While reading about the "twin/adoption story" in the other posting, I just wanted to share a tip that worked for us when we were doing Miniatures. We had a few babies that lost their moms during the foaling season ( one was struck by lightning, another died right after foaling, and two more were from other breeders asking for us to help when the mares rejected foals). When a experienced mom foaled, we took the afterbirth from her healthy foal & rubbed it all over the adoptee giving it the smell of the new foal. In our case, the mares accepted the foals with no problems. We always had experience mares on these foals & were lucky that the adoptee foals were newborns so they were not a lot bigger & stronger that the new foals which could be a problem as they can beat up on the other foals & also keep them from getting the milk they needed. On all 4 the timing of new mommas, the adoptees just worked out & I realize it wont work for everyone. I learned this trick from my diary farmer family in upstate new york & hope that passing it on can help someone else.
Now on another note..but related subject. I used tiny little dog sweaters for my newborns. Sometimes I would have to try on a couple before finding one that fit. One day I grabbed one off the shelf & put it on a new foal only to have the new momma begin stomping her feet & charging the foal. This is a mare that was always one of my best mommas, very protective of her foals, but only moments before licking on the foal. Then I realized that the foal blanket I had put on the foal I had tried on another newborn & neglected to wash & she was smelling the other foal. The minute I took it off, she reverted back to her normal loving self, but it was a scarey lesson.
Now on another note..but related subject. I used tiny little dog sweaters for my newborns. Sometimes I would have to try on a couple before finding one that fit. One day I grabbed one off the shelf & put it on a new foal only to have the new momma begin stomping her feet & charging the foal. This is a mare that was always one of my best mommas, very protective of her foals, but only moments before licking on the foal. Then I realized that the foal blanket I had put on the foal I had tried on another newborn & neglected to wash & she was smelling the other foal. The minute I took it off, she reverted back to her normal loving self, but it was a scarey lesson.
