Maiden Mare Not Accepting Foal

[DanisMinis]

Had a foal born this morning but the mare will not accept it. When it goes near her she pins her ears back and bites/kicks it. What do you think I should do?

 

[AnnaC]

So sorry you also have this problem - can I suggest you read the TEASE topic.

Please also protect the foal from your mare, then get your mare on some pain meds (banamine) to help her feel more comfortable after the birth.

Milk your mare and give this to the foal asap - you may need to call your vet for advice or a visit to test your foal in case it needs treatment/help of some kind.

So sorry to be so brief, but in a rush at the moment - I'm sure others will post soon to give you advice, but please read the TEASE topic as there is lots of helpful info there.

Congrats on your new baby and good luck!

Anna

 

[REO]

That foal MUST have the mare's milk (colostrum) within the first 12 hours of life (RIGHT AWAY) to live!

Milk the mare and feed that baby!

After you hand feed the foal, try twitching her and helping the foal to nurse. If you give the mare Banamine so she's not in pain, and MAYBE if she's been nursed on a few times, maybe she will accept the foal.

#1 feed that foal

This is why I beg people to get their fillies and start early on maiden mares getting them used to having their udders touch and handled. It really helps.

Good luck! Please let us know how it goes!

 

[Riverrose28]

First thing I would recommend since the foal was born this morning is to call your vet, second, get a helper, if no one else is available tie her in the corner, push her rear over, milk her into a pan or pot, and syringe slowly into the corner of the foals mouth. Put some milk on your finger and guide the foal to the udder, it may take several trys. Of course by this time foal may be weak, keep milking mare and syringing small amount into the side of the foal until it gains some strength. Milk the mare and put some into a freezer jar in cas the vet want to tube the foal. Use a 60cc syringe, cut the end off and insert the plunger into the cut off end, it will help you collect milk, if you don't have a large syringe, milk the mare anyway and put it in ajar until the vet arrives, they will have the 60cc syringe. If you are gong to save the foal you must get the vet out at this point and get precious colostum in it's system.

 

[Riverrose28]

I'm sorry to post again, but this is what we call a red flag! I can't stop thinking about your foal! Call the vet Asap and get some colostrum into him. I'm not sure you are even online, so maybe I'm just posting this to put my mind at ease, but whatever. God Bless this little one, and Saint Francis please ask the great one for help.

 

[DanisMinis]

I milked the mare and she was perfectly fine with me milking her, I got a lot of milk out of her and the foal IS taking it (thank the lord for eye droppers) we are buying an official horse bottle tomorrow dont worry. Problem is, is now everytime he tries to go by her, she always chases him back to the back of the stall. She wants absolutely nothing to do with him, would I have to bottle feed him then if this doesn't work out?

 

[Kendra]

Maybe an obvious thing that you've already tried but ... have you tried haltering the mare and making her stand? Get after her if she tries to chase the foal off, she might decide he's not so bad after all once you make her stand up and behave.

Also, I would definitely get a SNAP IgG test on the foal done, to make sure you were able to get enough colostrum into him. You might find it easier to use a syringe to feed him - and if there's any hope of him getting onto the mare, I'd avoid a bottle if possible. Often foals that get used to sucking on a bottle are harder to get to nurse from the mare. Until he's nursing on his own, he needs to be fed every hour or so when he's this young.

 

[SNDFarms]

I milked the mare and she was perfectly fine with me milking her, I got a lot of milk out of her and the foal IS taking it (thank the lord for eye droppers) we are buying an official horse bottle tomorrow dont worry. Problem is, is now everytime he tries to go by her, she always chases him back to the back of the stall. She wants absolutely nothing to do with him, would I have to bottle feed him then if this doesn't work out?

How much colostrum were you able to give foal?

I would call your vet as soon as possible and have an Immunoglobulin (IGG) done on this baby, but continue to feed as much as baby will take until then.

If you are still milking mom and feeding baby try a 16OZ plastic soda bottle with lamb nipple, your local feed store should have them, I would recommend feeding the baby under mom if she will tolerate that and as close to the teats as possible, that will teach to baby to go there to nurse, the lamb nipple is real close to mare's nipple size so want be a hard transition, if mom is still not letting baby nurse then you need to find out why she is rejecting her baby, it could be because she is in pain, or she just doesn't know what to do, if you get her to let baby under her while you bottle feed you can milk mom at the same time, this may teach mom the sensation that baby is nursing, then try to guide him to mom's nipple with finger or lamb nipple, just remember to keep trying, some times it takes time but usually within a day or two mom will understand and let baby nurse..

Please get a blood draw and check to make sure baby got the passive transfer of antibodies, if not he will need a plasma transfusion.



Good luck with your baby, again please have blood work done..

 

[ohmt]

We have had to tie up mares and hold them for the foal to nurse for a few days before the mare would finally accept the foal.

When did the foal get milk the first time and how much? I would definitely get an IgG test done.

Don't bottle feed-use a syringe for now and if you just absolutely can not get the mare to accept the foal, get the foal drinking out of a pan. We had a foal orphaned at 2 days old a couple years ago and pan feeding + milk pellets eventually + mare and foal feed + free choice grass/alfalfa hay + as much interaction with other horses is the key. But don't worry about that until you absolutely need to. Hand raising a foal is tedious work, so try everything you can. Have you gotten a vet involved yet? The mare could be in pain so you should get a vet out to check her and the foal over and give more suggestions. Good luck!

 

[JAX]

Oxytocin shot seemed to really help Tease out when she was not so thrilled about accepting her little one.... Never heard about it being used for that myself but hey at least worth asking your vet??

 

[wildoak]

One of our neighbors had a little mare who rejected her foal last summer - they are not really horse people, and got help early on as the mare was just violent towards her filly. I milked her out some, they ended up at the vet for a couple of days and no one could get this mare to accept her foal. Ultimately, they brought the filly to me - they came down and fed her at night, but she ended up being a bottle baby...she's a thriving yearling now, but it was a royal pain getting her there. You at least have a mare who will let you milk her out, this mare was a witch about anybody touching her. If I were you, I'd do everything possible now to help her accept the foal...will save you a LOT of sleep and stress lol. What does your vet say, was her IgG good? It's just hard to get enough into them with an eyedropper or even a syringe at first, nature does so much better job when they nurse naturally.

Jan

 

[supaspot]

any joy? ... keep trying most mares will come round

 

[HGFarm]

I agree with getting your vet out there and keep milking the mare and feeding the foal... or get the foal to nurse while you hold her. Vet attention is crucial if this little one is going to have a chance...

 

[Riverrose28]

Any news yet on the foal? Did the vet come out? Is the mare any more accepting? Not that it is any or my business, I'm just concerned for the foal, maybe one of us lives near you and can help if needed, please just ask.

 

[Mini~Madness]

I had a mare last year that would not allow her baby to nurse. My "helper" and I tired her to the corner of the stall and she would still try to kick at the baby so we twiched her and guided the foal to her udder to nurse (because of the mares previous behavior the foal was a little nervous) - We did this every two hours for the first 48 hrs (after the first 24 hrs the mare was tied but no longer twiched - she was no longer showing aggression towards the baby but also would not stand still for the foal to nurse either). Talk about people being worried and tired. However, mom finally started allowing foal to nurse and was standing there. Success is sweet. Good luck. I hope everything works out for you and your foal.

 

[Riverrose28]

Last year we too had a colt born to afirst time mom, she was just awful. The birth was text book, no problems, she even layed ther for about 5 minutes with hind legs still in so foal could get cord blood, and he stood up first, breaking the cord. it was July and the temps were really bad even at night it was 104 to 105 during the day, and still stifling at night. She never looked at him while she was down, never licked him or nosed him, I knew right away we were in trouble. I dosed her with banimine first, then treated the foals navel and saw it was a colt. she pushed him out of her way so she could lie back down. The look on her face was like hate in her eyes. Placenta was normal, gave her some slurry and hay and proceeded to clean up all the mess, every time the foal came near her she raised a back leg, or pushed him into the wall. I had already acclimated her to letting me touch her udder, but she was even threatening me at this point. After three hours of chasing her around and trying to get the foal to nurse, I got some help, we put a halter on her and stuck her butt up against the wall, I milked her as the foal was getting weak, I used a 60cc syringe and then put the milk into a 10cc syringe and only put a small amount at a time into the foals side of his mouth. He passed stool and urinated, then layed down and went to sleep. We had to do this all day till the vet came out. She said the test showed he got enough colostum but to watch him since he didn't get any before three hours. She also gave me atibiotic injections to give for 10 days and to call her if needed. After about 18 hours of this she finally would allow him to nurse but only on one side. On the third day, we let her out in the evening, and I held the foal cause I was afraid with her being confined for so long she would accidentally hurt. After she finished running, bucking, rolling and socializing with the other mare through the fence I let the foal out for a romp, she could care less were he went or what he did. The next day was heat oppressive also, so in the stall they stayed under a fan. When I went to feed the colt was straining to have a movment, nothing, except for urine dribbling from his navel, Red flag! Vet came back out and said to continue the injections and treat the naval twice a day with alcohol, and if it didn't stop call her again. We also gave him an enema, and mineral oil orally. Sadly his mother never did love him, but did let him nurse in the end, it just took determination on our part and a strong willed little colt.

 

[SNDFarms]

Had a foal born this morning but the mare will not accept it. When it goes near her she pins her ears back and bites/kicks it. What do you think I should do?

How is your foal doing? Having seen an update and was just concerned!

 

[Jazzysmom]

we had a maiden mare reject her foal, and we had to ace her for TWO WEEKS before she would tolerate the foal..... might consider this, as waking up every hour on the hour for about a month to feed this baby will not be fun!!! we have also bucket fed a foal... WATCH OUT bottle feeding can be deathly to foals, as they may swallow to much air from the bottle and colic...

 

[Marty]

Add me to the list too! I had this crap with a maiden mare too. I just worked with her. I did give her banamine and that made a world of difference. She was in big pain. I tied her up and shoved her butt over and helped the baby find the plumbing. When she did pin her ears and hike her leg, I corrected her in a hurry. Then when the banamine kicked in, it was smooth sailing after that. I monitered of course and did another round of banamine and it was all good. Best wishes to you~and on, congratulations!

 

[kaykay]

I hope this turned out ok. Please call me if I can help by telling you all the things we did. For Tease banamine wasnt nearly enough