orphan foal

[GAILS]

not having any luck with orphan foal(1 wk 4 days old) drinking from bowl or taking bottle. we do have a mare with another colt that will let it nurse if we make her, but this is such stress on her i would at least like to be able to supplement with pail or bottle. read to let foal get real hungry befor trying to bottle feed, but how long should you let her go without? also, any suggestions on what type nipple to use? we have tried lamb nipple and a flutter type. thanks for any advice

 

[Minimor]

Try a kitten/small animal bottle. For some reason foals seem to love that tiny little nipple--it's the only kind of bottle I've ever had any luck with.

I've had two that I've had to supplement with bottle feeding, and both wouldn't use anything but the kitten bottle--the first filly I tried every nipple available, and she wouldn't take any of them. My mom pulled out a kitten bottle & offered that, and Secret latched onto it instantly.

I find that once they are nursing on the kitten bottle and get a little bit older they will then switch to a bowl very easily.

edited to add: what sort of formula are you using? I have found that some formulas just aren't real palatable to foals--the ones we've been able to buy here weren't a success at all. Goats milk with a bit of corn syrup mixed in is always a hit.

Another tip--try putting a bit of mare's milk in the bottle. The foal will be familiar with the smell/taste of mare's milk & will be more interested in the bottle. Once the foal nurses off the bottle the first time it's easier to switch over to formula--the bottle is familiar, so then the foal is more likely to take the formula from the bottle.

 

[kaykay]

we have found here that human baby bottle nipples are easiest for them. NOT the fancy ones but the plain old ones from long ago LOL

 

[lilnickers]

I have used a goat nipple on a glass/beer bottle.

 

[funnybunny]

Can use a regular baby bottle nipple or a goat nipple. Sometimes the "fake mare's milk" doesn't taste right to them. Our vet thinks there are a lot of chemicals that are additives unless it is real powdered mares milk. Read the label. Sometimes the ingredients are like a chemistry set. He suggested goats milk as it is very rich and NATURAL. Luckily our neighbors have a few goats and can oblige us.

That baby just needs some nutrition. That is great if you have a wet nurse. How upset does the mare get?

We have sometimes had some "auntie" horses who will let anyone's foal nurse. Real easy-going bunch of mares.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

We tried a lot of different nipples on Dyna last year and here is what worked for us; like kaykay said, a regular baby bottle and nipple (not the shaped, silicone ones) and make the hole a lot bigger. The milk should be able to drip slowly out if you hold the bottle upside down. It seems foals do not suck very hard and if it is a small hole they will just give up. In the beginning I had to hold Dyna between my legs with her but against a wall and fit that nipple into her mouth and once she tasted the milk (since she was pretty hungry) she would start to suck at it. In the beginning she had been on short rations for a while since her mom was drying up adnd still she only took a very small newborn size bottle at a feeding. Gradually that increased as she got used to the bottle and I didn't switch her to a pan until she was nearly a month old. By then she LIKED the formula and wanted it. In fact I'm feeding an orphaned calf right now and she smells his milk replacer on me and is a real pest lol. I'm sure she'd take it again if I offered it. Just keep insisting she accept the bottle and drip the milk into her mouth and she will learn to enjoy it and look for it. The only problem I can see is if she is still getting mares milk it may take a while to convince her to accept both.

 

[sdmini]

When I was still at the vet clinic we found these and we sold the heck out of them, everything from colts to goats to even newborn calves. Far and above better than any of the others we've tried. They are soft, pliable and shaped great, plus they screw on to a regular pop bottle!

Here is a website that sells them,

http://www.hoeggergoatsupply.com/xcart/pro...t=14&page=2

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I agree with Marlee the lamb/goat teats are by far and away the easiest type to use.

I routinely feed new foals unless they are up and at the world in record time and these are the only teats I have ever used...I cannot imagine using the human ones!! (This is not to say the people that use them do not have success, only that I have never had it, only been doing it 30 years so I may yet change my mind

)

You do need to make quite a large hole at first, so the milk drips out under gravity, but you can make a smaller hole in the teat you use permanently, once baby has got the idea.

If you truly think it is the taste of the stuff (and if you have a "nurse mare" filling in it may well be) milk the foster mare off and feed that from the bottle the first few goes.

I never do raise a foal on a bottle, I will always get it into a bowl or a bucket once the danger period is over.

If you do decide to keep it on a bottle make sure you wean it well and get it acclimatised to horses early, bottle babies are far more dependant than bucket babies.

Good Luck with this, it is a real commitment, not one, thank God I have had to do for a few years.

You are right not to stress the foster mare, though, if they do not take to it voluntarily you should abandon it, she could end up rejecting her own foal, and I have seen real tragedies when people have pushed it too far.

It's OK when the mare is willing, although even then, I am not really convinced.

 

[Relic]

We've only ever had one orphan and the only nipple she's use was the ones that come on the little plastic baby bottles though l did make the holes bigger for her. l also added syrup in with that powdered milk junk l used for months. l hated the smell of that crap in my fridge so was a small wonder she wanted to have anything to do with it. Took her a good 5 weeks to get from bottle to bucket after her mom died...