Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1898-01-13
FoALs IN WINTER.


Right Way to Wean Them and to Care
For Them Afterward.
Presenting that the foal has been
taught to eat grain for at least month
before weaving time, when the time
comes to separate him from his dam
place him in good safe box stall, with
no cracks or holes in which he can get
fast, and then remove the dam far
enough away SO that it will be impos-
sible for them to hear each other neigh.
The foal will fret and fuss for few
hours, but will soon give up, go to eat
ing and be content Water and feed
should be kept in the stall at all times,
SO that he can help himself at any time
he may desire. At the expiration of a
day or two. when he gets somewhat &C.
quainted with the new SURF oundings, a
halter should be put on him and he
should be handled in the stall a few
minutes each day in order to gentle
him. When the halter is first put on,
leave the strap on il, and the colt will
soon get used to it, and it will make it
much easier to catch him until the fear
wears off of him and he becomes gen.
tie. At the end of eight or ten days,
when he has forgotten about his dam
and become gentle enough to be led
about the stall, rubbed all over and
have his feet picked up and handled
without fear, he can then be led outside
and in few lessons will be thoroughly
halter broken.
After being separated from her foal
the mare should be allowed to run out
as before and not confined in stable,
as the exercise will be of great benefit
to her. She should be MIXED twice a
day for from five to eight days, accord
ing to the quantity of milk she is CIV
ing. Some mares are much more easily
dried up than others and require very
little attention, but notwithstanding
this fact a close watch should be kept
on them in order to be on the safe SIDE
Many persons are in the habit of using
lotions and unguents in order to dry the
milk up, while others practice milking
the milk on hot stone; but we feel sure
there is much more imaginary than real
benefit derived from these remedies.
How shall the colt be fed and treated
after he is weaned? The old way was to
pen him up in a barn and give him a
quart of grain and some hay twice or
three times day; but, while he will
live through the winter on this treat
ment as well or possibly better than he
would if turned out to trough it" on a
straw stack, we do not recommend either
plan, as in one case there is some feed
and no exercise, while in the other
there is all exercise and no feed. What
is desired is to have the colt grow and
develop as much as possible, and in or
der to have him do this he must not
only have all the nutritious food he will
eat, but at the same time all the exer-
else he will possibly take. In order to
accomplish this the best plan we have
tried or seen tried is to keep the colt
in warm, comfortable and well VEN
tilated box stall at night and out in an
open lot during the day. Do not go to
the trouble Of measuring his feed, but
give him all he will eat morning, noon
and night. Mixed hay, half timothy and
half clover, with corn blades added, is
the best roughness he can have, while
his allowance of grain should consist of
a mixture of crushed oats, two parts;
crushed rye and barley, each one part,
and wheat bran, one part. A small
quantity of corn may be added now and
then by way of change but it should be
given in small quantities, as corn is very
heating and for this reason very poor
food for colts. Many farmers who hap
pen to have plenty of corn on hand, but
no oats, try to winter their colts on corn
and literally burn them up in this way
SO that they are ruined for life. 1t is
much cheaper in the long run to sell the
corn for half price and buy oats and
bran with the money than to try to win
ter the colt on corn.
One other point that must not be for
gotten or neglected is that you must
have the feet trimmed and kept in bal
ance. This should be first attended to at
the age of months, when the colt is
weaned, and afterward as often as is
necessary. Kentucky Stock Farm.