She should have udder growth but there are waxy substances keeping the milk from being leaked out. Some mares get more milk sooner, some later. Some right before they give birth.
The mare should begin producing milk shortly before the foal is born. A foal generally stands within an hour or so after birth, and the mare should already have plenty of milk for him.
It depends on the mare. You may feel milk in the mare's udder when she has a month left to foal, or you may feel milk in the mare's udder right after she has foaled.
Although it can be given it does not contain the right nutrients for the foal and the foal will not do well on it at all.Goats milk would be a better alternative and foal milk replacer would be best. You can also hire a nurse mare if you can afford it.
Only if she's been nursed by another foal who's been stealing milk from her. Otherwise, no, the mare should start the drying-up process after her foal is weaned or after she has weaned her foal by herself.
That really varies from mare to mare. It could be anywhere from a month to less than 24 hours before parturition.
No, the milk vein (mammary development) in a mare typically begins to fill out and develop in the weeks leading up to foaling, but it may not visibly protrude until close to foaling or after the birth of the foal. This development is a normal part of the mare's preparation for nursing the foal. It is not a reliable indicator of imminent foaling on its own.
they give it milk and keep it safe
Yes, foals (baby horses) can become orphans. Usually, a foal becomes an orphan after the birth mare dies in labor (or from complications after labor). Inexperienced mares may also reject a foal after it has been born. Foals who are born weak or sickly may also be rejected by a mare because in the wild having a weak foal is an attraction to predators. Fortunately, orphan foals can be placed on a milk mother (that is a mare who is lactated, but does not have a foal with her). Usually the milk mother is a mare who has lost her own foal. Orphaned foals can also be reared by hand if no milk mare is available for the foal.
Maiden mare: never been bred Open mare: had a foal but not bred back to a stallion Barren mare: bred or bred back to a stallion but not in foal
Most orphan foal milk products are designed for the foal to be weaned at 2 to 3 months of age (about the same amount of time a foal gets it's primary nutrition from mare's milk). While the foal can be fed milk supplements through the 6th month the amount needs to be reduced as solid feed intake increases to limit inflammation of the growth plates.
This means that the mare is getting ready to give birth and her milk bag is producing the first milk for the foal. Look for the milk bag to get way bigger.
The earliest you should wean a foal from the baby is 6 months. Though it is possible to do it earlier at about 3 months but is not recommended since the growth of the foal without its mothers milk can be stunted. If you wean a foal earlier then six months it should only be because either the mare is losing a lot of weight and not putting it back on or if something happens to the mare to where she is not able to nurse anymore. Foals in the wild can nurse off of their mothers for over a year.