Post by suzirock on Dec 24, 2011 13:26:24 GMT 1
Will try and make this as clear as possible:
Megan - Mum, belonging to me
Maddy - 7month old filly foal, belonging to me
Pricey - 1.5yr old filly borrowed from a friend.
Megan and maddy kept together since foaling, 24/7 turnout, no other real company. 3 weeks ago I started weaning, so I would take megan away during the day and put her in a paddock adjacent to maddy's, then return her to maddy's paddock at night time. This went on for 2 weeks, no problems, both megan and maddy quite happy with the arrangement.
Then a week ago I borrowed Pricey and put her in with maddy, leaving megan in an adjacent paddock during the day and at night. The whole idea being to wean gently and slowly and hopefully maddy would be more interested in her new playfriend and soon forget her mother. All went well for the whole week, maddy and pricey got on reasonably well, just the usual getting to know each other stuff and pricey staking her claim as the boss. All fine though, no bullying or anything.
One observation though, maddy and pricey rarely ventured far into their 2 acre paddock, instead choosing to stay nearer megan. Although megan's paddock is adjacent to maddy's, there is a 6 metre wide walkway between the two so they are unable to touch each other but are always in full view. My fences are post and electric rope, all properly done.
Anyway, last night something happened (why does it always happen at night?!?!?!) It seems Megan broke through her gateway (made up of two electrified bungees) and then broke into maddy's paddock again through the gateway. There were a few other broken fence posts but the end result is all 3 in the 2 acre paddock together.
I've been watching them and maddy is with her mum most of the time, sometimes with pricey..... pricey is obviously the underdog as megan is keeping her at bay with nasty faces, chasing her away from hay piles and sometimes chasing her for no real reason other than she is too close to megan. Good news is no one is hurt, everyone is sound and there are no cuts etc.
My question is, can these 3 be kept together for the time being or am I playing with fire? Pricey is not fighting back but I am worried she may get kicked and she isn't mine.....With time will megan calm down and be bored of the two fillies and just want some peace and quiet? Or should I remove megan completely out of sight to a different paddock and leave the two fillies alone together as was my original long term plan. Pricey has been out with mares and their foals all summer so is used to this arrangement, but of course I am wary that I may be making a dreadful mistake keeping all 3 in together and I really don't want any injuries.
Sorry this is so long.
Megan - Mum, belonging to me
Maddy - 7month old filly foal, belonging to me
Pricey - 1.5yr old filly borrowed from a friend.
Megan and maddy kept together since foaling, 24/7 turnout, no other real company. 3 weeks ago I started weaning, so I would take megan away during the day and put her in a paddock adjacent to maddy's, then return her to maddy's paddock at night time. This went on for 2 weeks, no problems, both megan and maddy quite happy with the arrangement.
Then a week ago I borrowed Pricey and put her in with maddy, leaving megan in an adjacent paddock during the day and at night. The whole idea being to wean gently and slowly and hopefully maddy would be more interested in her new playfriend and soon forget her mother. All went well for the whole week, maddy and pricey got on reasonably well, just the usual getting to know each other stuff and pricey staking her claim as the boss. All fine though, no bullying or anything.
One observation though, maddy and pricey rarely ventured far into their 2 acre paddock, instead choosing to stay nearer megan. Although megan's paddock is adjacent to maddy's, there is a 6 metre wide walkway between the two so they are unable to touch each other but are always in full view. My fences are post and electric rope, all properly done.
Anyway, last night something happened (why does it always happen at night?!?!?!) It seems Megan broke through her gateway (made up of two electrified bungees) and then broke into maddy's paddock again through the gateway. There were a few other broken fence posts but the end result is all 3 in the 2 acre paddock together.
I've been watching them and maddy is with her mum most of the time, sometimes with pricey..... pricey is obviously the underdog as megan is keeping her at bay with nasty faces, chasing her away from hay piles and sometimes chasing her for no real reason other than she is too close to megan. Good news is no one is hurt, everyone is sound and there are no cuts etc.
My question is, can these 3 be kept together for the time being or am I playing with fire? Pricey is not fighting back but I am worried she may get kicked and she isn't mine.....With time will megan calm down and be bored of the two fillies and just want some peace and quiet? Or should I remove megan completely out of sight to a different paddock and leave the two fillies alone together as was my original long term plan. Pricey has been out with mares and their foals all summer so is used to this arrangement, but of course I am wary that I may be making a dreadful mistake keeping all 3 in together and I really don't want any injuries.
Sorry this is so long.