About afterbirths ?

Question

Just wondering - I know most animals eat them - because of nutrients and to keep predators away. So, in a natural environment, would a mare eat the afterbirth or would she leave it and move away ?

Answer 1

I have never had a mare eat it. But Starlight answered it perfectly, I think. Great answer!!!! Bravo!!! Bravo!!!!

Answer 2

I've never seen a mare eat it, but I have seen cattle do it.  The squeak their teeth make while they're chewing is about as pleasant as fingernails on chalkboard!

Answer 3

I've never ever seen a mare eat the afterbirth.  Over 15 broodmares in one barn and 8 in another...not one has eaten theirs.

I've seen goats do it, sheep do it, cows do it, and pigs do it...but never horses.

Answer 4

That's a really good question. Actually, I'm not sure... LOL!! I I want to look it up and see if i can find anything about it.

**Edit**

GREAT explination Starlight... Really!!

Answer 5

In my experience they just leave it.  I had to clean up the mess after my mare gave birth.  She took the baby and just left it in the barn.  I buried it in my manure pile.

Answer 6

Mares in the wild will sometimes eat the placenta when they foal, especially if it is early in the year and not much grass is available yet for them. The placenta is a protein source, and you are correct about both it and the smell of blood from the birth attracting predators. This is why most mares foal at night or early in the morning, and why they normally will isolate themselves from the main herd for a day or two when they foal in the wild. Predators are normally not as active at night, so the risk to the mare and her newborn is lessened somewhat, though it can never be eliminated entirely. I used to have a book about foaling and foal management which had pictures of a mare who had just foaled in it, and she was eating the placenta. I think this depends to a large extent on the mare and the enviornment she is in when she gives birth, as well as on her health and nutritional status at delivery.

Normally, domesticated mares don't do this- I have never seen one which did, even when I worked on a breeding farm and saw the births of several foals. Generally, the mare will just leave it and move away.

Answer 7

In a natural environment, as in a wild environment a mare will eat the nutrients that she needs out of it. In a captive horse, it will just be left there, in which case it needs to be removed from where the foal resides to avoid infections...and infestations of unwanted bugs. My vet told me to take the afterbirth and bury it, then sprinkle lime on top of the site to help break it down, and keep bugs away.

Answer 8

Most animals that eat the placenta are carnovors. So they are used to eating stuff like the placenta. As with horses there diet consists of grasses and grains so they hardly ever eat any thing like meat so it would be very strang for them to eat the placenta. Also most animals that eat the placenta there babies dont have there eyes open much less able to get up and run in an hour. So horses just wait untill the baby can stand (about an hour) and then move away from the area of birth.

Answer 9

Sometimes they will eat some of it but I have never seen a mare really eat one.  We have had a couple of mares that even with close watching have foaled with no supervison and we arrive the next morning to a nice little baby.  The placenta is always still there.  Also we own dairy cattle and they calve at all times so it is hard to catch them.  They may sniff and l**k their placentas but they never eat it.

Answer 10

Horses don't eat their placenta.  Their babies are up and moving shortly after birth in the wild - so they just leave the area.

The placenta is large, touch, and does not break easily - a horse would really have a hard time chewing it up.

Best wishes...

Answer 11

I've never had one eat it, either in the stall or out in the pasture (stealth foaler).  Not sure about the wild, though.  You'd think the blood smell would attract predators, so the mare would instinctively move away from the foaling site ASAP once the foal is up and able.

Answer 12

If she is getting all the nutrients she needs she will most often leave it.  However if she is deficient they can and will eat it.

Answer 13

I have never seen a mare eat one.

Generally we just find them in the foaling stall, and pick them out of the bedding.

We don't permit our mares to foal outdoors because of the predators in the region, so I can not attest to that, but I would presume in the wild, the mare would move on once the foal was strong enough to stand and run.