winter foaling

[Winchester Farms]

my friend bought a bred donkey who is going to have her baby the end of this month or beginning of next. besides foaling inside, blankets for the baby and heat lamps what else do you do to prepare and make the baby nice and warm? i dont want a frost bitten baby!!

thanks for your help!

 

[Miniv]

Good Grief! If Donkeys are like minis, she has DROPPED and is ready to pop soon.

I think you've covered most of the bases..... Make sure she delivers inside and on a nice thick bedded stall with heat lamps, lots of drying towels, and a baby blanket ready.....

I'd probably not let mom and baby outside for over 24 hours, and then only if the weather was above freezing -- with the baby wearing the blanket. And time outside would probably be limitted.

The foaling stall bedding should probably be totally replaced and thickly bedded again because mom and baby will be spending more time in there than they would if it were a Spring or Summer birth.

Other than all that, there's not much more you can do! Just use your own judgement on when and how long they should be outside for the first couple of weeks.....

I'm sure other folks will have more suggestions.....

MA

 

[Tobey]

I bought a bred mare and she foaled in March. Happened to be -40 when she foaled!!! (At midnight I might add) Just like you said: a blanket, heat lamp, lots and lots of straw bedding. We changed the bedding twice a day. I think it was a week before I felt it was warm enough to let them out. Our foaling stall is huge so room it wasn't a problem, he could buck and run around just fine. The first night was esp hard, we worry anyway about a warm weather foal. I was out there every hour making sure he was warm. He did just fine.

 

[AJ]

Most important for the baby's first hour is to get totally dried. USE a hairdryer and it will be fluffy and warm. After it starts nursing within an hour or two, the little one will do fine . Keep a coat on it. Our "cold" weather foals were born with winter coats, so they can handle cold temps quickly.

 

[Miniv]

HAIR DRYER! Great Idea! Duh...... Didn't think of that.

And TOBEY -- I love the photo you have on your avatar....would like to see a bigger version of it!

MA

 

[Tobey]

Gee, I never thought of a hairdryer, as my son would say DUH! We just used a towel to dry off. Here's a picture of my howler

he was rolling in the mud but the sun was out--he was having the time of his life!

 

[HorseyGurl22]

This is a good thread to me. I have a quarter horse who is due in February so I will be prepairing for a cold weather baby.

One question to add. What type of bedding is best for a foaling stall?

 

[Robin1]

Hair dryers are great.

Get that baby dry and warm quickly.

Robin

 

[shane]

I WOULD SAY THAT A GOOD STRAW BED IS THE BEST FOR FOALING AND IS NICE AND WARM, ITS JUST MY OPINION THOUGH..... GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR FOAL

 

[kaykay]

most people use straw as shavings can be inhaled by a small foal. we put a layer of shavings under the straw though to absorb all the liquid that happens when a mare foals.

 

[Becky]

I have two mares due in Feb and the most important thing as the others have said is to get those foals dry quickly. I've used a hair dryer in the past and it does work great! My foaling barn isn't insulated, but it is fully enclosed and I use infra red heaters similiar to a KalGlo. I also bed the stalls deeply in shavings with a layer of grass hay over that. I also have some ploar fleece foal blankets that work well to help a foal maintain it's body heat.

It's very important to keep a foal warm the first few days as they aren't able to regulate their body temperature well initially. So no drafts, warm bedding and possibly a heater and blankets are all necessary to keep those new little guys warm.