Milk Snatcher

I have heard about cria who will snatch milk from a dam other than their mom, but I had never seen it happen. Then just this past week we caught Chaska nursing off of Sancha. The odd part is that he looks like he could be her cria, they are both white with a fawn spot. However, he is not her cria.

Here he looks so innocent, next to his mom:




I couldn't get a picture of him nursing off of Sancha, by the time I got the camera he was done. But we've seen him do this more than once.

We've debated moving Chaska to the little boys barn so that he can't do this. But, he's not even 4 months old yet, he still needs mother's milk. I have seen Kateri nurse him too, so he's getting milk from his mom also. We also debated moving him and his mom in a pen away from Sancha, but there was no easy way to do this either. For now, as long as Sancha stays at a good weight (doesn't start getting thin), and no one minds the milk snatching, we will keep them where they are. In a couple months we will be able to wean Chaska, moving him up to the little boys' barn.