Soon after the separation CMK brought out buckets of feed to keep everyone occupied. As soon as Grey Girl saw Filly, Nanny & Blondi getting buckets, she decided she was going through or over the fence to get a bucket. It was quite a shock to see her crash into the fence, trying to get to the other side. CMK opened the pasture gate & GG sprinted through it & around to the other pasture's gate. When that gate was opened she rushed in & shoved her pretty little head into a bucket of feed. Poor GG didn't realize that she'd just managed to get herself weaned.
As the day came to a close there were sad little whinnies coming from the new "weanling" pasture. Hay was placed along the fence in both pastures so the mares & fillies wouldn't be far apart to eat. It's best to do whatever is necessary to keep weaning as stress free as possible. The next day found Filly & GG standing forlornly along the fence, crying for Mama & Mommy Dearest. Grey Girl is very food oriented & as long as she had feed in front of her, she would forget to fret & worry about her mother. Filly on the other hand was so depressed that she wouldn't eat. She wasn't interested in hay or her bucket of goodies. She refused to get very far from the fenceline, trying to stay as close as possible to Mama. She was such a sad filly that CMK almost gave in & un-weaned her.
Day 2 post weaning had Grey Girl doing very well. She traveled further & further from the fenceline & came up for attention. At feeding time she was content to eat from the feeder with Nanny at the other side of the pasture. Not so poor Filly. She wouldn't eat until CMK put hay right in front of her, along the fenceline closest to Mama. Being a herd animal, Filly did finally make her way slowly over to the feeder to join Nanny, Blondi & GG. Every now & then she'd look across the pasture & cry for Mama. Filly obviously doesn't want to be a weanling. 
No comments:
Post a Comment