Mare won't accept foal any ideas please help

[Tammyoviatt]

Foal was born at 3 this morning the mare had troubles having the baby. When we got it out we laid it by her Nad backed away. After she got up and cleaned she seemed to finally notice the foal. At that point she went very aggressive and tried to stomp the baby and kick it. I tried for two hours to get them together with no luck. Milled the mare and fed the baby. The vet had me sedate the ,are to see if that would help. No. The colt is tall so it is difficult to get her under the mom in the best situation. And ideas. Please

 

[chandab]

I just read a vet clip on FB about giving a dose of oxytocin to induce "motherly behavior", might be worth a try, talk to your vet about an appropriate dose for a your size of mare. [seems like mares that have a tough time during birth are more likely to exhibit this behavior.] [i think the original clip mentioned a dose of regumate first, then the oxytocin; but someone responded that just the oxytocin had worked for them.]

Foal needs to be fed like every 1/2 hour to hour round the clock, so hopefully, you can get ahold of your vet and try something soon, so you don't have to feed an orphan or restrain mare so she'll take care of it.

 

[Debby - LB]

Congratulations on your new little one!!

I'm so sorry about your mare rejecting it though. I'm glad you were able to milk her and get your baby the colostrum it needs, as Chanda said you'll need to be ready to continue that. You'll need to feed regularly every 2 hours. Milk as much colostrum as you can and store it. You may have to restrain the mare, tie one of her back feet up each time, use a corral panel to hold her against a wall,.. and possibly also use a mild tranquilizer for a few days. Once the milk makes it through the foal then the mare will recognize the smell and sometimes bond with the baby at that time. I also agree with giving her a dose of oxytocin, if your Vet agrees with it.

I recommend giving the mare a dose of Banamine immediately after her first stool (and a dose of Ivermectin). Some mares do NOT handle pain well... she has given birth, will have an engorged udder, and contractions for hours to days afterward to first expel the placenta and then shrink the uterus back to normal so she needs something for pain.

I would advise you (everyone) to leave the bedding there that she foaled in, the mare needs that smell as it's from her and the foal is covered in it....(probably needless to say but I don't mean leave it forever, just until all is ok). I always recommend to Not dry the foal immediately nor put a foal blanket on it...and always leave the placenta there for a little while. I did, however, use a towel for my own hands when I had to assist with the foal and if I did then I'd rub that on the mare so if you still have any of that you may try handling it then rub your hands on the foal and mare. I don't know how your mare reacted but most mares are instantly drawn to the smell of the sack and the foal.. was she? or did she see the foal moving and get scared so never smelled it or licked it at all? Some maidens are totally scared of that little thing suddenly there and will react violently, it just happens there is nothing you did wrong.

Continue to milk and feed, usually once she learns that the foal nursing relieves the pressure of her full udder she may accept it.

If you have another mare close by you can try leading it by the stall to see if there is any mothering instinct there...if so it may help kick her into protection mode. As far as the tall baby, sometimes it takes them a while but if you can keep the mare still the foal will be able to nurse from her, don't worry about that.

Pictures??? please.

 

[paintponylvr]

How are your mare and foal doing?

If your vet hasn't been back out to check on mare and foal, now is the time. The vet can check at this point to be sure the foal has received enough colostrum and if not you may need to tube the foal with not only milk/colostrum but also with plasma. A thought.

Hopefully, all the tricks both Chanda and Debbie mentioned work for you. You can go post on other big horse forums as well or just go out to YouTube for videos of ideas to use.

PLEASE let us know how you are doing.

***********

Our first little mare never did accept her first foal and w/i 72 hours of giving birth (the foal had nursed and was OK on colostrum, but not great - kept at vet hospital; tubed with colostrum once; given the plasma - not sure if by tube or IV and then bottle fed the mare's milk before being released to us) had dried up completely even with us "milking her out" every couple of hours.

Since the mare never accepted the filly, she was turned out with our other horses. The tiny fllly lived in our house (blocked into the kitchen/slept on a crib mattress) and in a camping trailer while at day care (at my Mom's & Step-Dad's place) with our three daughters while I was at work. She rode back and forth 32 miles on the floor of the passenger side front of the cab of our 1/4 ton Mazda truck - for 20 days. We taught her to drink out of a bowl and then from a bucket (like water). When she would no longer stay laying down in the cab of the truck while transporting, she was moved back into the pen where she was born, next to her sire. He watched over her - she learned to eat feed and hay, drink water and continued to drink milk free choice from her "baby bucket" for quite a few months...

The mare was bred back and did accept both her 2nd and 3rd foals before ultimately passing at 6 yrs of age due to an accident.

That first foal?? Stuffy is 21 yrs old next month and has produced 4 of her own foals!!

 

[Miniv]

Good advice given and I sure hope your mare accepts her baby.....

Your foal is definitely going to need the vet to test to make sure he got enough colostrum. Hopefully, you're able to milk mom and bottle (or syringe) feed every 2 hours.

And hopefully you have a second person to help with that!

If your mare is in pain from the birth, banamine is essential. She is blaming her baby for her discomfort. Once the pain is under control, her hormones may kick in and she'll accept the colt.

Let us know how things are going!

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Hope everything is now Ok , waiting for an update

 

[Tammyoviatt]

Well the mom would never accept the baby. The vet came and we gave her a little sedative in hopes she would calm down no luck, I milked her for the first 24 hours to feed the baby also subbed some formula. Then on the second day we received a miracle I was at the feed storeand the man helping me received a call from his very upset wife who had just lost their mini foal born two hours earlier I told the man of my baby his wife immediately loaded her mare and came to my place. The mare is a doll she took to our baby and they are doing great. And finally sleep is in my future

 

[Marsha Cassada]

O my gosh! A miracle indeed! Are you boarding the mare or did you send the foal home with her?

 

[KLJcowgirl]

Awwww I love this! I'm so happy this is working out for you.

 

[Debby - LB]

Very happy to hear! always love a happy ending, you are beyond blessed. Please keep us updated.

 

[Miniv]

Very sad for the mare's owner, but how lucky for YOU........I'm sure this whole experience will help start a friendship between all of you.

 

[Cayuse]

What a lovely baby. I am relieved to hear things resolved well on your end. It is sad for the other owner though. They have big hearts to put their sadness aside and try to make something positive out of a sad situation.

Good luck with your new little one.

How is your mare doing?

 

[Tammyoviatt]

Things are going amazing. Colt is a filly and doing good great with new mommy. My mare is good she actually acts like it's just another daye. I am taking her to the vet and getting a check up for her over all health. She is a rescue that I took in, in October she was with foal at that time and it such bad shape we did a lot of care just to get her walking some what normal and nutrition wise. Her teeth need attention and I'm still wondering on her age. I think she is way younger than I was told. So hopefully we can get her feeling good and then maybe breed her at a later date. But her health is first

 

[paintponylvr]

I am so glad that the baby got his "miracle". That is so awesome for you, for the colt, and even for the other owners' mare! So glad that it worked out OK.

Thank you for letting us know! and look forward to seeing more of them.

 

[SampleMM]

That's awesome! I'm glad everything worked out for you. I had this happen a couple of years ago but I did rebreed the mare and she accepted her second foal just fine.