I think Beritinis (sp) carries Buckeye Feed so they could probably get the milk replacer if they don’t have any in stock.
We used to have a wonderful QH mare who was used as a nurse mare for Derek Perterson and then right after nursed aTB foal - so nursed 3 babies in a row!
Good luck Wynn!
Jingles for your little one.
^^This^^
I didn’t have access to a nursemare with my “orphan” (Erm… rejected) foal. We did the buckets, which she got in a day and then around 3 weeks we made the switch over to the pellets. The pellets were a life saver and really made a big difference in how the foal looked. Around 6 weeks when nursing foals tend to get that scraggly look as the mare’s milk begins that decline, she was blooming and beautiful.
Seminole now is the Buckeye distributor in Ocala and the surrounding area.
Unfortunately, Seminole doesn’t have the Buckeye milk replacer. So far, I’ve only found Berentini’s with it. I was forced to buy another brand last might as I ran out of Foal Lac. The brand is Ultra 24 – and I’m miffed that it doesn’t say how long it will last.
However, Annie is doing great. She took to the Igloo immediately, even when I put her out in the ring to run a bit (which she did, shadowing the two yearling fillies who ran down their fenceline alongside her).
I found that a one gallon jug of distilled water that I had made the perfect icepack and filler for the 5 gallon Igloo (to keep the milk level higher than the spout). My refridgerator’s ice cubes fit neatly through the top of the jug, so I just filled it with ice (after cleaning it up with soapy water) and put it in the Igloo before pouring a quart of the milk in. I refreshed the milk every three hours last night. The first time I went to do so, the whole thing was GONE! She drank a whole quart! She really took to it.
Anyway, I hope I’m not jinxing myself, but I think we’re on the right track now. I wish I could catch her pooping a bit more, but given how much she’s eating, surely she’d have burst by now if she weren’t pooping.
Next up, finding her a companion.
Thanks again – so very much! – everyone.
Oh, hansiska, she is starting to grind her teeth every so often. How much of the Pepcid did you give your fellow? They seem tastier and cheaper than Zantac. Was your fellow already showing signs of ulcers when you put him on it? I wonder if I should call the vet on that first? She isn’t grinding a lot, but just every so often.
(BTW, she took to the cold stuff immediately, too. I wonder if that just meant I had let her get so hungry that time that she was ready to drink anything liquid?)
[QUOTE=pwynnnorman;6250066]
(BTW, she took to the cold stuff immediately, too. I wonder if that just meant I had let her get so hungry that time that she was ready to drink anything liquid?)[/QUOTE]
Possibly, but I don’t think that should be of any concern…it probably made the switch easier for both of you.
She sounds like she’s doing great and definitely on the right track.
Here’s a link to the more label info that I found
http://www.jefferslivestock.com/images/label/0027121.htm
It says reconstituted milk lasts 24 hours refrigerated (or Igloo’d in this case) since you’re likely changing it a couple times a day sounds like you’re good.
Storage:
Store pail in a cool, dry location. Reconstituted milk replacer can be refrigerated up to 24 hours. Reheat in warm water bath. Do not microwave. Make fresh solution daily. Store dry powder in freezer for later use up to one year.
I have zero experience with foals but I just want to send jingles to you and little Annie. (And this is the first time I have sent “jingles” on this forum, so that has to count for something!)
On ulcers. Aria, my orphan had them too. I ended up putting her on a generic version of gastro guard I believe.
I personally would use gastrogard or ulcergard if the foal is already teeth grinding since ulcers in foals can be lethal. The treatment dose is by weight so one tube last several days making it more cost effective than treating an adult.
So glad to see the positive update. Big relief that she likes her Igloo “mama.” Can’t wait for pictures!!! :yes:
[QUOTE=ChocoMare;6250189]
So glad to see the positive update. Big relief that she likes her Igloo “mama.” Can’t wait for pictures!!! :yes:[/QUOTE]
Me too!!!
It sounds like you are very much on the right track. Keeps us posted.
Ditto. My filly was on gastrogard for a few weeks.
[QUOTE=Laurierace;6250142]
I personally would use gastrogard or ulcergard if the foal is already teeth grinding since ulcers in foals can be lethal. The treatment dose is by weight so one tube last several days making it more cost effective than treating an adult.[/QUOTE]
I agree.
Hope Annie continues to thrive.
We gave one Pepcid am and one pm. This was about 13 years ago and was the recommendation of a team of vets at Cornell.
But was gastroguard available then? What does your vet say about gastroguard v. famotadine?
Wish to say that I am sorry about the loss of your mare. I’ve raised 4 orphans in the last 30 years. Raised each one slightly differently and ALL turned out happy, well rounded horses. The first two were bottle raised but had a “dry” mare momma. (That mare would mother anything that needed mothering!) The last two started on the bottle and then went to bucket feeding. The two on the bucket “weaned” themselves of the bucket at about 4 months. (I did keep adding the milk replacer to their grain ration as a dry top dressing for another 6 weeks.) The bottle babies would have continued on the bottle until they were 30 yrs old if I hadn’t just “forgotten” to bring it with me one day! I never really worried about special companions for the two bucket babies as we have a number of horses/goats/dogs/cats/ect around them so as they never lacked for some kind of company. At 5-6 months we started putting them out with an aged gelding. The one advantage that I did have though was the goats. The first foal was raised entirely on goats milk. The next 3 foals I was able to mix foal milk replacer with goats milk. (Half feeding mixed as per formula directions + half feeding goats milk.) The digestablity of the goats milk made for fat happy babies who never had loose bowels or other digestive upset. With the bucket babies I (at one month) would give them a midnight bucket and then my husband would give a bucket at 6:30 A.M. as he was leaving for work. This was much easier schedule for feeding on my husband and I and the foals didn’t suffer from it. Good luck with your babie!
So sorry for your loss. It is a really difficult time for sure.
We had an orphan foal 2 years ago. Lost the mare 5 days after birth. We got her on milk replacer with a bottle and a lamb’s nipple. She did want want to do the bucket thing and because I was so tired, I just found it easier on both of us to keep bottle feeding her.
Hubby and I took turns and feed her every 2 hours around the clock for about a month and then it went to 3 hours. The first few days, we kept her in a stall with an open mare in the next stall. They bonded and we turned them out into a pen. After about a week, they got turned out into the pasture with the rest of the mares and foals. Godmare was great. 
Next door neighbour who was 4 named her Cinderella. Too bad it stuck as she then became the orphan. Cinder is now 2 and is as tall as her 10 year old sister at 15.3. I had her in at the vet’s when she was just a year old and he asked me how she was doing. He said he figured she’d be pretty pot bellied and fugly due to being a bottle baby. I told him that the horse I was holding was her. He was quite surprised.
We tried to do the igloo thing but couldn’t get an actual igloo brand cooler up here in Canada so I tried another brand. Could not get it to stop leaking. Cinder wanted nothing to do with the milk replacer pellets. We started her on a bit of grain after a few weeks and she did well all along. No issues with diarrhea, ulcers or anything.
You will do fine. Cinder would jump up at night when you went out to feed and would drink almost 3 litres in a feeding when she was older. As soon as she was satisfied, she went back to sleep. Out in the field, you’d call her and she’d run up to feed and then leave.
I only mixed about as much as we thought she’d eat in a feeding. Anything left was put in the fridge and then fed before the “fresh” stuff.
Good luck, and let us know how it’s going. It’s exhausting but so worth it. Friends kept asking me how we did it but it was so much easier than a human baby who would cry, need rocking, change diapers, etc. Plus they have the sweetest noses to kiss.
Nancy!
Wynn,
I’m just seeing this. I’m sorry for the loss of your mare. I had the same thing happen two years ago and ended up raising an orphan. I had another lactating mare (foal born the same night) who took the filly, Bittersweet Gold, and nursed her, but I still had to supplement with bucket feeding up to 4 months old.
I used Land o Lakes, Mares Match. The first day or two, we used canned goats milk. The Mare’s Match seemed to work well and I don’t recall her having any problems with it. Sweetie is now a coming two year old and shedding out a stunning dark gold buckskin this Spring. How time flies…
Had a filly who was treated for ulcers at a very young age - 1 week. Definitely go the GG/UG route and not pepcid, sulcrafate, etc, etc.
Continuing thanks for all the advice and sympathy (lachevaline, I am grateful to have received your first jingle).
I will skip the Pepcid, just to play it safe, and am calling my vet for the gastroguard.
Now I need a companion for her and, as usual, I’d appreciate your impressions. We’ve decided not to get a nursemare (Sandy, I appreciated what you stated, but a new mare would be very hard on Kevlar when he’s already up in arms about everything – he alternates from fretful to lascivious during the breeding/foaling season and major changes in “personnel” would just be too hard on him).
So, I’m thinking about a goat (how do you find one that is friendly, tolerate and active(?) enough – is it easy? hard?), sheep (does anyone do that? are they harder to care for?), mini (but what if it eats her alfalfa or pellets or whatever solid food she ends up having – do you have to separate them a lot for feeding if you go with another equid?)…or my old gelding (16.1h, has weaned many foals, but never one this young AND he’s like Kev: a bit preoccupied right now worrying about his best buddy, Cat, who is due to foal in two weeks).
Ideas? (And, again, please recognize my appreciation for all of them, even if I don’t address every post – I am overwhelmed with this matter and trying to get all my other work done.)
Going out to bring her in now and take pictures – least I can do for all of your help!
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