3 week old orphan foal-tips on bucket feeding?

[aspenlucas]

My worst night mare. I brought in my broodmare, Tristan at 10 AM, she was standing there eating. I bet she hit the ground before I left the driveway. Call at work at 11:30, the babysitter found her dead in the stall. The stall was not even disturbed and breakfast not finished.

I have a three week old foal now, exactly 21 days. My vet said to give him 1 lb of Purina Strategy per day, along with a combo of goat milk and Land O Lakes milk replacer. We have dairy goats, so the goat milk is not an issue.

I have provided a bucket for him of warm milk, but he really has no interest. He is nibbling hay and grain. Actually the small bucket of milk was almost empty after the first feeding when I went back but I’m assuming he dumped it, moving back and forth, he’s still calling for mom.

I’m using a little 5 qt flat back bucket for him. The milk is warm. Any tips to get him to take it? Or will it just take a little time. How much water should I offer him? I put about 2 qts of water in another bucket. I don’t want him to get full on water and no milk.

I’m just devastated right now. We lost a colt July 5th to a horrible accident (suffocation). Our first accident in 50 foals. This is only the 2nd orphan I’ve had and the other was 2 1/2 months, so hardly an orphan.

Any tidbits?

[elizabeth_Callahan]

I would not offer water until he is cleaning up the milk. Usually it will take a few hours - up to 12 before they start drinking milk They will when they get hungry enough
I would not offer Strategy, I would offer some type of milk based creep feed, like Buckeye starter and Progressive Nutrition’s starter Your foal cannot digest grain yet. The starter can be fed free choice
Goat milk by itself is fine ( can be a little constipating) and he will prob like it better than the mixture
Also, does not have to be warm, just room temp
Offer water when he is drinking well
Some good hay to nibble, but he can’t really digest that either
Once he is 8 weeks old,van stop milk and go to a milk based pellet and then at 12 weeks, to a foal grain. My orphans have done great on the Buckeye

A;lso, I know you have the goats so milk won’t cost you anything BUT Buckeye’s mare match can be fed free choice - it is acidified so foals won’t drink too much at one and get diarrhea and does not go bad . Can be left out for 12 hours in this heat and then changed rather than mixing up multiple batches during the day ( and night) No need to refrigerate or heat
No need to use a bottle - this foal is old enough to drink from a bucket

[Tiki]

As Elizabeth said, do NOT give the foal strategy. Foals cannot digest grain until they are at least 3 and probably 4 months of age. Go here and scroll to the bottom of the page to see how to feed milk to an orphan foal. See the picture by the link to the directions. Buckeye Foal Starter is a milk based pellet and is very palatable to foals.

So sorry about your mare. Good luck with the foal.

[KBEquine]

First, my sympathies. We’ve lost mares twice in the past several years & it never gets easier.

Second, we also used the Land O’Lakes milk replacer. And the Igloo cooler to feed it (cold). Search for igloo on the sporthorse breeding forum & you’ll find information on how to make & use a cooler.

Your foal had its mother long enough that it knows how to suck & will probably not want to suck a nipple that isn’t genuine “mom” but will eventually do it.

The best part about getting a foal onto the cooler, if you can, is that the milk replacer is sealed away from dirt & flies, stays cool (as in, doesn’t sour) & makes feeding MUCH easier.

I am so sorry for your loss - I know how it fees to suddenly be the sole support of a helpless baby. There are a lot of people on this board who have gone through what you are going through - you will get lost of good advice.

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc307/KBEquine/BillaatherIgloo2.jpg

[Faiths_CremelloWB]

I agree with others about getting a milk based pellet to feed him. Up here we have a product called Foal Lac and they make the milk replacer powder and pellets.

As for drinking the milk, perhaps get a bottle to try and get some into him and so he gets the taste. From there be may drink from the bucket. With the orphan I had, I kept the milk in the bottle for a while and hung it on the wall by the bucket. I put a small amount in the bottle and the rest in the bucked which was right beside it.

Very sorry about your mare. Best of luck with the little one.

[sid]

This is always so sad to hear and dealing feeding an orphan can be a challenge.

I had two NI foals that were not allowed to nurse until the dam’s colostrum was gone – and both times I could get them drinking from a bucket in just a few days.

OTOH, my one and only orphan refused a bucket and refused a hanging bottle. He refused foal-lac pellets I had to bottle feed him until he was about 3 mos old. It was exhausting.

He is 19 years old now…;)!

Good luck. Lots of good advice here.

[aspenlucas]

Well he’s drinking out of a bucket! He’s on 1/2 Land O Lakes and 1/2 fresh goat’s milk. I may up the goat’s milk as his stool is a little soft. Calling the vet on this, but her concern on straight goat’s milk was that it would bind him up.

He’s nibbling on soft grass hay also. I’ve removed his water, but calling the vet to see if I can offer him a little bit once in a while. I don’t want him to be/get dehydrated.

He’s a sipper, not a guzzler, so it took a while for me to catch him drinking, hopefully it gets better with each feeding!