colt not nursing

[SuzE]

Would like to hear any experiences with this. This colt is about 12 hours old now and is not interested in finding the milk bar. He makes half hearted attemptes but is not aggressive in his search. I have been milking the mare and bottle feeding him. Seems normal in all other areas just not interested in nursing. He has good sucking reflexes and latches on to bottle or my finger but won't latch onto moms teat. Would appreciate to hear from any of you who had to deal with this problem. I had read in another thread that it took 3 days for her colt to start to nurse. How long did your foal take. How much did you feed at one time and how often did you feed. What techniques did you try to get him to find moms teat, etc... Thank you in advance for any help.

 

[Janis]

Try Karo syrup or even pancake syrup if you've got it. Put just a little on your finger, let him smell it, then taste it. He should love the sweet taste. Then, put a little on Mom's teat & put him under there. You may have to do it a couple times, but once he latches on good & gets a good drink of milk, he should start associating milk & her teats.

He need to be fed at least every 2 hrs (day & night).

I hope this works.

Janis

 

[mizbeth]

I had a good equine vet tell me one time, if they are not hungry they won't look for something to eat. He recommended letting nature take its course. (Within reason of course)

Good luck with baby! Have you checked temp and other vital signs? A call to the vet might be a good idea.

Beth

 

[HGFarm]

If you have not already, I highly recommend you call your vet!!! New babies are quite fragile and go downhill FAST. There could be something else seriously wrong. I have never in 30 years had a foal take that long to nurse!

The karo syrup is a good idea- it will boost the blood sugar some and give a bit of energy but something is wrong here if he is not interested in eating.

JMO

 

[Miniv]

You are walking a fine line right now........ He needs colostrum so you need to feed him. Yes, every 2 hours is the usual. But as Beth said, you also need to make him just hungry enough that he goes searching for mom..

Try to get between 30 to 60 cc's of colostrum into him per feeding. His digestive tract will start maturing when he is 24 hours old, so the timing is important.

The kayro syrup idea is good. And once he's 24 hours+ old, I would have a vet run an IGG test on him, if it were me.

Keep us posted.

MA

 

[SuzE]

Thank you all for the help. Yes I had called the vet first thing this morning! I made sure he got enough colostrum...bottle feeding him every hour last night. Everything else is all normal except that he won't latch on to mom's teat. He looks for it but can't seem to locate it. I have been bottle feeding him every hour - hour and a half. I have been setting him up in the nursing position and going on the other side of the mare and putting the bottle underneath near her udder so he will associate eating with her not me. Thankfully the mare is great and has been wonderful through all this. I am going to try the kryo syrup at next feeding. He has been frolicking around the stall so I really don't think anything else is wrong with him. Yes I am going to have an IgG done on him tomorrow morning. Sure hope he figures this whole thing out soon...I am sure going to be one tired gal if he doesn't!

 

[Miniv]

You must be EXHAUSTED. Do you have anyone else at home to give you a break from these feedings?

We've been where you are at, but at least my husband and I work as a team. And why does it tend to be the BOYS who are the slow-pokes at learning this????? (You'd think they'd be FIRST to latch on! :lol: )

With him being so active, it sounds like your main problem is puting "two and two together"! (But it's good you're getting the IGG test done anyway....)

Let us know what the test says tomorrow..... AND when he connects! He WILL connect, eventually......

:

MA

 

[bevann]

Several years ago I had a bay colt who did the same thing.We used the baby bottle and stuck it under mom from the far side and near her teats.He got it after 3 days, but it was a long 3 days for me.He also had somewhat crooked legs so he was named Forrest Gump.Forrest learned to eat&I did physical therapy and straightening of the legs for several weeks.He is now healthy and has nice straight legs.Some of them are just slow to catch on.Keep feeding him until he figures out where the real food is and good luck.Keep us posted.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I am the one who had a foal take three days to nurse from Mama.

Obviously, as with Susanne, I was bottle feeding.

My foal would actually turn his head away from the mare and actively avoid nursing.

I had a mare who has now stopped breeding , ALL her colts did this!!!

It made for an interesting first two or three days!!!

Basically just keep on as you are, milking the mare off and feeding, and half way through the feed stop - the foal will get annoyed at this and so be motivated- and "plug" the foal on the bag.

I tied the mare up and literally held the foal and placed his head on the bag, slipped my thumb inside his mouth and milked the mare into his throat.

Since he would not suck standing up , his first real meal from Mama was taken sitting in my lap with his head vertical above me and held in place by my hand- a technique I perfected with the other mares foals.

Once the foal has actually made an attempt to suckle- in any position- it has found the breakfast bar.

It is not necessary to hold the bottle by the bag etc as foals have a keen sense of smell and will search for food.

My problem was that my last foal with this problem was extremely premature and he was a full three days old before he was strong enough to allow him to get hungry.

This occurred naturally in all the cases I have had as I became so tired I slept through a feeding in the night!!

Once the foal has become hungry- so long as it is strong enough- it will search on it's own.

If you are in the stall- leave as the foal will now associate you with food and will search all over you- which is confusing!!

Just go outside and watch.

In all my cases after I had missed or was late with a couple of feedings the foal took less or no milk from the bottle, indication to me that it had nursed.

I cut back on the feedings- only offering a bottle a very two hours and within 24 hours all my foals were nursing normally and refusing a bottle.

I think I have had five of these, counting the very first over 12 years ago.

 

[Reble]

Update, how is the foal doing? Hope for your sake nursing on its own. :aktion033:

 

[Bess Kelly]

Instead of using the bottle to "lead" him to the nipples, put some karo & milk on mom...put same on your finger, get him next to mom & facing correctly, then latch him onto your finger, move your hand up and slide finger out & nipple to his mouth. Yes, you need to be a contortionist :bgrin I'm not done -- while doing this put your other hand on his rump and as he is led under her, scratch at his butt. Mares do this to encourage them to move on and nurse. It's a natural response for them to nudge and nurse.

BEST OF LUCK.