4,777 answers about horses & farm animals
Horses and farm animals run on routine — feeding schedules, hoof and health care, safe fencing and calm handling, in all weather. This page gathers the horse and farm animal library of KinsLe Answers in one place, organized by topic from daily care to travel and senior animals. Every answer is original, written by KinsLe, and tied to a real KinsLe feature.
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372 answers in Young Pets — page 13 of 16
Raise a young Appaloosa like any well-bred youngster — steady forage-based growth, early handling, turnout and company — with extra attention to the breed's particulars: Appaloosas can carry an inherited risk of recurrent eye inflammation, so protect eyes from dust and flies and have any squinting or cloudiness…
Quarantine new young animals in a separate pen or field with no nose-to-nose contact, their own buckets and tools, and handle them last each day, watching appetite, manure, breathing and temperature where practical before they join your stock. Keep the isolation period to the length your veterinarian advises for the…
Prepare for weaning a foal by getting the foal eating hay and a young-horse ration confidently, drinking from a bucket, and handling calmly well before separation day, so milk is the only thing that changes. Choose a method — gradual fence-line contact or a clean separation with a steady companion — that suits your…
Keep piglets warm and safe by giving them a heated creep area beside the sow that only piglets can enter — warm, dry and draft-free — so they rest away from her body between nursing. Use farrowing rails or a crate arrangement that lets the sow lie down slowly and gives piglets an escape gap along the walls. Check…
Keep growth and feeding records for young stock with one simple entry per animal or pen: regular notes on weight or tape measure, condition, what was fed and how much, and any change you made and why. Weigh or measure on a regular rhythm, record refusals and manure changes alongside amounts, and review the trend…
Introduce young pullets to the adult flock gradually: let the two groups see each other through wire for a period first, then mix them with extra feeding and watering stations, hiding spots, and room to escape. Add pullets once they are close in size to the hens and fully feathered, and supervise the first…
Feed a weanling or yearling for slow, even growth rather than maximum size: good forage available through the day, a ration formulated for young growing horses matched to that forage, and minerals kept consistent. Weigh or tape regularly and adjust in small steps, because growth spurts and easy-keeping lines fool the…
Newborn goat kids need warmth, a dry draft-free pen, and colostrum from their dam as soon as possible after birth, because that first milk carries the protection and energy they start life with. Watch that each kid latches and nurses, check the navel stays clean and dry, and make sure the weakest kid is not pushed…
Care for a young calf with dry, draught-free shelter and deep bedding, prompt first milk from its mother in the earliest hours, clean water always available, and a close daily watch on appetite, droppings, breathing, and navel health. Keep handling calm and consistent, start offering calf-appropriate solid feed and…
In general terms, bottle feeding a kid or lamb means keeping the youngster warm first, feeding an appropriate milk or replacer little and often at body-warm temperature, and holding the bottle so the animal drinks in a natural, head-up position while standing or lying on its chest — never on its back. Hygiene decides…
Book the farrier sooner than most people expect: a first look within the foal's first few weeks lets the farrier assess how its legs and feet are developing while it is still growing fast, and small corrections can only happen early. That first visit may be no more than an introduction, a look and a light tidy of the…
Halter training works by pressure and release in tiny steps: let the foal sniff and feel the halter, slip it on for a moment during a calm scratch, then take it off again before it becomes an argument. Once the halter is accepted, ask for one step toward gentle pressure and release the instant the foal gives it, using…
Handle a foal little and often from its first days: once it has had its first hours quietly with the mare, keep sessions to a few calm minutes — a hand resting on its chest and hindquarters, scratching the withers it would groom with another foal, brief touches down the legs and around the head. Work with the mare…
Treat short separations as practice, not a problem: while the mare is away, keep the foal in its familiar pen with a calm companion — another quiet horse nearby, or a trusted handler who stays with it — and keep the mare within sight or earshot at first. Start with minutes, bring her back before the foal's calling…
Give a young alpaca a quiet first week: alpacas are herd animals, so it should settle within sight and sound of other alpacas, with hay, clean water and shelter ready and as little handling as possible. Watch from a distance that it is eating, drinking and passing droppings normally, and let it learn the fences, the…
Move ducklings pond-side in stages, because young ducklings chill fast: until they are fully feathered, their down soaks through and a long swim can leave them cold and waterlogged. Start with short, supervised paddles in shallow water with an easy ramp out, always in the warm part of the day, and bring them back to a…
Late-born chicks face falling temperatures and shortening days before they are fully feathered, so they need their brooder heat for longer and a slower step down from it than spring chicks get. Keep their bedding deep and dry, make sure feed is always available so they can eat for warmth as well as growth, and do not…
Choose the pony your child will actually ride confidently, not simply the smallest one for sale: an older, experienced pony with a proven, quiet temperament is the safest first pony, and a steady bigger pony often beats a small, sharp one. Watch it being caught, groomed, tacked up and ridden before deciding, visit…
Start a record for each newborn on the day it arrives: its mother, its sire if known, the time of birth, sex, whether it was a single or a twin, how the birth went, and proof it has suckled well. Note its weight or a careful estimate, whether the navel was dipped, and the ear tag or other ID number you give it. Add…
Keep everything except the ewes familiar: lambs weaned into a secure, sheltered pen they already know, on the same creep feed they were eating before weaning, with water they can easily find, settle far faster than lambs moved, re-fed and separated on the same day. Put them in a bonded group rather than alone, expect…
Stick to work done at walk, in straight lines and large easy shapes: leading politely and halting on a light cue, standing still to be groomed and tied, yielding a step sideways or backwards to gentle pressure, and having every foot picked up and held. These lessons load the joints no more than play does, while…
Make the trailer boring scenery first: park it in or beside the field, let the foal graze and play around it for days, then feed closer and closer until eating beside the ramp is ordinary, and only later ask for a step onto it. Work in tiny stages — a foot on the ramp, standing on it, walking in for a feed and backing…
Plan backwards from the kidding pen: choose a buck for the traits and health record you want, get the doe into good condition well before mating rather than feeding hard afterwards, and have her health checks, worming and vaccinations discussed with your vet in advance so nothing is improvised during pregnancy.…
Work in short sessions the donkey can win: approach calmly, scratch the withers or shoulder when the donkey stays relaxed, then step away and release the pressure before any worry builds — donkeys learn from the retreat as much as from the contact. Keep sessions to a few minutes at first, end on a success, and build…
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