Foal still trying to nurse on all his pasture mates 2 months after being weaned...

[mademoiselle]

I’m posting on behalf of a friend. She weaned a colt over 2 months ago and since then he is just obsessed with nursing/sucking on all his pasture mates. He was turned out with some other weanlings and a mare that had a baby by her side and he would chase the mare all day long to try to get to the milk. We took the mare and her filly away, and turned him out with an other foal and he is trying to nurse on him. He also try to nurse off the miniature pony gelding and donkey.
Yesterday we had a little issue and the mare with the filly got turned out in his pasture and he was chasing her all over the place trying to nurse like crazy.
He eats and drinks well, he is super healthy and other wise doing fantastic but he just wants to nurse all the time. It almost looks like a behavior issue.

Yesterday the broodmare almost hurt him as he was so pushy and didn’t take no for an answer. She was bitting and kicking (as we were running to catch her and put her back in her own pasture) but he didn’t care he was all over her.

Has anybody else seen that behavior before?

[tuckawayfarm]

Mine always do that for a week a two, but I haven’t had one still trying after two months.

I would definitely not allow him access to the mare. I had a foal still with his dam who was kicked due to annoying another mare. He is fine, but required surgery and it could have easily been unrepairable.

How old is he?

[RedMare01]

How old was he when weaned? Ulcers possibly?

[mademoiselle]

he is a little over 6 months and he was 4 and half months when he got weaned.

[TrueColours]

Well … I am going to say you probably weaned him 4-6 weeks too early …

I think you are viewing an insecurity issue rather than a foal that is fixating on nursing, per se. The nursing gave him comfort and security and he was still too young when you weaned him to “wear his Big Boy Pants” and be a little horse instead of a foal so he is constantly trying to revert back to what made him feel happy and secure - and it doesnt matter whether its another foal, a pony, etc

Mine will try for a couple of days or maybe a week or two at most and then they stop the behavior, but mine also get weaned at 5 1/2 - 6 months. The only way I’d wean sooner is for health or medical or safety reasons. No other reason to wean earlier than that

You cant turn the clock back now, but he may always be an insecure older horse that will stress if his world changes. he just simply may not adapt well to something out of his comfort zone

[mademoiselle]

Thanks Truecolours, it makes sense. As I said earlier. I do not breed myself. I was asking on behalf of a friend. I will forward to her…

[Sugarbrook]

What True Colours said…spot on and my experience also.

[mzm_farm]

Well, you can try to turn his insecurity and need to nurse towards relying on humans for comfort - give him milk replacer out of bottle with nipple. If he takes it and does well, put his relaxation on cue - ie, “mommy” comes out, milk starts, “good boy” life is good.

You can also see if he is just craving the taste or activity itself - offer milk replacer but no “contact”, switch him over to a bucket and gradually dilute with water, until he has a “special” bucket of water.

Hopefully he stops annoying other horses and gets over it.
In the meantime, I would not put him with anyone that can hurt him.

If you can’t beat’em join’em, or at least try to outsmart’em;)

[TrueColours]

mzm - I would honestly be a little hesitant to go that route with him …

Some orphan foals can be a PITA if they weren’t socialized properly with other herdmates - they view the humans as another part of their “herd” and if you have this one start to associate a human with nursing at this age, especially a young colt, I REALLY think you are going to open up a large can of worms that you wont be able to close again. Anytime any human comes near, he is going to aggressively start to push and nudge looking for his bottle

Its just not the route I would go, to be honest, if this young colt landed in my barn right now

[Laurierace]

[QUOTE=mzm farm;7771000]
Well, you can try to turn his insecurity and need to nurse towards relying on humans for comfort - give him milk replacer out of bottle with nipple. If he takes it and does well, put his relaxation on cue - ie, “mommy” comes out, milk starts, “good boy” life is good.

You can also see if he is just craving the taste or activity itself - offer milk replacer but no “contact”, switch him over to a bucket and gradually dilute with water, until he has a “special” bucket of water.

Hopefully he stops annoying other horses and gets over it.
In the meantime, I would not put him with anyone that can hurt him.

If you can’t beat’em join’em, or at least try to outsmart’em;)[/QUOTE]

No offense but that is a terrible idea. I personally would treat for ulcers.

[justahorsefellow]

Very probably an insecurity issue. Common sense… foals nurse when they feel threatened. Sounds like the mare & foal were probably separated away from other horses until weaning?? Yep agree with many here. Had the same happen many times for a short period.

People interaction could help some… would not recommend with a bottle at this stage of the game. Potentially recreating the problem. Got an older horse to separate the foal with… Don’t know if separating is possible.

If on grain, try adding additional probotics to help the gut. Fasttrack by Conklin is great for its cost with going on to higher end products like from Platinum Performance. It could help contribute to possibly relaxing the foal… and if you see a behavior change to a degree, the foal may have an ulcer as thought by some here.

[DawnJL]

A foal weaned at that age and exhibiting this kind of stress behavior almost certainly has ulcers. (particularly if he was not treated with prophylactic doses of omeprazole during the initial weaning) Supporting with probiotics as suggested is also a good idea.

Observing stuff like this when I first saw foals weaned 20 years ago is why I routinely wean at 8 mos with a “nanny” group system. There is so much less stress.

[omare]

I agree the ulcer treatment route is a good idea and it makes sense why ulcers might trigger that behavior.

We had an orphan at two months and treated w ulcerguard during the “transition” phase–(Her older sister was her nanny in the stall next to her until they could be turned out together.). She was never put on milk replacer per vet’s instructions (plus she hated it.). She has never exhibited this nursing behavior and she had every reason to be insecure.

[mzm_farm]

Any training/behavior shaping done improperly causes problems.

Of course if a medical condition is involved, that MUST be treated appropriately. Mental health is also a medical condition, and should be treated appropriately vs. resigning this poor youngster to a life of ill adjusted insecurity, anxiety, and fear.

Horses do much damage to themselves regularly based on fear. This youngster is having such a hard time dealing with his anxiety as to put himself in danger with other horses. If he was in my care, I certainly would try to address the issue vs. put my head in the sand and try to avoid it and hope he grows out of it without killing himself or another critter.

Foals can be annoying to their herdmates, but I have yet to see one that is so “playfully” obnoxious as to put himself in true harm’s way.

None of us can tell over the internet whether this young animal will have the benefits of proper medical care and training now or throughout his life.

One must be careful, medical care and training are both great when done right.

Not saying anything ill about the owner, vet, trainer, as I have NO knowledge one way or another of any of them. Just would encourage the owner to look and address as many aspects of this youngsters issues as possible, now, before things get worse/more ingrained.

Best wishes.

[ise]

I do not recommend bottle feed him at this point. And we don’t wean that early. The longer they are on the mare - the lower the instance of ulcers. I would try some ulcer guard on him. Then tape some sandpaper on this hose band. When the tries to nurse on anyone they won’t tolerate it!

[mademoiselle]

He has been started on Ulcerguard and we will try to put him on the Platinum Performance.
Looking back what you are saying makes sense. He seems to be more pushy on the nursing behavior when there are some changes in his routine/environment.

Thanks again

[Somermist]

I think the Ulcerguard is an excellent start. You can not go back at this point, so treating him for ulcers should be helpful.

I’m with lots of others saying NO on the bottle.

Good luck.