# How long does it take for a Mares milk to dry up?



## Reindeer Rider (26 May 2012)

Hi there, 

As per title really.  I weaned my foal 25th Feb, I moved her to another yard.  My mare still has milk.  About a month (8 weeks after weaning) ago a friends 17hh 4 year old was having a look under my mare and just to prove she was out of luck if she wanted milk, I squeezed a teat and to my suprise a jet of milk shot out.  

I have left well alone, and she is worked (hacking mainly) 5 days a week and looks great, baby belly gone.   But I looked again today, 3 months after foal moved, and milk still in.

She lives out 24/7 on good grass and is with two of last years foals.  She can see new borns but shows no interest.  I don't think she is feeding the yearlings as when she was feeding the tips of her teats were always clean, where as now they look dusty.  She still has a bag, but the teats are shrunken.  

Do I need to worry?


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## Maesfen (27 May 2012)

The fact she's out on good grass won't help at all.
Ideally a mare's feed should be cut right out and them put on the barest pasture/old feggy grass possible when you wean and to avoid stimulating the teats at all when you wean; yes, she might lose a bit of condition but that is easily fixed once she's dried up properly before you ever think about feeding her again.  It sounds like you have possibly started to feed her too much succulents (good grass) far too early although again, she might be one of those mares that can produce milk at the drop of a hat so you will always have to keep an eye on her; the fact her teats have shrunk is a good sign though, just keep an eye that nobody is sneaking up to the milk bar on the sly!


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## bumblebee_ (28 May 2012)

Id be interested in this too...my mare (to my surprise) still has milk as I was putting sudo on her udders the other day as she was totally suncooked and it looked awful  and milk kept coming out as i was sudo'ing!!  her rising 2 filly is in the next door but one field and they show absolutely no interest in eachother but I'm not sure why she still has milk. she is also on good grass (muzzled during the day) and free at night and is on a handful of hifi to add her superflex in. I'm 99.9% sure her filly has not fed from her since the day she weaned. :/


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