Mare not producing much milk

[aspenlucas]

or so I think. This is a 21 year old mare. She’s had 8 foals for us previously, never an issue. Mare was a milk machine. Prior to foaling on the 4th she bagged up. She bagged and had white milk on the 30th-July 2nd. July 2nd her milk turned honey and sticky, almost like a syrup and then she lost her bag. Night of the 4th she went back to normal white milk but not a huge bag, but had milk. Day 2 we put her on Equidone for five days. I wouldn’t say it increased her much.

Foal is lively and well, he nurses, but is not frantic nursing, just nurses more then I think the others do, or am I watching him more? When I express milk I can get a small stream out of one teat canel. I can never get both to give me milk at once. I realize if I can get some, he’s getting more as his tongue/mouth are made to express milk. But I’m still worried. He’s only 9 days old and he’s lively and happy, but I still think she should have more.

Has anyone ever tried fenugreek on their mares? I used it when I was nursing with my kids. Any other thoughts? She foundered about three weeks before foaling (mechanical foundering from being chased by an aggressive mare). She’s on 1 1/2 grams bute twice a day, 22 doxy twice a day, Ulcerguard in the evening.

How soon can I supplement with milk pellets? I’ve tried milking a mare that lost her foal, along with goat’s milk and he has ZERO interest in the bottle. So maybe he’s getting enough? I just worry as we lost a colt to an unfortunate accident on the 5th, so I don’t want to pull the wool over my eyes with this one. Vet is not into holistics and thinks the equidone will do the job, but I did not see an increase.

I do also have her on 1 lb of alfalfa pellets twice a day as I know that increases milk production.

[FatDinah]

Try giving her dry brewer’s yeast on her food or getting her to drink dark beer, like Guiness.

Wonder if she is drinking enough especially in this heat everywhere> Maybe make sure she is getting sale and electrolytes.

[pete_sheerin]

The best way to determine if the mare is producing enough milk is to muzzle the foal for several hours and see what her mammary glands look like after that time. Many mares with small udders produce sufficinet milk for the foal. If the foal is thriving (good growth, active, etc) she probably is producing enough milk. You should be cautious with using multiple substances to increase lactation as there may be interactions that occur and may be passed in the milk. Also if your multiple treatments result in an overabundance of milk, there is the possibility of inducing diarrhea in the foal or having the foal grow to rapidly due to excess nutrition which can result in musculoskeletal developmental disorders.

[Altamont_Sport_Horse]

Foals do nurse frequently, especially in the beginning. It might be that he is just keeping her pretty well drained. They do switch back and forth from one teat quite a bit usually but they all have different habits like preferring one side more than another or only nursing on the same teat. That would really keep the one side low on milk. Watch and see if the foal is nursing from both teats equally (not just what side the foal stands on while nursing). If it does not nurse much on one side the milk might be a little old and need to be expressed to encourage equal usage.

If foal is lively and happy then everything is probably ok. Watch for failure to gain weight, depression, kicking or acting irritable while nursing (frustrated because can’t get enough milk) and dehydration…especially in the summer heat. I had one that did not produce enough milk even after giving domperidone. I bucket fed for 2 1/2 months with milk replacer and he continued to nurse off his dam but was very excited when we came with his bucket of fresh milk because he was hungry and would slurp it right down.

[aspenlucas]

She’s been done with the equidone for three days now, so I don’t think I’d be adding something on top if I fed fenugreek (or brewer’s yeast, didn’t think of that one). She is drinking plenty of water and has two buckets and they are never dry. I will get her a fresh salt lick though, her’s is on the older side.

Colt nurses off both teats, he switches back and forth. He is not irritable and is not kicking or looking frustrated. This mare has had 9 foals with us and her bag is not normal for her, hence my worrying. She is probably producing enough for him, but you better believe I make sure every morning and evening I can express a little milk from each teat. I just don’t want him to go downhill or lose him when I have a fridge full of fresh goat’s milk (we have a small dairy herd).

I put him out tonight for the first time (mom has laminitis and was confined) and he was running and bucking. I’m sure everything is fine. I just don’t want to miss signs if he’s not getting enough.