Why do people wean mini's at 4 months ?

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I just want to throw out a thought (or a caution) about using your 2yr old filly as a stall mate to help relieve the fear of being alone. Please don't forget that a colt as young as 10 months can and will breed a mare so they too will need to be seperated unless you plan to geld your colt while he is still on Mom.

 

[txminipinto]

I try to wean my babies in the barn with a friend. This year, I only had one foal she was weaned alone. But she was in a barn where she had full sight of all the other horses and another horse next to her. The mare and filly whinnyed a little bit but nothing to horrible and where done by the next day. The stallion in the dry lot next to their pasture was a different story since he spent 3 whole days looking for both of them!

I took the filly to the barn and turned the mare back out with the other mares.

 

[HGFarm]

I wean between 4 and 5 months... some vets claim that much after 4 months the quality of milk declines and there just isnt that much in it for the foals. I also breed back many times so dont want the mares pulled down either. Have never had problems with a foal not eating, or having problems when weaned at this age.

 

[tagalong]

I have worked on a variety of farms and with a variety of breeds in my past decades in the horse industry - and foals were ALWAYS weaned at about 4 months on average on an individual case basis. Arabians, Standardbreds, Warmbloods... so I am not sure that there is much difference between big horse people and mini people. After 3 months the mare's milk has little to no nutritional value... and by four months most foals are eating happily on their own and spending most of their day far away from mom. I wean at 4 - 5 months. 5 months only if I need to have one wait for another baby so they can be weaned together...

Depending on the colt - a 7 month old in with a 2 year old filly might not be a good idea - he could be capable of managing a breeding if he is advanced for his age....