Lucky-C-Acres-Minis
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Any information and help will be appreciated...
Orphan Foal
- Thread starter Lucky-C-Acres-Minis
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Lucky-C-Acres-Minis
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She's the week old buckskin pinto I posted a photo of... We lost her dam the other day.. I'm still hurt, in shock, confused and lost, so I'd rather not talk about what happened to her, but will say that it was something we could not have foreseen or saved her from, but it still hurts.. I need to put her loss behind me and focus on keeping this filly healthy.. I never thought I'd be in this position, let alone so soon...
We have her on a milk replacer and she's taken to drinking from a bucket (which she prefers, she absolutely refuses to drink from a bottle) Our vet told us to put Karo (corn syrup) in the bottle to sweeten the milk, which is probably what you were talking about with the syrup..
Also, if any of you who've raised a orphan or know of anyone who has, did you introduce a goat as a buddy? I'm really worried about her getting to attached to us and not learning to be a horse. We have three other mares but they're all still in foal and due at the end of the month, but from the looks of them now I'm not expecting foals before May unless they make some major changes.. I don't have any yearlings or geldings to let her play with, so is a goat the best bet I have until we get some foals on the ground and introduce her to our pairs?
We have her on a milk replacer and she's taken to drinking from a bucket (which she prefers, she absolutely refuses to drink from a bottle) Our vet told us to put Karo (corn syrup) in the bottle to sweeten the milk, which is probably what you were talking about with the syrup..
Also, if any of you who've raised a orphan or know of anyone who has, did you introduce a goat as a buddy? I'm really worried about her getting to attached to us and not learning to be a horse. We have three other mares but they're all still in foal and due at the end of the month, but from the looks of them now I'm not expecting foals before May unless they make some major changes.. I don't have any yearlings or geldings to let her play with, so is a goat the best bet I have until we get some foals on the ground and introduce her to our pairs?
Lucky-C-Acres-Minis
Well-Known Member
**BUMP**
I know somebody out there has got to have some advice...
I know somebody out there has got to have some advice...
Millstone Farm
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I purchased a filly (TB) at the age of 6 months who had been an orphaned twin. She was raised with a nanny goat, who was a great companion for her.
lvponies
Well-Known Member
I've never raised an orphan foal before, but wanted to tell you how sorry I am about her dam. I wish you the best of luck with your filly.
First of all, I am SO SORRY for the loss of your mare! I know how it feels.....been there. It hits you in the heart like a stone.
We lost a very special girl last year (she'd been a member of our family for 15 years) to a twisted gut. Her son was 2 weeks old.
We did bottle feed, using Foal Lac powder mixed with warm water. You are LUCKY that your's wants to drink from a bucket! Initially our "Jeffie" spent lots of time with us inside (in a diaper) but we also put him out with our mom and baby group for parts of the day, so he would know he was a horse!
If you have a "baby" group or even a yearling group, I would suggest letting him spend time with them. Then, just pull him every 2 hours (or however your feeding times fall) and feed him seperately. Our Jeffie definitely knows he's a horse, but he's also VERY bonded to us, and he also knows he's "special" and tells all of his herd buddies that! LOL!
Because your new orphan is still so young, I would allow her at least some time in your home for nurturing, but also time with a "safe" horse or group of horses. Use your own judgement. You'll be able to tell as she matures in the next few weeks when to stretch the times out - outdoors with horses until she's totally spending her time outside.
Please PM me if you want with any questions........ We've bottle fed numerous babies, but only had one total orphan, so we aren't EXPERTS, by any means......
MA
We lost a very special girl last year (she'd been a member of our family for 15 years) to a twisted gut. Her son was 2 weeks old.
We did bottle feed, using Foal Lac powder mixed with warm water. You are LUCKY that your's wants to drink from a bucket! Initially our "Jeffie" spent lots of time with us inside (in a diaper) but we also put him out with our mom and baby group for parts of the day, so he would know he was a horse!
If you have a "baby" group or even a yearling group, I would suggest letting him spend time with them. Then, just pull him every 2 hours (or however your feeding times fall) and feed him seperately. Our Jeffie definitely knows he's a horse, but he's also VERY bonded to us, and he also knows he's "special" and tells all of his herd buddies that! LOL!
Because your new orphan is still so young, I would allow her at least some time in your home for nurturing, but also time with a "safe" horse or group of horses. Use your own judgement. You'll be able to tell as she matures in the next few weeks when to stretch the times out - outdoors with horses until she's totally spending her time outside.
Please PM me if you want with any questions........ We've bottle fed numerous babies, but only had one total orphan, so we aren't EXPERTS, by any means......
MA
ChrystalPaths
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You have my prayers for your baby and my deepest sympathy on your loss.
midnight star stables
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No 
Not that beautiful buckskin mare, with the big lovely eyes?! Oh no! I'm so sorry, she was such a lovely mare.
:no:
Not that beautiful buckskin mare, with the big lovely eyes?! Oh no! I'm so sorry, she was such a lovely mare.
Vicky Texas
Well-Known Member
I am so sorry about the loss of your mare. How heart breaking. Hoping the foal will
help mend the pain.
On raising a orphan foal or one by rejection, I do suggest you get the baby a buddy.
We had to raise one, I kept the baby in the house for the first 2 months. Then put the
foal in the barn with the other horses, in foals own stall. Our baby does not think he
is a horse, he believes he is boy. Okay, in the house he watch TV, ran through the house,
would go to the refrig. to let us know when he wanted his bottles. He can say yes and no
by shaking his head, and he means it.
But he does not know how to interact with the other horses, he is scared to death of them.
He is stalled to see them, and can touch through the fence, but just goes crazy if turned out
with any of them. So I would find your baby a buddy.
Wishing you the best.
Vicky
help mend the pain.
On raising a orphan foal or one by rejection, I do suggest you get the baby a buddy.
We had to raise one, I kept the baby in the house for the first 2 months. Then put the
foal in the barn with the other horses, in foals own stall. Our baby does not think he
is a horse, he believes he is boy. Okay, in the house he watch TV, ran through the house,
would go to the refrig. to let us know when he wanted his bottles. He can say yes and no
by shaking his head, and he means it.
But he does not know how to interact with the other horses, he is scared to death of them.
He is stalled to see them, and can touch through the fence, but just goes crazy if turned out
with any of them. So I would find your baby a buddy.
Wishing you the best.
Vicky
Last edited by a moderator:
rabbitsfizz
Well-Known Member
I would suggest you try to find a Babysitter mare- an old , tolerant lady, who will look after the baby. If this is not possible then get another foal- an older weaned one would be OK so long as it is not too boisterous.
A goat will do nothing to teach your baby it is a horse!!
You are on the right road with a bowl or bucket- I dislike bottles and so have all the foals I know- buckets are so much easier, anyway, and they "wean" the foal off the contact part as you can, eventually, just leave the bucket and go.
You need to start adding grain to the foals feed pretty soon- when I am raising foals on the mare I offer a feed of their own form ten days on and measure what they eat for the first month.
You can start this by giving part of the ration in pellet form and part liquid- but you have to be sure the foal is taking enough to be growing OK and you must be confident in your own mind about all of this before trying it out- it is pretty much the same as any other foal, once you are over all the teething problems, EXCEPT you have no Mama and you need to make sure roughage (ie grain, short chop hay, grass etc) is added to the diet.
Is it possible to stall horses of either side of the baby??
I am so very, very sorry you lost this baby's mother. Whatever the circumstances, PLEASE remember that hindsight is alway 20/20 and foresight is always very poor- not one of us here or anywhere can say we have never made a mistake, and not one of us has not got a day or two or even ten we would not like to do over differently.
When you can, perhaps you could share your painful experience- it may help you and I am sure it will help us.
I promise we are NOT judgemental- as I said, we have all been there at one time or another.
We can support you, anyway, whatever happened.
Don't beat yourself up, what's done is done.
The best can make the stupidest mistakes.
A goat will do nothing to teach your baby it is a horse!!
You are on the right road with a bowl or bucket- I dislike bottles and so have all the foals I know- buckets are so much easier, anyway, and they "wean" the foal off the contact part as you can, eventually, just leave the bucket and go.
You need to start adding grain to the foals feed pretty soon- when I am raising foals on the mare I offer a feed of their own form ten days on and measure what they eat for the first month.
You can start this by giving part of the ration in pellet form and part liquid- but you have to be sure the foal is taking enough to be growing OK and you must be confident in your own mind about all of this before trying it out- it is pretty much the same as any other foal, once you are over all the teething problems, EXCEPT you have no Mama and you need to make sure roughage (ie grain, short chop hay, grass etc) is added to the diet.
Is it possible to stall horses of either side of the baby??
I am so very, very sorry you lost this baby's mother. Whatever the circumstances, PLEASE remember that hindsight is alway 20/20 and foresight is always very poor- not one of us here or anywhere can say we have never made a mistake, and not one of us has not got a day or two or even ten we would not like to do over differently.
When you can, perhaps you could share your painful experience- it may help you and I am sure it will help us.
I promise we are NOT judgemental- as I said, we have all been there at one time or another.
We can support you, anyway, whatever happened.
Don't beat yourself up, what's done is done.
The best can make the stupidest mistakes.
qtrmoonfarm
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How's your little orphan doing? Sending prayers all is well! We've had the unfortunate experience of raising an orphan and had much success with goats milk and keeping him with smaller older horses to teach him to BE a horse..until he outgrew the minis, then a very tolerant older mare..he's a healthy strong proud papa and a gelding now at 5 years old..and on the rodeo circuit now doing events with a 5 year old. A dehorned small goat breed is a good chice of companion too..we've loaned a few out to friends in sad situations as well. GOOD LUCK, keep us posted!
Arion Mgmt
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I saw this post and felt perhaps this information would be helpful on raising an orphan foal. It has worked for us for years on several foals.
We raised a foal that turned into a Multiple AMHA WORLD CHAMPION on this formula.
FOAL MILK REPLACER FORMULA
First let me say that it is VERY IMPORTANT that you make sure you foal gets colostrum FIRST. If the mare has NO MILK and you are needing to use this for that purpose then you will need to make sure you have given the foal some sort of frozen colostrum or SERAMUNE Igg supplement (liquid) this MUST be given within the first 12 -24 hours. You may want to go one step further and test your foals Igg after you give the Igg replacer with a test called SNAP FOAL TEST. Or have your vet do this procedure. I suggest having your Vet assist you with this. You may also need to get a plasma transfusion for your foal if you do not get sufficient Colostrum. This MUST BE DONE before 12 -24 hours.
Ok, once you have that problem solved and you need a milk formula to raise your foal, here is what you need.
ITEMS NEEDED
Milk - Regular Whole Milk Vit D
Foalac Powder
Carnation Instant Breakfast powder (Vanilla flavor comes in individual packets at Kroger)
Baby Oatmeal cereal (from the baby food isle at Kroger)
Kayro Syrup
Take a Quart Plastic container (one that has a wide opening and a good tight lid)
You will put your dry ingredients in first
Add the following:
1 cup Foalac Powder
1 cup Baby Oatmeal cereal
2 Packages of Carnation Instant Breakfast Vanilla
6 tablespoons of Kayro Syrup
Vitamin D Milk to fill up the Quart container
Shake this up very very well when you first mix so find a quart container that has a good tight lid.
You will need to keep refrigerated and re shake up each time before you use it. Only pour and heat what you think the foal is ready to eat each time.
After you mix all this up very well, then pour some into baby bottle. (start out with 4 oz bottles, then you will know when to progress to 8 oz as they start eating better) You will need to make the hole in the nipple a little larger than it is when you buy them. Use your common sense to make it easy for the foal to suck out as this is a thicker mixture. You don't want it to pour out when you tip the bottle upside down, but easy to suck out for the foal so they do not get frustrated.
VERY IMPORTANT DO NOT MICROWAVE. There are no antibodies in this but there are very important vitamins and nutrients that will be destroyed if microwaved.
You will want to heat the formula in a HOT WATER BATH. Just like you did for your own children. You want this Milk Formula to be warm like the natural mothers milk, NOT HOT. Again, use your common sense and treat this foal as you did your children.
Don't get frustrated as it take a little time to get them to take this, but I assure you it is well worth the efforts when they do. Depending on the age of the foal will depend on how often to feed and how much.
If it is a new born you will want to try to get the foal to eat SOMETHING every 1 -2 hours as they would normally. Then as the age progresses you can add more foalac and more oatmeal cereal to make it thicker so it will fill them up and not have to feed as often. You may need to make the whole in the nipple larger again if you make a thicker formula. Eventually you will feed them every 3-4 hours and after they are about 6 -8 weeks old you will want to let them have free choice Foalac Pellets ALONG with feeding them their bottle. Make sure you feed them a bottle until they are full, if you go through 8 oz and they suck it dry and act like they want more, then GO GET MORE. Again, just like you would for your own children. Sooner or later you will be feeding them a bottle 4 times a day just as a nurturing habit as they should be eating more solid food with the Foalac Pellets. By 10 -12 weeks they should be eating solid food well. The bottle is STILL VERY IMPORTANT for them from a mothering standpoint. Remember YOU ARE THEIR MOTHER and SOURCE OF LIFE. After they are about 3 months old, they should be well on their way and you can still give them a bottle morning noon and night. Always free choice grain with the Foalac pettets.
Make sure when you feed grain to this foal; you must keep them separate from others so you know the volume they are consuming.
SPECIAL NOTE: If for some reason early on your foal goes from eating this formula well to not wanting to nurse, please make sure they have passed the meconium (foals first poop). If the foal has not passed this they will lose their appetite and you must make sure they are flowing properly.
Best Wishes to you as I know how hard this is, but well worth the effort.
Melinda Eberth
We raised a foal that turned into a Multiple AMHA WORLD CHAMPION on this formula.
FOAL MILK REPLACER FORMULA
First let me say that it is VERY IMPORTANT that you make sure you foal gets colostrum FIRST. If the mare has NO MILK and you are needing to use this for that purpose then you will need to make sure you have given the foal some sort of frozen colostrum or SERAMUNE Igg supplement (liquid) this MUST be given within the first 12 -24 hours. You may want to go one step further and test your foals Igg after you give the Igg replacer with a test called SNAP FOAL TEST. Or have your vet do this procedure. I suggest having your Vet assist you with this. You may also need to get a plasma transfusion for your foal if you do not get sufficient Colostrum. This MUST BE DONE before 12 -24 hours.
Ok, once you have that problem solved and you need a milk formula to raise your foal, here is what you need.
ITEMS NEEDED
Milk - Regular Whole Milk Vit D
Foalac Powder
Carnation Instant Breakfast powder (Vanilla flavor comes in individual packets at Kroger)
Baby Oatmeal cereal (from the baby food isle at Kroger)
Kayro Syrup
Take a Quart Plastic container (one that has a wide opening and a good tight lid)
You will put your dry ingredients in first
Add the following:
1 cup Foalac Powder
1 cup Baby Oatmeal cereal
2 Packages of Carnation Instant Breakfast Vanilla
6 tablespoons of Kayro Syrup
Vitamin D Milk to fill up the Quart container
Shake this up very very well when you first mix so find a quart container that has a good tight lid.
You will need to keep refrigerated and re shake up each time before you use it. Only pour and heat what you think the foal is ready to eat each time.
After you mix all this up very well, then pour some into baby bottle. (start out with 4 oz bottles, then you will know when to progress to 8 oz as they start eating better) You will need to make the hole in the nipple a little larger than it is when you buy them. Use your common sense to make it easy for the foal to suck out as this is a thicker mixture. You don't want it to pour out when you tip the bottle upside down, but easy to suck out for the foal so they do not get frustrated.
VERY IMPORTANT DO NOT MICROWAVE. There are no antibodies in this but there are very important vitamins and nutrients that will be destroyed if microwaved.
You will want to heat the formula in a HOT WATER BATH. Just like you did for your own children. You want this Milk Formula to be warm like the natural mothers milk, NOT HOT. Again, use your common sense and treat this foal as you did your children.
Don't get frustrated as it take a little time to get them to take this, but I assure you it is well worth the efforts when they do. Depending on the age of the foal will depend on how often to feed and how much.
If it is a new born you will want to try to get the foal to eat SOMETHING every 1 -2 hours as they would normally. Then as the age progresses you can add more foalac and more oatmeal cereal to make it thicker so it will fill them up and not have to feed as often. You may need to make the whole in the nipple larger again if you make a thicker formula. Eventually you will feed them every 3-4 hours and after they are about 6 -8 weeks old you will want to let them have free choice Foalac Pellets ALONG with feeding them their bottle. Make sure you feed them a bottle until they are full, if you go through 8 oz and they suck it dry and act like they want more, then GO GET MORE. Again, just like you would for your own children. Sooner or later you will be feeding them a bottle 4 times a day just as a nurturing habit as they should be eating more solid food with the Foalac Pellets. By 10 -12 weeks they should be eating solid food well. The bottle is STILL VERY IMPORTANT for them from a mothering standpoint. Remember YOU ARE THEIR MOTHER and SOURCE OF LIFE. After they are about 3 months old, they should be well on their way and you can still give them a bottle morning noon and night. Always free choice grain with the Foalac pettets.
Make sure when you feed grain to this foal; you must keep them separate from others so you know the volume they are consuming.
SPECIAL NOTE: If for some reason early on your foal goes from eating this formula well to not wanting to nurse, please make sure they have passed the meconium (foals first poop). If the foal has not passed this they will lose their appetite and you must make sure they are flowing properly.
Best Wishes to you as I know how hard this is, but well worth the effort.
Melinda Eberth
I completely agree with arion that the bottle is very important. I raised a orphan qtr horse from birth and she was pail fed too early and started turning her head around to her flank to suck on herself. I relieved her need to nurse by providing her with a calf nipple to suck on. I put a piece of cloth in the nipple so she would not suck air. She grew up wonderfully and got over the sucking thing within a month or so. Her sucking herself had actually become quite a messy sore on her flank. I also had the luck of an older mare that babysat her after she was a over a month old. IMO I would not bring her into the house unless the warmth is needed. Just being stalled next to other horses will help her learn how to be a horse.
Mona
Well-Known Member
I have no experience or suggestions to offer, but want to add my condolences on the loss of your mare. I am so sorry.
