Bad mommy...

[mikec]

Anybody ever have the problem where a mare won't share her grain with her baby to the point where she kicks & bites the baby ?

[madelyn]

Yup. Lots of them. We always put a second feeder at the other end of the stall for the baby (lower down). This year I'm building ones with bars so ONLY the baby can get the grain.

[Intrinsic Worth]

Usually those types of mares will bash those feeders until they can get into them, so build it sturdy. The best bet is to tie her into a corner with her feed and feed the foal in the other corner. Don't untie her until the baby is full.

[mikec]

Okay ; forgive me if this sounds ridiculous, cause we're learning on the fly here, but would another option be to wean the baby sooner rather than later. In this case we' be talking about 3 mos. rather than 5 mos. since this may be more a case of preservation. Learned something about a mare that completely caught us off guard today.

[Intrinsic Worth]

What did she do to the foal?

[katydid]

You can wean at 3 months -- that is the suggested minimum weaning age. Though it really is best to let them stay on mom until 4-5 months. Though if it's a life and death issue... do what you have to do.

If it's just the graining issues...you can START the weaning process by putting the foal in a corral or stall next to the mare (so they can see/smell/hear each other) while she eats her grain-- when she's done put him back in with her. Babies don't absolutely NEED grain (especially those high starch commercially mixed grains), you can start to offer him milk replacer pellets or a flake of high quality alfalfa hay while he's seperated from mom... since it seems from what you are saying-- he's not getting enough nutritionally since mom is chasing him away from feed.


Good Luck!

[mikec]

Okay ; it seems that everyone, including those not on this thread, are exactly on the same page....tie the mare up & feed the baby on other end of stall.
" Supposedly " the mare, now in Ky. is kicking & biting the foal every time it comes near the feed bucket. Your answers sound perfectly reasonable & frankly stupidly simple so I can't understand the problem in Ky.
I'll fix this little problem immediately !!! Thanks to all !

[K~2]

We put a board up across the stall, so the foal can duck under, but mom can't, and feed them on either side.

[majxmom]

We put a board up across the stall, so the foal can duck under, but mom can't, and feed them on either side.

That's what I do also, in the corner so it makes a triangle with the walls. I put two 2x4s together, so it makes a 4x4. Then I usually raise one side and then the other as the foal grows.

Once I did have a client's Arab mare crab-leg under it. She was only a 14-hander. It was a funny sight to see. It ought to be low enough to keep out a TB mare, though.

[clh]

I've been known to go into the stall and give the baby his/her food in a pan holding it for them - but my mares haven't been mean just hogs - they handle it pretty well - but I sure wouldn't do it if the mare was being aggressive with the feed with the baby Putting a board up sounds like the best idea and of course you can't hand feed if you have alot of babies that mommies won't share. Fortunately most of my mares share pretty well - especially once they get to be a bit bigger and get their own pan and aren't sharing out of momma's.

Hope it works out Mike!

[Maureen]

I take the foal out of the stall and have a feed bucket hanging in the aisle for it to eat out of. Another benefit of this method? The foal gets used to me moving around behind it, and learns not to spook at things approaching from the rear. It also works well for teaching the 'get over' and 'back up' commands! This of course will only be convenient in small barns such as mine where there are one or two babies only.