Help- orphan foal at 5 1/2 weeks

[HGFarm]

I have a friend who has lost her Mini mare that has a 5 1/2 week foal that is now orphaned.

Has anyone had success stories for raising a foal - what did you feed? What to watch out for? Should there be any anticipated problems? Any suggestions are welcome here to get this foal to thrive well.

 

[kaykay]

There are a lot of threads here on how to feed an orphan foal. At 5.5 weeks it shouldn't be too bad. The best way is to get them drinking from a bowl. Do a forum search as there are several detailed threads on how to do this.

Keep a careful eye for stress as foals get really stressed easily.

Tell her to call me if she needs phone help

Best wishes

 

[Jill]

Laurie, last year, we raised a foal from 5wks as we had to wean her early. It really was pretty easy. Drinking from a bowl is the key. A big dog food bowl, the kind that cannot be tipped over, will work well especially if it can be elevated. We've used upsidedown milk crate filled with 4x4's so the bowl can set down in it and not be swiped off.

Previously, we had to hand raise a foal from just a few days old, and that situation was much tougher as the feedings have got to be so much more frequent...

I think a dog bowl "situation", formula, milk pellets, foal feed and soft hay and it's actually quite easy and w/o any growth issues that I can see.

PS do not try to use a bucket -- baby will not put his/her head in as far as need be to get formula.

 

[HGFarm]

The foal will drink from a bowl- how often does a foal need to be fed at this age, and how much? Any particular milk replacer recommended?

 

[Jill]

I do not remember for sure but the package has directions. We have used both Foal-Lac and Ultra 24. Both worked great for our babies.

 

[Jill]

I'm thinking it's only like 4x a day at this stage if they are also eating grain and especially if they're eating milk pellets but check the package to know for sure. My memory isn't for sure on this.

 

[zoey829]

Did you experince the foal getting the runs from the milk supplement? What about Probotics?

 

[Jill]

We didn't have any problems with the runs with the filly we raised from 5wks on.

One thing about probios that I didn't always know but this post reminded me is that you need to dose "a lot" of it. A friend of mine, who is a vet, advised not to dose 1/4 the full size dose, as I was inclined to do. She told me it's that you need enough good bacteria to populate the gut, so you need a "significant" amount for a mini, as you would for a biggie. It made sense to me when she told me, but I would not have figured that on my own.

 

[HGFarm]

A foal can have 3 to 4cc pepto bismol for the runs if that happens due to a food change. Sounds like they like the milk pellets in their food?

 

[Jill]

The filly we raised from 5wks old did like the milk pellets, but the colt we raised from just a few days old never took to the milk pellets.

 

[ohmt]

Jill's thread on the "best of" forum saved us when we had a colt orphaned at 2 days a couple of years ago. We left milk out in a bowl and the foal was pretty much fed free choice on that up until a month or so. From there, I agree with Jill that 4 feedings should be plenty. He took to the milk pellets just fine and we mixed it with the equine junior that he was fed. Between the pellets, equine junior, and full run of the pasture he did great and was always nice and filled in and never behind in growth at all.

 

[Bonny]

I raised a 6 week old on goat milk. We gave a zantac a day for the first week to prevent ulcers, and we give probios every few days to help the gut. We also give a combination of manna pro and foal feed offered 2 times a day.

Right now I am raising a 3 week old orphan filly. We are doing the same thing, And we cant get her to drink from a bucket right now so we give her the milk mixed with baby oatmeal cereal to slightly thicken it, w syringe it into her mouth. This works very well. She will drink water from a bucket, just not her milk. We have just started adding the pellets to her milk to thicken it and get her more used to the taste. I have had her almost 2 weeks now and she is doing great.

We have a 5 month old foal in with her for company and to teach her to eat, drink and graze. We turn them both out daily with the other horses to bond with the herd.

We feed her every 2-3 hrs her milk and she takes 3-4 cups at a time. At first we fed through the night but have now weaned her off from late night feedings. She will nibble on her hay during the night.

Best wishes its not easy, but it will get easier

Picture of my niece feeding the Filly:

 

[Jill]

How's the baby doing?

 

[HGFarm]

Baby is doing great so far- thanks for asking!