Carson K, Wood-Gush D G
Equine Vet J. 1983 Jul;15(3):257-62. doi: 10.1111/j.2042-3306.1983.tb01785.x.
Thoroughbred foals were found to nurse in bouts of nursing activity delimited by intervals of non-nursing activity lasting 27 secs or longer. Nursing activity included nosing, sucking and interval behaviour. During the first week after birth, foals nursed, on average, seven times an hour with a mean bout duration of 147 secs but were not successful at sucking during all nursing bouts. Time spent nursing decreased as the foals grew older until before weaning, at 24 weeks of age, the foals were nursing once an hour with a mean bout duration of 74 secs. The dams hindered their foals' nursing activity in several ways during Weeks 2 and 3 post partum and it was suggested that at this time nursing was painful for the dams.
纯种马驹在哺乳活动中呈间歇性，每次哺乳活动之间有持续27秒或更长时间的非哺乳活动间隔。哺乳活动包括用鼻子拱、吸吮和间隔行为。出生后的第一周，马驹平均每小时哺乳7次，平均每次哺乳持续147秒，但并非每次哺乳都能成功吸吮。随着马驹长大，哺乳时间逐渐减少，到24周龄断奶前，马驹每小时哺乳1次，平均每次哺乳持续74秒。在产后第2周和第3周，母马以多种方式阻碍马驹的哺乳活动，有人认为此时哺乳对母马来说是痛苦的。
