Getting a Mare to Accept Foal or Foal to Drink from Bucket

[RJRMINIS]

So sorry Maddie wouldn't accept him, sounds like he is finally doing good with the replacer in a bowl.......My heart goes out to you, I can just imagine how exhausted you are with everything......Hoping everything gets better for you soon Jill.

{{{HUGS}}}

 

[Connie P]

Jill,

I am just getting back home (was out of town) but wanted to say I am praying for you and your mare and her little one.

 

[Jill]

Just wanted to update everyone on "Trooper"!!!

We gave up on trying to get Maddie to accept him. She was becoming more and more resentful of him, however...........

He is doing very well with drinking milk (Foal Lac formula) from a bowl. He learned to do it late Sunday morning and I think he's pretty happy to now get enough to eat! His dam had a very difficult time after his birth requiring extensive vet care. This put her "meeting him" back 4-5 hours after delivery. I think this, along with her pain, caused her to reject him but the alternative was she would have died. But, thank God, Trooper is eating well and he is VERY frisky!!!

Here he is in action and in picture. His front leg is SO much better. Still not perfect, but no comparison to how it was at birth and I feel confident it will be straight (as does our vet). His back legs are great now. In the picture and probably in some of the video, he was thinking about potty which is why he's got a hunched posture. I wish I could catch him playing in the stall on film but I cannot get far enough away from him in there to catch a video and when I look in right now, he doesn't play. I can sure see him doing it over the stall camera, though

[SIZE=14pt]Whinny For Me's Finely Dun, a/k/a Trooper[/SIZE]
2009 AMHA / AMHR pending, AMHR Futurity Nominated Red Dun Colt (may grey out) -- Expected To Mature @ or under 34"

By Erica's Gone and DunIT (AMHR Nat'l Top 10 / AMHA Honor Roll / Multi Champion) and Out of Wee Equine Acres Dun Sweet

Bloodlines include: Buckeroo, BTU, Yellow Diamond Little Feather, and Egyptian King

 

[Becky]

Jill, sounds like your little guy is indeed a real 'Trooper'. Glad to hear that he is surviving and hopefully thriving drinking from a bowl.

I haven't read all the posts, but you might also want to offer him a milk replacer pellet. Progressive Nutrition has one called Foals First Milk Pellets. It's to be used until the foal is 60 days of age. After that, Progressive has a product called Foals First Starter and Creep. It's a milk based pellet designed for foals from 60 days to 4 months of age. I use this one in addition to the regular diet the foals eat with their dams. It helps to transition the foals from just milk to grain. The pellets could be left out all the time and he could eat at will.

Good luck with him! Sounds like he is a survivor!

 

[Marty]

Jill I have some new advice: All this has had to cause you many sleepless nights. How about taking care of YOU too? Get yourself on some vitamins and Gatorade or how about a nice cup of green tea? You are definately on the right road. Trooper is coming along great so breathe........breathe......

 

[Lucky-C-Acres-Minis]

Another suggestion for you, when you start him on the pellets I would sprinkle some of the dry milk replacer over them, vet told us to give it a try with Misty when we started the switch over as a lot of foals don't like the taste of the pellets compared to the milk.. We did and at first she'd lick the powder off and spit out the pellets lol but after a few days she began nibbling more and within no time she was gobbling them up, we did keep adding the powder for a while as she got to the point where she didn't want to drink the milk anymore, would rather have the pellets and water, so our vet said it wouldn't hurt her to go ahead and keep adding the powder with the pellets until we were out..

 

[Jill]

[SIZE=18pt]05/08/09 Update / Summary -- What Worked For Us[/SIZE]

For those who may read this looking for ways to help their own rejected or orphan foal, I wanted to just give a quick like point list of what helped us the most, as we were not ever able to get Maddie to accept Trooper despite some early optimism:

1. From what we have read, it is best to get the baby onto a shallow bucket or bowl (best) because the bottle can get them to suck down air and also harbor bacteria more readily than buckets / bowls. We never could get Trooper to latch onto a bottle anyway.
2. We had the most luck with a metal 10" diameter dog bowl that from the inside was just about 3" deep. We kept holding it to Trooper's muzzle and I also took my hand and smeared his muzzle with the milk so he'd lick it off and get the taste of it. I tilted it so the deep end would be at his muzzle when I held it up to him and I did dunk his chin but never over his mouth as that could go up his nose.
3. The first few days, foals must have milk every 1-2 hours around the clock. After 3-4 days, you can go to about every 3 hours. Then you can stretch it to every 4.
4. The foal will be less likely to put his head down into a bucket than to drink out of a more shallow bowl (thanks, Kay!).
5. You will have the best luck if you have a way to prop the bowl up when you leave it for the foal to drink. We used a milk crate turned upside down and "filled" it with 6 cut 4x4 posts. This was to give it weight so not to be knocked around. The bowl is the kind that is hard for dogs to tip over and we set it down on the cut posts inside the milk crate. It fits in about 2" into the crate which keeps the bowl from being slid off the surface.
6. Once the foal will start eating milk replacer pellets, you can go longer between milk feedings. These pellets can be fed free choice and will not spoil so long as you do not wet them.
7. Sprinkle milk replacer formula over pellets to get the foal more interested in them (thank you, Cristina!).
8. We found a limited number of brands of powder and pellets available "locally" (we traveled a wide circle of local to get what we now have on hand). Many recommended Progressive Nutrition formula and pellets to me, and I'd have gotten them but the closest dealer is about 125 miles from here.
9. We found Mare's Match and Foal Lac powders and pellets to be easiest to find here. We have some of each, however, the Foal Lac brand pellets are MUCH softer than the Mare's Match. If you have the same two choices, early on, go with the Foal Lac Pellets. When in doubt, try them yourself... I did and it beats the foal choking on them.
10. Starting at around 10 days old, foal should have free choice soft / tender / leafy hay, salt and water free choice. Fill the water bucket up to the top so foal doesn't have to stick his/her head down too far into a "scary" bucket.
11. EVERYONE should seriously consider buying a small bag of milk replacer to have on hand prior to foaling season. It's about $20-$25 for a 5# bag around here and unopened, it would probably be okay to cover two foaling seasons. Better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it. Around here, feed stores are only open 1/2 a day on Saturday and closed on Sundays... plus close around 5pm week days. You could be in a bind if a foal is born off hours...

I hope no one needs this thread for a long time, however, I know if we ever have the same kind of situation, the next time will be MUCH easier thanks to what I learned on this thread and through hands on trial and error with Trooper.

Thank You everyone who chimed in with ideas and moral support. This was just one of the times I have seen LB members come together to help each other and it illustrates why "this place" is so great -- it has so many caring and knowledgable members!!!

 

[luv2ridesaddleseat]

I've meant to ask for another Trooper update! So glad he is doing so well. Of course, thats because of all your amazing care and searching so hard for the correct information to get him off to a great start in life!! Congrats Jill! You're one heck of a horse Mommy!!!