Foal having trouble nursing? Need replys ASAP!

[COUNTRYBOY]

Hey guys. If any of you raise horses I may need some tips or advice. I had a quarter horse foal born this morning. She seems to be in great health. The thing that bothers me is it seems like her legs are so long she has a hard time nursing. You can tell she is still learning how to control them but she has a hard time finding a nipple. It gets the mare upset cause it's her first foal and she won't stand still. What I've been doing is going out every two hours, halter tie the mare, and hold the foal to a nipple so she'll nurse. Am I doing the right things here or is there any thing else I need to do? I really want this foal to make it cause it's my daughter's first foal. I know it's early in the year for a foal but the filly got bred early accidently. My stud broke out one night last year and got to her. I've got them in a stall with plenty of straw and a heat lamp. Anyway, looks like I'll be calling in to work tonight. I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks.

[trader rob]

countryboy, make sure that foal has a bowl movement today or this evening, if not give enema, it has to have one or it will die. if it is getting milk it will get stronger, it won't drink much at one time. i would try not to interfear any more than nesessary.maybe hold the mare and let foal find its own nipple, and if it is sucking while your gone the mare will move off because it has already had its milk. too much milk is worse than not enough, if it sucks a few times it should have got enough colostrium. hows it doing if it was born this morning you should know alot by now about how it is doing. good luck trader

[trader rob]

pm me if i can help

[COUNTRYBOY]

Thanks Rob. I've been up all night checking on her. She seems to be all right. She sucks alittle at a time but not much. As long as she sucks alittle I guess she'll be alright. I keep a constant watch cause I don't want her to get weak. She says alittle chill though and that worries me some too. I just took her temp and it's 98.4 so I wrapped her up. She was sleeping real hard so she must have warmed up some.

[hobbles]

Hope your foal is doin better,, Ya know, it won't hurt to help it along for a day or two if you feel it need's it, You can get a baby bottle and get some milk from mom and hand feed it to the foal,, I have done that with foals and with a kitten or two,, It is a baby,, sometimes they need a lil help,, they will get "tough" later...

[COUNTRYBOY]

I thought about that. Is there a special milk replacer for foals?

[hobbles]

there is, but I can't remember the name of it,, you could call a vet and ask,, the mother's milk IS the best,,, and it will help mom figure out what's goin on,, It will help,,,,,

[Highbow]

Be careful on the replacement milks , you might give her diareha, just keep letting her nurse the mare as she wants to and maybe milk the mare into a bottle and give it to the foal, most feed stores have nurse bottles for calf
that the foal should be able to use. Calf-Manna has a milk mix that I use to use with some foals.

[trader rob]

glad to hear it's ok. thats the way they do suck, just a little real often, it should be pretty stable on it's feet now, right? don't feed it extra unless you think it is not getting anything, you don't want the scours for sure. it don't take much milk for newborn and later if it needs it you can sprinkle power milk on some calf manna. just keep the mare fed and plenty of fresh water, the foal will get it's thru milk. did the mare clean ok? i always gave the mare a tetnus shot and if she had any trouble cleaning, a shot of pennicillun. i would say your on your way. good luck trader

[Feedman]

Feed the mare really well so that she makes plenty of milk. OMOLENE 300 by Purina Mills is specially formulated for Mare's and foal's. Give the mare plenty of good quality hay (ex. Alfalfa and orchard grass are best).
The mare is going to be more nervous because this is her first foal. Foals will nurse between 60 to 70 times a day. Maybe only a few nudges at a time.

Good Luck

[COUNTRYBOY]

Feed the mare really well so that she makes plenty of milk. OMOLENE 300 by Purina Mills is specially formulated for Mare's and foal's. Give the mare plenty of good quality hay (ex. Alfalfa and orchard grass are best).
The mare is going to be more nervous because this is her first foal. Foals will nurse between 60 to 70 times a day. Maybe only a few nudges at a time.

Good Luck
Well I let'em walk around the field at dinner, the foal was doing great. When I put'em back up, the foal (which my daughter named "Dixie") seemed to be a little chilled. I checked on her an hour later and she was shivering pretty bad. I checked her body temp and it was 95, four degrees less than normal. So I brought her in the house, wrapped her in a blanket. Right now she's stretched out and sleeping like a log. My worst fear now is pneumonia. I know through so many calves I've raised early in the year, when a very young calf get it and you don't find quick, they don't stand a chance. All I can try to do is keep her warm,dry, and make sure she gets milk. I hope I never have a foal again this early in the year, it's like having a newborn baby in the house. I was really hoping she'd have it a couple weeks ago when it was so warm but I knew my luck would make her have it when it was cold.So anyway, thanks for all the advice guys, I'll take all I can get. I'm 32 years old, old enough to know there are people out there who know more than I do. Experience teaches knowledge. That's why I love this website. Just some good ol' countryboys doing their thing. Thanks again, I'll take all the advice I can get. Megan,my daughter takes her pets very seriously, the most caring girl I've ever seen. I can see the concern all over her face for this foal. She's been waiting 11 months for this filly counting it down, in the last two mouths she counted it down day by day. So my duty as a father is to go that extra mile to make sure,if I can, that it makes it. Looks like it might be another night of work missed. I'm eating them personal days up fast.

[trader rob]

countryboy sounds good, i don't think i would be taking it in and out to much, thats hard on them. if it's getting milk you can't hardly freeze one out. the shivering is how they make heat, it warms the muscles. if you are worried it will get cold keep them in a dry stall. trader

[COUNTRYBOY]

Well for those who are interested, our little foal passed away this morning. Yesterday evening it seemed like she just couldn't get warm enough. She even quit trying to suck. I put here back in the house, went to a neighbor's diary farm and got a gallon of fresh colostrum milk. I started bottle feeding her & everytime I feed her she would suck alittle more than the last time. About 3:00 a.m. she went to sleep and just faded out. I've never had this much trouble trying to keep one alive but I've never had one in this kind of cold weather. My daughter took it hard but I believe I'm taking it harder than she is now. I really get attached to my dogs and horses, especially when you have to care for one like this. Oh well, that's life. Long for some, short for some. All we can do now is look forward to our Tenn. walker having her foal in June.

[Gobblergetter2.1]

Very sorry to hear that countryboy. Foals are a thing of beauty. You can't really do anything about it now, you tried hard though. Good luck with the other foals.

[GSP]

Sorry to hear the news Countryboy.

[Highbow]

Sorry to hear that CountryBoy, I lost a very fine American Saddlebred foal one year when it was nine days old to lockjaw, this ole boy cried hard over that one.

[trader rob]

i see you lost your foal, hate to hear it. i have had mixed results with the last few foals. i think the fescue grass and hay has alot to do with it.