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Tansy Brassfield
Weanling
Username: Spccutnoak
Post Number: 34
Registered: 08-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 06:49 pm: | 
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This morning at 6:30 we had a huge buckskin colt. Everything is fine except, he still can't figure out where to suck. His sucking reflex is good but he ends up sucking above the nipple and as far as I know has not been able to drink any colostrum yet. It is now almost 4:00 at night, still waiting on the vet to call me back. I milked the mare and tried a bottle and he doesn't want it. He is so tall he has a hard time bending down to the right angle to get the teat. The mare has been perfect through this but has a full bag of milk and needs some relief. How long do I let him keep trying to figure it out? He is not lethargic ar sick acting in any way. Thanks.. |
Paula Rollins
Neonate
Username: Paula
Post Number: 9
Registered: 02-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 07:23 pm: |
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someone I knew had a similar problem with a short mare and a big colt. They ended up taking the mare over up on a step and the colt below so that the angle was better. After the foal realized that the nipple was what he wanted he learned to bend down farther. Hope he figures it out soon |
Kris Moos
Breeding Stock
Username: Kris
Post Number: 501
Registered: 01-2006
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 08:42 pm: |
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congrats on the new baby!!!!!!!!
you gotta get that little one to eat, i was told every hour over 12 decreases the effects of the colostrum!!! did you try to squirt hte milk in his mouth from the bottle? (get him to taste it) or help him manually put his head under and put his mouth to the nipple. good luck!!!! |
Kathee McGuire
Breeding Stock
Username: Katheekj
Post Number: 245
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, March 30, 2006 - 09:33 pm: |
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Congrats on the baby! I can't help the nursing problem, but when you get that straightened out, I would love to know how you did it and see a pic of your buckskin. |
SDS
Yearling
Username: Whisper05
Post Number: 54
Registered: 03-2006
| | Posted on Friday, March 31, 2006 - 10:14 am: |
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Seems like I usually end up teaching the foals where the milk faucets are,LOL,even to friends mares,it is a tricky ordeal and takes a ton of patience.If you cant get a foal latched on try squirting some milk in your hand and offering it to the little fellow,like Kris says once they get a taste they want more.I have never had a foal that has a good sucking reflex not try to suck from a bottle,finger or any thing else,even had one that got my nose.Good luck and get that baby eating. |
Tansy Brassfield
Weanling
Username: Spccutnoak
Post Number: 35
Registered: 08-2005
| | Posted on Friday, March 31, 2006 - 06:03 pm: |
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Last night we ended up taking him to the vet, she tubed him with colostrum and gave him antibiotics. Today his count came back at 400 where it should be at 800, so he is now going to be given plasma to bring that number up. Still hasn't got the grip on nursing yet, but the vet says he is doing better. I will keep you posted as soon as I get back from the vets. |
Heather Kutyba
Breeding Stock
Username: Heatherck11
Post Number: 158
Registered: 01-2006
| | Posted on Friday, March 31, 2006 - 08:12 pm: |
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Tansy,
Do keep us update on how things are going. Sounds like he is in the best of hands, and all is being done to help him. You will be in my thoughts.
Heather |
Kris Moos
Breeding Stock
Username: Kris
Post Number: 512
Registered: 01-2006
| | Posted on Friday, March 31, 2006 - 10:49 pm: |
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oh tansy, that is too bad! keep us posted, and i hope that he will be ok! |
Joanna
Breeding Stock
Username: Joanna
Post Number: 107
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Friday, March 31, 2006 - 11:23 pm: |
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Tansy, congrats on the foal. I hope you all get this figured out and that he turns out to be a happy and healthy little guy. Keep us posted! |
Tansy Brassfield
Weanling
Username: Spccutnoak
Post Number: 36
Registered: 08-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, April 01, 2006 - 11:13 pm: |
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here are some pictures I took of our colt today at the vet. His panel came back today and he is almost up to 800, he seems to be nursing now and is not being tubed anymore. So I think I get to take him home tomorrow. Yeah!! This has been such a bad year for us, and we still have three left to foal, I am praying for everything to go right on the next ones.Thanks for all of you support.
[IMG]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e214/tansybrassfield/KayceeatFramshowandKoysco lt4-1-0601.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e214/tansybrassfield/Koyscoltlayingdown4-1-06. jpg[/IMG] |
Kim k
Breeding Stock
Username: Kimk
Post Number: 540
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 08:55 am: |
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Glad to hear he is improving. Were you able to get him to nurse from mom or is he getting a bottle. Looks like you got yourself a buckskin?
Congrats!
Kim |
Kathee McGuire
Breeding Stock
Username: Katheekj
Post Number: 270
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 10:34 am: |
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Tansy - I want to thank you for posting this thread. My little girl couldn't work it out either - she is tall, the new Mom had painful udders with small teats and this is my first foal. It really gave me comfort to know that while my situation wasn't perfect, it happens enough that it can usually have a happy ending. I think this kept me from panicing which would have added to the problem. My breeder came out and using three people and a tied mare, we were able to get her latched on. The mare wasn't mean, just just would flinch up right when the baby was about to latch on and we kept starting over.
Here is something I learned and you probably already knew, but for others I will still post it. When I squeezed some milk into my hand to entice the baby, I let her lick it off my hand. As it turned out, my baby could lick fine, it was her sucking relex that was a little off. She did not wrap her tounge correctly and I didn't realize because she was licking fine. The breeder told me I should have dripped the milk on one finger and had the baby suck it off instead of into my palm. Once she was able to practice a while on the breeder's finger, we got her on the mare in about 10 minutes. Within an hour, baby was finding it herself. |
Dianne Edwards
Yearling
Username: Mamaedwards
Post Number: 54
Registered: 03-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 02:13 pm: |
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Tansy the baby is adorable, he is big! What is that band on his neck? Kathee thanks for the tip it might come in handy one of these days.
Good luck with him, keep us updated. |
Lori aka " Raven"
Breeding Stock
Username: Raven
Post Number: 182
Registered: 03-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 02:50 pm: |
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Congratulations Tansy on your buckskin and hope all works out for them. Good luck with the next ones!! |
Kim Winter
Breeding Stock
Username: Clafairy
Post Number: 266
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 03:13 pm: |
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Congratulation tansy on the new additition - Ahhh, a lovely buckskin at that : )
Good luck with next foals!
Kathee - thanks again, Something that I have not come across in all my research, It might be very valuable to know at a later date! Thanks........ |
Joanna
Breeding Stock
Username: Joanna
Post Number: 109
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 04:56 pm: |
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Kathee: great info. I will keep it in mind in case I ever have to deal with this.
Tansy: I am so glad that he is doing well. Is he nursing on his mama, or is he on the bottle? And what is his name? By the way, he is a beautiful color. |
Tansy Brassfield
Weanling
Username: Spccutnoak
Post Number: 37
Registered: 08-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 07:16 pm: |
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I got to bring my colt home today and he has finally caught on to nursing his mom. I took a few quick pictures of him. He is still on antibiotics but otherwise looks great! I haven't picked out a name yet, his dad is SPC Cut N Oak and his mom is Leocos Koy, I will try not to get to attached since he will be for sale, but hard not to, he is such a sweet colt.
[IMG]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e214/tansybrassfield/Melody344dayskoysbabyatho me005.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e214/tansybrassfield/Melody344dayskoysbabyatho me006.jpg[/IMG] |
Lori aka " Raven"
Breeding Stock
Username: Raven
Post Number: 184
Registered: 03-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 07:40 pm: |
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Tansy-I'm sure you are happy that you were ble to bring your colt home. Glad too hear he is doing much better now. What an adorable little guy! |
Heather Kutyba
Breeding Stock
Username: Heatherck11
Post Number: 163
Registered: 01-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 07:57 pm: |
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Tansy,
I'm so happy that the babe is doing well! Held my breath for you.
BTW, good luck on that "not getting attached" thing....I'd have to put a bag over that colts head so I didn't have to look at him .
He's beautiful. |
Kris Moos
Breeding Stock
Username: Kris
Post Number: 521
Registered: 01-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 09:11 pm: |
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Tansy- love him, he has an adorable face!! |
Kathee McGuire
Breeding Stock
Username: Katheekj
Post Number: 276
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, April 02, 2006 - 11:15 pm: |
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Tansy - I am so glad he is doing well. He is absolutely gorgeous and there is no way you won't be totally attached! |
Kim Winter
Breeding Stock
Username: Clafairy
Post Number: 275
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Monday, April 03, 2006 - 08:49 am: |
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Tansy - he is beautiful!!! I love buckskins, he is just sooooooo adorable. Well done you!! Glad to hear he is home and well |
Kaylee Beeson
Neonate
Username: Kayleethegreat
Post Number: 1
Registered: 04-2009
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 08:56 pm: |
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Hey everyone! I'm new to this bulletin board, but have been reading all the posts for quite a while!
I'm having the same problem with my foal. He was born sometime last night, and we didnt't find him until this morning (mare didn't show any signs, pasture bred, weren't expecting it.  ) but somehow when we found him, he had managed to crawl under the fence and get in the stall BESIDE his momma. We quickly moved him back, but can't get him to suckle. He has a great sucking reflex, and will suck a bottle down in record time. He will also lick all over the udder and teat, but can't seem to latch on. He is quite weak, he can't walk very well and sleeps a lot.
We had another mare have a foal last week, and that foal was also extremely weak and couldn't nurse. The vet had to put a tube in her stomach so we could feed her every two hours, only to have her die the next day.  This foal is stronger, but still not right. Could he be a dummy? Any help would be great!!! |
Ad TB
Breeding Stock
Username: Ajvtbs
Post Number: 284
Registered: 01-2009
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 09:16 pm: |
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Tansy, what an amazing colt, he's an absolute cracker!! Glad he's doing well, he looks so big and strong now!!
Kaylee, sotty for your loss last week. I'd be getting the vet as soon as possible. He could be a dummy foal considering you don't know how the foaling went. Dummy foals usually don't have a good sucking reflex, they often have their tongue sticking out of their mouth. sometimes they don't exhibit dummy foal symptoms until several hours after foaling. I'd be getting an Igg level done on the foal to make sure he's had sufficient colostrum and also a blood test to check if he's sceptic especially if he's not sucking and is weak. how's his temperature? Any scour? Good luck and keep us posted. |
Kaylee
Neonate
Username: Kayleethegreat
Post Number: 2
Registered: 04-2009
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 10:41 pm: |
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Thanks, the vet is coming in the morning. He couldn't make it out today.
Our pasture has some fescue in it, not that much, but some. We tried to keep the mares out of it, and gave them Timothy and Orchard Grass hay, but they still got into the fescue some. Could this be a factor in why both the foals were both so weak? |
Ad TB
Breeding Stock
Username: Ajvtbs
Post Number: 291
Registered: 01-2009
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 10:57 pm: |
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I'm really not sure about the fescue, I'm from Ireland and we son't have it here but there are people on the board with a much better knowledge of it than me. Best of luck with the vet, fingers crossed for the foal. If the foal will suck from a bottle I'd keep milking the mare and get the foal the suck from the bottle every two hours and keep trying to guide him to the udder. |
Kaylee
Neonate
Username: Kayleethegreat
Post Number: 3
Registered: 04-2009
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 11:42 pm: |
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Thanks, we are trying out hardest for this little guy! He's a cutie! We are feeding him every two hours from the bottle and trying to get him to nurse. The momma is quite protective which is making it difficult. It's a cold night here and we're just hoping he can make it til tomorrow, it should start to warm up then...we just need to buy him some time to figure things out, I guess? |
Ad TB
Breeding Stock
Username: Ajvtbs
Post Number: 300
Registered: 01-2009
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 07, 2009 - 11:52 pm: |
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It sounds like you're doing a good job and all you can for him. If he's temperature is low and you're worried he's cold you can wrap cotton wool around his legs and vet wrap over them. If you don't have a foal rug or an infrared lamp stay in the stable and wrap a duvet around him to keep him warm. I had a sceptic foal last year, she had a very low temperature and we bandaged up all her legs, put up an infrared lamp, put two foal rugs on her and she was still shiverring so I stayed in the stable with her and wrapped her in a duvet to keep her warm. I understand how difficult it is. We were nursing her around the clock for five days, she had very bad bloods. We were giving her IV fluids every 2 hours, stomach tubing milk into her and gave her plasma. She pulled through although it was touch and go for a while she's now is a big strong yearling now! We're lucky in the sence that we can have a vet here any time of day or night in 15 minutes. I'd be keeping an eye on his temperature and watching for scour. |
Kaylee
Neonate
Username: Kayleethegreat
Post Number: 5
Registered: 04-2009
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 12:18 am: |
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Well, I think his temp is ok. We have a heater blowing on him and he likes to stretch out in the warm air. It would be difficult to get blankets on him anyway, like I said, mommy is very protective and doesn't like us in the stall with them. It is all we can do to keep her calm enough to let us feed him!
He also seems to be a little constipated. He was passing earlier but now seems to be having some trouble. Is there anything we can do for that before the vet gets here in the morning? Thank you so much for all your help, by the way! |
Kaylee
Neonate
Username: Kayleethegreat
Post Number: 6
Registered: 04-2009
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 12:52 am: |
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Update. Just came in from last feeding. Foal is definitely weaker. He couldn't stand up on his own this time. Not looking good. And momma was going crazy, she doesn't even like us outside the stall looking at them. Really hope he pulls through... |
Samantha
Breeding Stock
Username: Dressage_diva333
Post Number: 585
Registered: 02-2008
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 01:07 am: |
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Kaylee, you need to take him in somewhere, he can't wait until morning... |
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Breeding Stock
Username: Ajvtbs
Post Number: 303
Registered: 01-2009
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 02:56 am: |
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I agree with Samantha, he needs to get to a vet now or a vet to you now. Good luck Kaylee |
Jan Owen
Senior Stallion or Mare
Username: 1frosty1
Post Number: 2336
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 10:57 am: |
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Kaylee...how is he this morning? |
Ad TB
Breeding Stock
Username: Ajvtbs
Post Number: 307
Registered: 01-2009
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 03:31 pm: |
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Any news Kaylee? I'm praying he survived the night |
Kaylee
Neonate
Username: Kayleethegreat
Post Number: 7
Registered: 04-2009
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 07:05 pm: |
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Thank you guys so much for the thoughts and prayers!
He is actually a lot better. Still weak, but much much better. He stands on his own, is nursing on his own, and we just put him back in the stall from his first time outside! He sometimes even stands up dozing now instead of flopping down every time! He won't even hardly have anything to do with the bottle anymore.
Our vet thinks that the stud might be the problem now. My uncle is the one who owns him, and we were thinking and realized that this same thing happened to a lot his babies last year. He only had one of all the babies survive.One didn't show any interest in nursing and died. The other was fine, running and bucking, and then just laid down and died. My uncle is one of those "let nature take its course" people and the most he will intervene would be to carry the baby back to its momma and that's it. But the vet said that it was very rare for our foal last week to have been so weak and die like that, and he said that having two like that back to back is unheard of. Do yall think the stud could be the problem? I don't think we will be breeding to him again. |
Kathee McGuire
Breeding Stock
Username: Katheekj
Post Number: 811
Registered: 12-2005
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 07:09 pm: |
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Yikes...sounds like he might should become a gelding...Glad it is working out for you and baby. |
Ad TB
Breeding Stock
Username: Ajvtbs
Post Number: 315
Registered: 01-2009
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 07:10 pm: |
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I'm so glad Kaylee, was thinking about him all day and hoping to come on here and find some good news. I don't know if the stallion can be the problem but it'll be interesting to see what other people think. It's strange though that all his babies seem to be weak and have difficulty nursing. I'll have to get my thinking cap on about this one! |
Kaylee
Neonate
Username: Kayleethegreat
Post Number: 8
Registered: 04-2009
| | Posted on Wednesday, April 08, 2009 - 07:27 pm: |
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Yes, well we're still trying not to get TOO attached to him before he gets a few more good days under his belt, but at the moment he is doing well! 
Yeah, we are really thinking that it might be the stud that the problem is coming from! The vet seems to really think that that is the problem, and says that if this baby doesn't make it, we should send the body into the state to see what really is the problem, but hopefully we aren't gonna have to do that!!!
Again thank yall sooooo much for all the thoughts and prayers! |
Cjskip
Breeding Stock
Username: Cjskip
Post Number: 895
Registered: 03-2008
| | Posted on Thursday, April 09, 2009 - 02:38 am: |
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Sorry for your harrowing experience. Been there! So glad you got your baby to the vet! Whew! I'm sure he'll be fine now that he has the antibodies and is nursing. 
Pretty boy! Congrats. |
