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Weaning foals?... when is ideal?

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JadeLace View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JadeLace Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Aug 2015 at 10:40am
Joh sorry I ruffled your feathers with your tertiary degree where that counts in breeding horses I'd like to know,
Just being realistic in breeding is all I m saying but obviously it's all above you birds of a feather stick togetheršŸ˜
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Oritah View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oritah Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 Aug 2015 at 11:59pm
A wise person once told me you catch more fly's with honey than you do with vinegar Wink and  of course it never hurts being polite and respectful of others opinions.

I dont bred my mares year in year out either and I keep my foals on their mums for as long as I can, because I think it is good for them mentally and physically. 

I dont mind that others do things differently to me and I am open to those ideas because it then allows me to consider them properly.  

It horses for courses and there is 100 ways to skin the proverbial cat....  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Gay3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Apr 2018 at 6:00pm
Lauren Fraser Equine Behaviorist

#ScienceSunday Premature weaning isn't good for horses. Period.

Weaning is generally mare-led, and usually occurs between 8-10 months of age. It is a gradual process, where the physical and psychological bond between mare and foal is slowly broken. Weaned juveniles of both sexes may remain in their natal band until sexual maturity, before choosing to leave or being encouraged to leave by the stallion.

By contrast, it is routine practice to prematurely wean foals between 4-6 months of age. Despite protocols designed to minimize stress, such as group weaning, premature weaning is always a stressful event. Stressful events - whether short-term or chronic - can result in the development of gastric ulcers in horses. It is widely accepted that premature weaning practices increase a foal's risk of developing ulcers. In addition to premature separation, when foals are prematurely weaned they are also fed concentrates to help maintain their physical condition. In horses, feeding concentrates can also increase the risk of ulcer development. Premature weaning stress + feeding concentrates = a recipe for ulcer development.

A recently published study discovered that by two weeks after weaning, 98% of the 6-month old foals in the study had developed ulcers. The 45 foals in the study were all from the same stud farm, were weaned in groups, and fed concentrates. What is particularly noteworthy here is that none of the foals showed any outward indicators that they had ulcers - even though some of the foals had the most severe grade of ulcers possible. Does the psychological stress of premature weaning mask expression of the pain resulting from the ulcers?

'Just because we can doesn't mean we should.' Clearly, foals can be prematurely weaned and survive. While I don't know the weaning history of all my own horses, I know with certainty that some were prematurely weaned. It could be argued that by all outward appearances they're doing ok. But this 'doing ok' outcome shouldn't stop us from questioning the practice, and even changing our behavior when it comes to weaning horses. Why? 1. Because we havenā€™t yet done enough research to examine how ā€˜doing okā€™ they are really doing 2. Because it doesn't need to be this way. Foals can be successfully weaned without causing them such physical and psychological stress. If we know that we are doing this to foals, shouldnā€™t we change our behavior?

If youā€™d like to read the full study, 'Diagnostic accuracy of blood sucrose as a screening test for equine gastric ulcer syndrome (EGUS) in weanling foals', it can be found by clicking on the picture of mare and foal, or here:

https://actavetscand.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13028-018-0377-5

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linghi11 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote linghi11 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Apr 2018 at 6:15pm
As studs practically charge you double, they wean as early as possible. Iā€™m a believer in not before 6 months
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ianb View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (2) Thanks(2)   Quote ianb Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Apr 2018 at 8:13pm
Iā€™ve finished all of ours. 40 in total.   I would personally hate to leave them on for 6 months or more. We start generally in the first week of February so some are 6 months old anyway. Others I do it because the owners are putting pressure on me because the mare is going to sale or more often than not they are not coping with a big foal sucking the guts out of the mare    Others get pulled off early, maybe 3 months of age because Mum doesnā€™t have enough milk    Plenty of reasons to wean but I want it done before easter
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote PhillipC Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Apr 2018 at 11:19pm
Originally posted by linghi11 linghi11 wrote:

As studs practically charge you double, they wean as early as possible. Iā€™m a believer in not before 6 months

Purely a money making exercise.  I charge the same whether the mare has a foal on her or not.  The reason being, I feed the mare to the requirements of the foal.  Overfeed the mare to keep good condition on her and the foals joints blow out.  

Being from a dairy and beef upbringing, any lactating cow will lose weight feeding her calf/milking, so why should a mare be any different?

Thankfully I have an owner who is on the same page as I am, so he's not concerned that the mare may have lost condition, despite being on good feed and green pasture - She's putting it all into her foal.  She's not back in foal as he only breeds his mares every second year.  The foal is now 6 months old and will not be weaned for at least another month, but we've also had out autumn break here in Gippsland, so the grass is jumping again :-)

The foal is only 6 or 8 inches shorter than her mother at this stage, so it's understandable the the foal is dragging the condition out of her, but she'll have a good few months to regain that before she is served again.  Having said that, fat mares are more difficult to get in foal.
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brave_ponies View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote brave_ponies Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 Apr 2018 at 10:48pm
I was reading this and thinking, what great advice!, how good are these guys for sharing their experience! etc etc ... then I realised I said the same thing 3 years ago

Thanks again, breeders. And good luck to you all.
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