|
|
Discussion on Faol still nursing at eight months
|
| Author |
Message |
Member:
mjq1
|
Posted on Thursday, Feb 22, 2007 - 9:06 pm:
Dr. O,
I have an eight month old colt who is still nursing from his dam. He has been gradually weaned and they spend about half the day apart without any anxiety from either and then back together at night. My question is, will it harm my mare to still be producing milk at 8/9 months? She is not currently in foal, so that is not an issue. I just wonder what they do in nature, when does the mare kick the foal off naturally. thank-you.
|
Moderator:
DrO
|
Posted on Friday, Feb 23, 2007 - 7:41 am:
The biggest problem is an ongoing nursing foal puts a high nutritional demand on the mare making her harder to keep in good condition.
However in nature the foal may nurse till the birth of the next foal and I know of one case where the mare was letting last years foal (now yearling) nurse along with this years foal. To read more about natural behavior of horses I recommend the book derived from the PBS series on a band of wild horses in the NW USA: "Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies" by Kathrens.
DrO
|
Member:
mjq1
|
Posted on Friday, Feb 23, 2007 - 10:07 am:
Thank-you Dr. O, I noticed the mare started to look a little worn...for lack of a better word which is why I wrote. I have kept up her nutritional needs, but I think it is time. The reason for the late weaning was I moved them from Ca, to Ky when the colt was 5 months old and I felt they both would make the trip better together. I have seen all the DVD's on Cloud, and worried about him all through them...tough life. I just wondered how much it stress's the mare with late weaning. None of my vet/horse books really talk much about it. Thank-you again. Monica
|
New Member:
bcreaves
|
Posted on Friday, Feb 23, 2007 - 5:39 pm:
Dr. O,
I, too, have a 9 month old that seems to nurse at times for reassurance. Our mare keeps good condition and will not be bred again. Do you feel it's harmful to either to leave them to nurse if he's feeling anxious? Our property is set up so it would be incredibly difficult to separate them safely. We've tried a month of separating them into a stall(mare during the day, baby at night)as well as one of the EZ-Wean halters for 6 weeks to no avail. He turned into the amazing yoga horse and figured out positions he could nurse in. I have no problem letting them continue as long as there's no risk for either if mom continues to hold her condition. Thanks for your input!
|
Member:
liliana
|
Posted on Wednesday, Feb 28, 2007 - 9:35 am:
Hello
My colts are mummy’s boys! One of them nurse for almost to years and the other one is 19 months and still going.
As long as you feed the mare appropriately I have never seen any problem. As Dr. O mentioned in the wild they normally let them suckle until the new one is born which could be up to 2 and ½
The mare herself will decide when it is time to stop, and believe me it pays wonders as the foals grow into self confident happy animals!
I’d say feed the mare and let the boys be
Liliana
|
|
|
