Where the Fun Begins!

It’s hard to believe that the end of summer is fast approaching but it really is! Fair is over with, school is back in swing, shows are winding down, many exhibitors are preparing to head for the AMHR National show, and weaning time has arrived. We always wean by the sign of the moon so we find the date that fits closest to when we think the foals are ready to be weaned and that is when we wean. This year that meant this past week, August 19th, to be exact. We find it is less stressful for both moms and babies if we wean by the sign of the moon. Our foals are always eating grain good by the time we wean and they rarely go completely off grain when we wean by the sign of the moon. They may back off eating as much for a few days (while they pout) but for the most part, they stay eating. We notice less whinnying or talking on both the part of mom’s and baby’s. We generally put the foals in one pen and the moms in another pen, not next to each other but still where they can see each other. Then after just a few days we take moms to pasture for the remainder of the summer and the foals are kept here in a smaller pen where we can be in and out every day and they get used to seeing and smelling us. We also prefer to wean in pairs or at least all foals together. Everyone, foals included, handle new situations better when they don’t have to go through it alone. 🙂

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 24th, 2016 at 2:40 pm and is filed under Life at Outlaw Miniatures & Shetlands. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.