Weaning. What is your time Frame???

Well, some of our babies are reaching the 3-4 month mark. What is your plans, Trouble will be 3 months the 20th. Growing like a weed. I use to wean at 3 months and for some reason got away from it. Now I wait till 4.
Whats your game plan???

We wean at 4 usually - unless the mare is really getting pulled down, then we wean at 3-3.5.

We've got a colt that will be weaned mid June.

When I bought my now 4yo filly as a 2yo I SWEAR she had not been weaned!!! It was HORRIBLE!

I bought her little brother at 8 months and HE wasn't weaned (he had been nursing through the fence!)... UGH - drove me NUTS!!!

I'm a 4 month fan!

I never wean before 3.5 months.. And, prefer 4 months. I like to do them together when ever possible.. The filly is later then the colt this year.

I was going to do them both at the end of this month. The colt will be almost 5 months. The filly would be 3.5. The filly is still too attached to her mother and the colt is ready.. So, I will wean him here soon and wait until she is 4 months old.. That will put her in the middle of June..

Last year I weaned one of them at 3.5 months old because the other one was ready.. The older one did fine. The younger one was the worst weaning I ever went through. He put his legs through the bars on the stall fronts.. Climed up the walls and nicked up his legs and broke 2 auto waters and flooded both the stalls they were in when he climed the walls.. I barely lived through that one..

So, I guess for me it is any where between 3.5 to 4.5months depending on the foal..

For me it does depend on the foal. I prefer to wean at 4-5 months (again, depending on the baby). I know I will be weaning the 2 foals together, but my last one that is not born yet, will be weaned with them, but they will already have been weaned for a while.

nutritionally they just don't get much from a mare after 3 months so after that anytime is pretty much good... we don't like to wean if the weather is horribly hot too hard on mares and colts so that plays a part will be weaning some here shortly at 3 and 3.5 months like to at least have pairs...

I like to wean in pairs, too. Makes it so much easier. Course I've only got two, so that'll work. As soon as Cool's filly reaches 3.5 months, I'll pull them both. The day I pull 'em, they get their halters on, wormed, and Rick will work with them a bit, and they're up oh, for a couple of days, and then I'll let them out in the breeding area to romp for a bit... Once they're completely halter broke and we can catch 'em, throw 'em out in the other pasture. Then when Peppy Le Peux gets here, I'm going to gather Cool's filly back up and stick the boys out together, where they can have a big time...

Quote :

nutritionally they just don't get much from a mare after 3 months so after that anytime is pretty much good...

That's what I learned at UW, too. The mare's milk quality actually starts decreasing at 2 months, and by 4 months they don't get much benefit from it at all, so 3-3.5 months makes sense to me.

And I've just inherited a new little roan filly by a friend's palmino roan stud, so now Walter will have a weaning buddy!

cute filly yeah for Walter! Now I won't feel so bad for stealing his momma...

Kelly, Wish she had been Yella, Id take her off your hands!

haha, good, you shouldn't feel bad Lynn! Lord knows if I kept her I wouldn't be able to keep myself from breeding her AGAIN! ..it's gonna be hard weaning MYSELF from these paints, but I gotta do it!

TJ: Yeah, she's a sweetheart, best gift a man's givin me in a LONG time!

I am almost 100% sure someone mentioned this....? but I will say it again, as it applies to me...

For me, a lot of the time I will wean at 4-5 months, depending on the foal. However, while the milk quality may not be very beneficial, it is done mainly for the comfort of the foal, and of course, being taught manners by its mother. If the foal is very independant, doesnt care where mum is (like my filly Lexus), I have no problem weaning at 3-3.5 months, have done it before. But when they are more dependant on their mum, and are not mentally ready to leave their mum at 3 mos, I usually leave them another month or two.

It has been such a weird year weather wise... Tessa and Gunner will make it under the hot weather mark and their mommas will be glad to be rid of them the other 2 Cisco and Allie will fall into July so they may end up with mommas longer than I like if July is hot hot hot.... Cedars gets to deal with Peppy Leu Peux but the only thing he doesn't like is me these days HAHA I am the bearer of wormer and all things bad....He loves my hubby figures the little turkey

Actually, Lynn, with Peppy Le Peux coming, it'll work out perfectly. I'll put him and Mom in a pen close to Cool and Red, get them buddied up, pull him and put him with Red's colt and that's when I'll bring up Cool's filly to start getting her ready for the futurities.... and even if he's coming to me... I think you know what I'd do if a colt kicked me... uh-huh, he'd get a swift kick real quick! So have at it! HA! Yep, that's my boy!

I wean all of mine at 6 months. I just throw them in a pasture and they do great.