# When Do Foals Stop Nursing???



## clpclop (May 5, 2006)

My filly born on March 30th, has been eating hay and grass for a couple of weeks now and nurses infrequently. Is this all normal? When do they stop nursing altogether?


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## Meavey (May 5, 2006)

They stop when weaned. :bgrin


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## chandab (May 5, 2006)

Foals will starting eating hay, grass and grain with their dams from a pretty early age, but they don't get much out of it nutritionally til they are a few months old. They need the mares milk for nutrition for at least 3 months, 5 or 6 months is even better (as long as they aren't pulling the mare down, they can stay on mare's milk for 4-6 months or even longer).

My AQHA mare didn't produce an excess of milk when she foaled the first time, so her filly started eating grain when she was just a few days old. I built the filly a creep feeder and put commercial foal food in it for her. I weaned her at about 3.5 to 4 months of age; the mare didn't have much milk and the filly was eating so well on her own, that I thought it was best for everyone. I weaned the same mare's second foal (a colt) at about 4-5 months old; she produced an excess of milk this time, so needed to reduce the amount of feed the colt was getting to prevent OCD. The first filly had her first foal, at the same time the other mare had her second and her filly needed to stay with her dam for 6 months; she needed the extra nutrition and "mommy time", as she was a bit immature.


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## Miniv (May 5, 2006)

Foals can start feeding mom's grain and hay as early as a few days old. They still need to nurse in addition and will need that nutrition for weeks and weeks..........

Basically, I would just tell you to let "nature take its course".........and don't even consider "weaning" until your normal time.

Just my 2 cents,

MA


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## wiccanz (May 5, 2006)

This is Stix at 32 hours old, our last year's foal, and already he's copying mom! He wasn't really eating at this stage, just snuffling around.







They stop nursing when you take them away from the milk bar - leave them there and they'll keep feeding! They naturally slow down their intake as they derive more goodness from other sources, but won't stop entirely until separated.


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