Orphan foal help?

[Equine_Reproduction]

Hopefully, some of you here will have some ideas. We tragically had to put one of our mares down unexpectedly that had a 5 week old foal by her side. He is healthy, robust, etc., and we were fortunate in that we have a mare that is more than happy to claim him as her own. She is allowing him to “nurse” but has absolutely NO milk. We started Equidone (domperidone) on her yesterday, but know that it will take a bit for her milk to come in. The problem is this foal absolutely HATES milk replacer. We’ve tried feeding it to him from a bucket, from a baby bottle, trying to hold a bottle next to his new mama’s nipples and ultimately, syringing it in to him. It’s HOT here. Horribly hot. So, we’re reluctant to pull the water out of the run for him so that he’ll be thirsty when we do offer him the milk. We’ve resorted to syringing it in to him, but geez…by the time we’re done, I am covered with milk, he’s covered with milk, the flies are LOVIN’ us - anyone ever taste this stuff??? I cannot blame him for wanting nothing to do with it <gag>.

We’ve got milk replacer pellets but he’s not thrilled with that stuff either. He’s doing well overall and I KNOW we’ve just got to get him through a few more days until this mare’s milk comes in. But, trying to come up with something in the interim. And this is probably the biggest colt we’ve ever had, so when he says NO, he can convince us that he REALLY means it.

This is a really sweet foal and his new mom thinks he’s boooootttiiifull :)…so there is at least some good that has come out of this. I love my mares so this has been a really heartbreaking process. Anyone have ideas on how to get this baby to start drinking this stuff on his own? And yeah…we’ve tubed him, but we’d rather go with something a bit less invasive. We’ve dealt with orphans in the past and have always had a good outcome, but this is the first time that we’ve had one that absolutely refuses to touch the milk replacer

[Somermist]

Kathy, first very sorry about your mare.

When we had our orphan last year it was a lot of trial and error. We tried several different milk replacers, our boy did not like it much at first either. My colt was a few weeks older than yours, but after looking for advice several things worked for us. First, we used the igloo method, just hung it in his stall and he became curious enough that he started using it. Second, at the suggestion of another breeder, we took the milk replacer pellets and mixed them with the a little of the powder, wet slightly and placed it in a tub on the ground. It all took a little while, but he started picking around at that and then eating pretty well in short order.

It is a little trial and error, IMHO. Best of luck with your colt.

[EquusMagnificus]

I know nothing about orphans, but maybe add a bit of maple syrup or something in the milk replacer?

Maternal milk is a tad sweet.

[JB]

Oh Kathy, so sad for you and the little guy Major jingles you find something he’ll drink soon!!!

[KBEquine]

I think it is easier to get a foal who hasn’t had a few days of Mom’s milk to convert to replacer - they don’t know what they are missing. Also, we’ve had to experiment with differently-shaped nipples on bottles.

They took to the lamb or goat nipple on the Igloo cooler, but only the ‘natural’ shaped nipple on a baby bottle.

So you might be fighting both a taste (of replacer) and shape (of nipple) preference.

Good luck for the next couple days & so sorry to hear you lost the mare. It is always tough to lose a friend & take care of her baby, too.

[Zu_Zu]

RIP ~ lovely mare ~~~ Jingles & AO for her son ~

RIP ~ lovely mare

Jingles & AO for her son ~

I for the owners ~[/I]

[Equine_Reproduction]

Thanks for the suggestions :)…We’ve tried adding karo syrup to the milk, tried four different nipples, have tried just hanging a bucket, have tried adding the replacer to different types of grain, have tried three different milks, including trying to make one up the old fashioned way 'cause I “do” think the commercial stuff tastes AWFUL. He says NO!!! Adamantly, NO! As in “YOU drink this s#%t” type of NO! The mare he is in with has a little bit of clear fluid in her udder and he is diligently nursing the snot out of her (owie!!). Such a good mommy! But, darn it…I worry that he’s just not getting enough nutrition. He “is” eating some oats and alfalfa and of course, grazing a bit. But…<sigh>. Maybe I’m worrying too much and he’ll be fine. I keep thinking that if we can just manage for a few more days, the mare’s milk will come in sufficiently. Milk baths are supposed to be good for the skin, right??? Ugh…

[EquusMagnificus]

Well, I wouldn’t worry too much as long as he otherwise looks good… I mean, he won’t starve himself to death! He’ll either a) accept the milk replacer, or b) by the time he is ready to give in, mom will have milk.

Bad foal!

[Somermist]

Sorry, it sounds like you have tried just about everything. Did you say you tried goat’s milk? My friend had good luck with getting her baby to switch to that. Otherwise, prayers and jingles, hang in there.

[DLee]

Just wanted to say I’m so sorry about your mare. My colt is the same age, they’re still such babies. And it’s so damn hot it makes EVERYTHING harder and more worrisome.

Best of luck with your boy and jingling for a break in this heat.

[TrueColours]

SO sorry about your mare - I was going to ask if you had tried goat’s milk as well?

[mzm_farm]

Talk to your veterinarian about putting in a small caliber NG tube and attaching it to his nose/halter - when it is time to “eat” just put the formula directly into his stomach.

It is not ideal, but should get you by for a few days until the mare’s milk comes in.

[Miichelle]

I’m thirding the goats milk idea. I was married to a vet in a small mountain town & had every orphan baby imaginable. I’ve raised foals, kittens, puppies, foxes, lambs, elk, & I’m sure a few others on it with great luck & NO digestive problems.Good luck!

[Home_Again_Farm]

IME they rarely object to foalac, but hate Buckeye or Land O Lakes (which are better for them) if they have ever experienced the real thing. If he is not getting dehydrated, you may be okay to wait for the mare’s milk to come in. Otherwise, I’d definitely go with tubing. You have the skill to do it and you will know he is getting what he needs. If he can fight with you that hard, he is not in bad shape. :winkgrin:

I am so sorry about your mare. Jingling that the little one sees the light soon. :yes:

[tucktaway]

I’m sorry for your loss

Is there any chance any of your other lactating mares would take him on? I know you have this mare to work with, but maybe another mare would raise him with her own. I had a TB mare who did this for an orphan; she raised her WB colt and a TB filly - they both thrived and she kept good weight.

The volume of goats milk needed could get pricey around here, but it could be a good replacer in the interim.

Best of luck!!

[Tamara_in_TN]

we always used mares match and not that nasty foal lac stuff…also if he can drink water from a bucket he does not need nipples…they don’t ever “need” nipples to begin with it just makes some people feel better…hang the milk replacer in the place of his water source and wait him out…he won’t die

Tamara

[CathyKb]

My two preferred foalac over anything. Make a thick mush (think thick oatmeal) with water, sweet feed and foalac. Put a little bit on your fingers and place is toward the back of his mouth on the side. Feed him several times a day for a couple of days. Hopefully in a couple of days he will be eating his mush by himself. Do not leave it out in the hot sun, will sour and also the flies love it. I had one that totally refused bottle or bucket, but licked up the mush and I also gave him unlimited water.

[Fred]

First, Kathy, my heartfelt condolences on the loss of your mare.

I have had to bottle raise two foals and neither one of them liked foal lac. I didn’t like the taste of it either, so could not blame them.
There is a company near us called Grober that makes milk replacer for a number of animals including horses, and they found that very acceptable.
We did use goat milk briefly but my understanding is that it is not quite right nutritionally. There is also a ‘home made’ recipe on line that I tried.

The first one would not drink from a bucket. We started gently syringing it into his mouth and then switched to a human baby bottle with a regular nipple, with the hole enlarged slightly.

The other baby took to the bucket quite quickly, which was a lot simpler.

I think the igloo is a great idea - but my two happened before I found out about the igloo here on COTH - so I have no experience with it.

Sending you good wishes Kathy that your baby starts cooperating soon.

[RyTimMick]

Kathy,

Put the nurse mare on Thyroid L, it will help bring her into milk faster. Also, if the foal never gets hungry, he won’t try the replacement. Also, I am not sure what replacer you are using, I found the buckeye to be the most pallitable. Good luck.

Tim

I used the igloo, and it worked great. However, foal wasn’t getting any natural so it might be harder now that your foal has.

[Dressage_Diva333]

So sorry about your mare.

I’ve now had three orphans to deal with, two of my own, and one this year belonging to a friend of mine (foal lives at my house).

At 3 weeks of age the mare decided she wanted to kill the foal, so we removed the foal. The first week was really rough… No matter what I did, I COULD NOT get her to drink the milk replacer. I mixed it with her feed, with-held water for a couple of hours, everything I could think of… she would take one drink of it then walk away, and the flys were LOVING it. I was able to milk another of my mares and get her to drink that out of a bucket. We eventually gave up with the milk replacer, and just got her eating the milk transition pellets mixed with her junior feed, and she’s doing fine.

Do you have another mare who you could milk and try mixing that with the milk replacer? I tried that with the one I mentioned above, and it got a little more interest, but not enough to make a meal out of it… Or at least you can keep him drinking until the milk comes in on your mare? I so wish we would have had a nurse mare for this little one

You might consider UlcerGuard as well, this year’s filly started showing signs of ulcers 2 days after we weaned her so we did a full 28 day treatment on her.

The other two orphans I’ve had in the past hated the milk replacer powder too. Both went onto Equine Junior and the milk pellets and thrived.