work with the colt now and not wait the 6 months.(They lived 5 hours away) He said just bring mom back when colt was weaned, and made him sign contract saying I wasent reasponsible for vet bills or other things mare will need. He agreed to pay for shoeing, worming, ect and was ok with all. I would pay for food and keep her healthy so the colt would be healthy. Mare was in horrible shape(feet had not been trimmed for SOOO long) And she is just so NASTY!!! Any ways long story short. The mares owner called yesterday and said have the mare back by October 6, because he had sold her. I was like WHAT, colt will only be 3 months old. Well I have no choice but to take her back, its his horse.  What Im asking is how I can make this as easy as possible for my colt?? He is eating grain and hay like no other. He is not eating off of mom as much any more, not that I am seeing. Im going to get him on Equine Jr starting tomorrow. Any advice would be great!!  *


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## Frog (May 24, 2007)

three months is very early, but I have heard of it being done before with no hassles.

However, do you think that he would give you the details of the mares new owners, then maybe you could work out some sort of arrangement with them, they might be more sensible then the other guy. Perhaps they do not even know that she has a foal at foot!

Good luck


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## Flying B (Jul 4, 2007)

4 Months is best, any longer and it does more bad to the mare than good for the baby. I have seen some mares wean there babys on there own at 3 months. Just feed him good feed and all should be fine.


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## Flying B (Jul 4, 2007)

4 Months is best, any longer and it does more bad to the mare than good for the baby. I have seen some mares wean there babys on there own at 3 months. Just feed him good feed and all should be fine.


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## sweetypie16 (Jun 19, 2007)

We haven't weaned a foal any older than 5 months, but nothing lower than 4. But it does depend, like Flying B sed. 3 months is possible but you'll have to feed it, it won't grow as strong as if you left it on the mum to 5 months or 4 months. But its better than 2 months....


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## Xanadu (Sep 11, 2007)

What an a-hole... sorry but I had to say it... :shock:


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

3 months is not the best time, but friends of mine got baby in end of Feb and let it go by the end of May (people wanted him badly). As far as I know baby is doing just great and doesn't care about momma much.


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## stefie (May 24, 2007)

ok yeh 3 months to me is really bad to wean at but....b4 i got my filly she was weaned of mum at 3 months old becoz my filly was draining her to much but i really thought that the mare should hav got more food than she did but anyways....
3 months can b dificult but not impossible they just need more attention and u then hav to become mum n teach from right to wrong.
i lik what frog has suggested see if u can get the new owners to come to an arrangment with u coz i really dont belive that they should be weaned till there bout 6-7 months old but thats just me!


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## ladybugracer (Sep 12, 2007)

* Well I called the "a-hole" yesterday and tried everything I could to get him to reconsider and at least to give me contact info of new owners of the mare. He wouldnt give me any thing. Said he weans his foals all the time around 3 months and they have been just fine. Grrr... Im so happy he sold her though, I dident really want to take her back there to him. She just looked so horrible when I got her, (a good 300lbs under weight, feet just looked painful) its been 5 weeks and she looks so much better. Baby looks pretty good right now, but Im worried when mom leave he is going to lose weight. 

So this is Bandit at 2 weeks
[img]http://www.horseforum.com/userpix/2090_pic_2.jpg
These are at almost 6 weeks
















HIs eyes are just WONDERFUL!!









*


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

He looks really nice.


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## nurse_in_boots (Aug 29, 2007)

The one foal I have had, I weaned at 3 1/2 months on my vet's advice. The mare was getting very skinny and the baby was getting fat. She was eating all of Mom's hay, trying to steal her grain AND still nursing! The foal did fine and Mom's weight came up quickly. 

A few years back, I also purchased a 10 week (yes 10 WEEK) old TB filly at an auction that the a-holes sold separately from the dam. The dam went to the killer buyers :evil: We started her on a junior type feed with extra supplements and added some powdered milk replacement meant for orphaned foals to her grain. I'm sorry I can't remember what it is called, but it is made to be mixed with water and bottle fed to orphaned foals. We just put a few scoops dry over her grain. She matured to 17 hands so I don't think she was stunted at all! She was very a very healthy horse.

My point is try not to stress too much about it. No, it is definitely not ideal and the owner is being a jerk, but you can still take steps to make sure your baby is healthy and happy. Good luck!


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## Xanadu (Sep 11, 2007)

Wow! He's gorgeous!! Nurse is right... it's not the best situation, but he'll be fine.


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## TxHorseMom (Mar 4, 2007)

He'll be just fine. Although I don't like to do it, I myself have weaned foals at 3 months, due to the dam loosing just too much weight. You are putting him on a very good feed and since he is not eating from mom much it shouldn't be any problem. It will probably be harder on you than him! :wink: 

Remember, some foals are orphans and _never_ have had mama to nurse from. (we had one of those unfortunately) and they usually turn out fine. Our orphan is now 2 1/2 yrs old and over 15hh and about 1200lbs. :shock: He's a cross between a paint and a belgian and is gorgeous! His name is Diesel.

Good luck!


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## hopefulfaithful1991 (Dec 7, 2009)

*Thanks*

Hi guys i just wanted to say i found the information and discussions on this topic really helpful. I have a three month old foal (she'll be 3 at the end of december) who i need to wean as early as possible due to the mare being very very nasty and biting me on the arm leaving me with a hematoma. 

The mare also shows agression to all who enter the paddock and we have been doing our research and found that in order to stop the filly from developing the same bad habits that weaning early is a wise place to start. The mare when we brought her was under weight and as a result the filly when she was born was also malnourished. The previous owner didnt know she had been running with the stallion and didnt realise she was 10 months pregnant at the time when we brought her (so she says). 

Never the less we have been blessed with a beautiful pinto filly who we called dakota. We are currently looking to rehome the mare with a rehabilitation centre in an attempt to not let her end up at the dog food factory. 

Any comments from anyone will help alot! 

 

First pic of the attachment is dakota at 1 day old
2nd is 2 months old


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## equus717 (Aug 20, 2009)

weaning at 3 months is not ideal but doable. Like they said you will have to feed him and grain him and teach him from right from wrong. I had no choice but to wean Caddo earlier than what I like as well. I had one foal at 5 and half months and caddo at 4 months. He did just fine. He is actually bigger than his half sibling Maggie. He stands right now at 12.2 hands and Maggie is 12 hands. Maggie's dam was bigger than Caddo dam. Starting him on jr. will help greatly. I feed my weanlings that and they will be fed that until their 2 year old year. Good quality hay and grain will help him out. Worm him at 6 months.


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## sillybunny11486 (Oct 2, 2009)

very old thread lol.

Some people are a little over reactive on this issue. Foals start loosing the ability to digest milk at 3 months, so they are draining the mare of nutrients when they dont even digest all of it. You can wean a foal at any time. It has been done. But you need to make sure you are feeding it well enough. Its not that different from someone adopting a baby that they didnt birth. My baby was weaned at about 3 months. He's pretty big for his size so far.


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