We have not been posting on our blog for some time. We have been slow as I have been doing consulting work in Russia and now just recovered from jet lag and post visit report preparation.
The foals are weaned ! Weaning is always traumatic an sad for all animals and people involved. To minimize trauma we start to separate to foals in mid summer to get a feed of pellets in the alley way separate from the mares. At weaning time we move them to a big pen all together. The company of their buddies goes a long way to settling them down. The mares get over it quickly and they go out to graze. We leave the foals shut in for a couple of weeks and then let them out in a small plank fenced paddock. soon they will go out to a larger fenced paddock where they can come and go from the barn. We feed high quality haylege at weaning. We open a row of the earlier cut bales and give them all they want to eat. This smooths out the transition away from milk. By weaning time the grass is going dormant and the mare's milk quality is down so a switch to haylege is probably an increase in nutrient intake. They kept growing this year with out any slow down. Fortunately we have not had any respiratory infections. The mares are older and their immunity which they pass on should be higher. Also, the ventilation in the weaning pen is good and it is an area they are familiar with so no new bugs.
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