When Berry was born, Ruby was slow letting down milk. She finally came through with the help of the vet.
Berry is six days old, very active, good nurser, not dehydrated--but she is ribby. You can see every one.
She doesn't follow Ruby around pestering to nurse, but she is nursing 2-3 times an hour. She has good urine volume. She is tasting moms hay and has nibbled foal-lac pellets, but isn't really 'eating' any of it. She is completely turned off to water, and refuses to be bottle or pail fed foal-lac milk replacer.
Does she sound ok? She's a big foal, I'm just worried she's not getting enough to eat.
My colts always look alittle ribby untill they are a week or two old. Foals don't build a layer of fat before their born like human babbies do, but just like human babbies they sometimes loose a little weight from the stress of being born. As long as she is a happy little horse I wouldn't worry. It sound like Ruby is meeting her foals nutional needs just fine. By the way most colts don't normaly drink water, in fact water consumpton in a colt can actually be a sign that something is wrong woth the colt or the mares milk supply. Also foals don't eat meals the way big horses will, thats why creep feeding must be avalibe 24-7 to insure they will consume as much of the feed as possible. Good luck with your girls
Berry is slowing down. She only played this morning and stood by her mother all afternoon. She is becoming very aggressive with the udder when she nurses.
I spoke with the vet, and she wants us to suppliment her diet. We are to force feed if she won't accept the milk replacer in pail or bottle.
And of course she still won't take a bottle or pail feed. She is now eating some of her mother's pellets--you can hear her chewing them and swallowing. She is also eating alfalfa leaves, no stems. I've given her some ProBios to try and help her gut out.
Foal-lac comes in pellets too. If she's more into pellets that might work for you. If you hand feed her a few times a day then leave her a creep feeder full of them it might help get some more calories into her.
Just and update on Berry. She's doing fine. We had to supplement by drenching with concentrated Foal-Lac milk replacer. I highly recommend the plastic ketchup squirt bottle with a nozzel, that worked the best. She never would take a bottle or pail.
We did two feedings a day. I also gave her three doses of ProBios 4 days apart. She still won't touch the Foal-Lac pellets, but she is eating Kent Junior and alfalfa leaves.
She has good manure, is zooming all over the place, and growing like a weed.
how do you know if the foal is getting as much milk as they want/need? Jericho is VERY aggrssive towards Tsaharahs udder, he beats her hard, he bangs on her for about 5 minutes before every feeding, and then sucks about 15 times alternating teats, then bangs some more, walks around her , bangs agin and tries again, this time he will nurse a little longer, and i can hear him swallowing. he is still very ribby, is growing and is energetic, but eats REAL OFTEN< like 4-7 times per hour, he is eating or trying to more often than he is not... should he be supplemented, or wiat a few days and see if her milk production picks up? she just started yesterday drinking more water, so maybe now she will produce more. what so you think?
Kris, Some rules of thumb kinda go like this... Foals are expected to nurse frequently, but in short spurts when they are fairly young (2 weeks and under). When not eating, they should be sleeping, excreting, or playing.....and the cycle goes on again. Young foals that do not seem satisfied, attempt to nurse for LONG periods, fatigue when nursing, appear frustrated, or stand for extended periods of time in attempts to nurse may not be getting enough to eat. I had this problem with my colt this year. He became very fussy and aggitated, and always seemed to want to nurse...sometimes would almost fall asleep standing. He then had constipation issues because of this. If you think that he is not getting enough, call and talk with your vet.
In my instance, my mares milk production was decreased due to low grade colic/impaction...the stress dropped her lactation level. She was started on a medication to increase her production, and supplemented the foal until things leveled out. Talk about a 'trickle down' effect! Anywho, if his behavior is concerning to you....talk to your vet...and sooner vs. later.
HE EATS FREQUENTLY SOMETIMES LONGER THAN OTHER TIMES HIS POOP IS NOT APPLES, IT IS A SEMI FIRM ORANGE "TURD" (AS OF YESTERDAY ANYWAY), HE BEATS MOMS UDDER A LOT, HE DOES SLEEP STANDING UP, BUT USUALLY AFTER RUNNING AND PLAYING, HELL NURSE FOR A MINUTE OR TWO, THEN NAP, THEN NURSE AGAIN, THEN RUN AND PLAY OR GO LAY DOWN FOR A NAP, OR JSUT WANDER CHECKING THINGS OUT. HE IS OR SEEMS ENERGETIC AND PLAYFUL, AND IS GROWING, BUT IS RIBBY. MOM IS DRINKING MORE NOW AND EATING HER GRAIN AND HAY, AND GRAZING WHEN OUTSIDE AND SHE IS PPOPING GOODNOW. WHAT SHOULD THE MARES UDDER LOOK LIKE? HERS DOES NOT LOOK BULGING FULL LIKE BEFORE FOALING, IT LOOKS A BIT FLABBY, BUT STILL PUFFY IN FRONT OF IT, IF I SQUEEZE AFTER HE NURSES I CAN STILL GET MILK OUT, SO SHE SHOULD HAVE PLENTY THEN,...RUGHT? HE DOESNT SEEM TO GET FATIGUED WHILE NURSEING, HE GETS IRRITATED AND BANGS ON HER, WHEN SHE BITES HIM HE KICKS HER AND GOES AT IT AGAIN(HES A STINKER) WHEN SHOULD THE RIBBY LOOK GO AWAY? HE IS 5 DAYS OLD NOW. IT IS SO HARD TO GET A HOLD OF A VET AT THIS TIME OF YEAR FOR A "QUESTION"...THEY ARE OUT ON CALF AND FOAL CALLS...I HAVE 3 DIFFERENT VET NUMBERS AND UNLESS I SAY IT IS AN EMERGENCY IT TAKES DAYS TO GET BACK TO ME!
Kris- she might not be making enough milk to keep him satisfied but getting him to take the foal-lac can be very frustrating, T will probably make more milk as he needs it but you might want to increase her grain now that she's delivered to help her along with that. I started Sage on some wheat germ/soy oil in her feed to give her some extra fat in her diet, she's getting 16 pounds of grain and 6-8 flakes of brome a day but she is loosing weight now. Cisco keeps her drained.
Kris, If you can express milk from her AFTER he has nursed then she is most likely producing enough milk. This is, at least, what the neonatal/repro specialist told me (I couldn't express any on my mare...hence the problem). The foal will keep her bag down. If you ever see it really full, then he isn't eating enough and should be checked to make sure he isn't sick.
My vet was looking at Berry's flanks to determine if she was getting enough. That and her activity level was dropping off dramatically--only playing for a few minutes in the morning.
They can be ribby, I can still see Berry's, but the flank behind the ribs should be flush and not sunken. They should be peeing regularly also.
I could get a couple drops out of Ruby after Berry was done suckling, but not very much at all. If the flank is sunken, then you can try to supplement. I will try to post a good picture of the sunken flank on Berry.
Honestly from reading your post at five days, if he's running an playing--he's most likey getting enough. They literally sleep on their feet by the udder when they are hungry.
She's a TB: Yellow Creek x Ruby InA Red Dress (Wondered Prospect).
Mom Ruby does look like an Appendix, much wider than most TBs with a QH like rear. Berry is very tall. She is already trying to jump hay piles (she usually ends up landing in the middle of them), so she will probably be an Eventer like her dad.
I have the same problems as some of you guys but Riley drinks water, he is a week old. He doesn't seem tired, he takes naps but not standing up and he usually runs around or looks around the paddock. Aspens bag is full and a little hard. He is really filled out and his ribs are kind of going out of view. He has a nice big butt and is super cute. I don't think he's in danger but it makes me feel better to know other foals go through the same thing.
well on Saturday Mom had no milk, Jericho just layed aroung for the day, would try to nurse, kick mom, and kept trying till she would walk away, He did not play too much. i sat close enough to hear after 2 hours of trying and no swallowing i tried to milk her...NOTHING!!!! so off to the vet for milk replacer and oxytocin!!! (at 9 at night and 30 minutes away) gave her a shot of oxy, in 10 minutes she had milk!!!! had plenty yesterday, so i just keep close tabs on if he is eating, vet said give her oxy if i suspect a drop in milk production again. I aske dhim why he thought she did this, he said if she has a nice udder, not swollen hot from mastitism and no fever than it is probably hte foalheat causing it, he said occasionally when they begin foal heat milk production slows and they will not let down even though the milk is there, so i am hoping this is the case and that she will not need anymore oxytocin and will milk like a cow!!! he was VERY playful yesterday!! his teeth are jsutabout through hte skin...so cute!!!
Kris, Ask your vet about "Domperidone" to increase her milk production...made a world of difference for my mare and foal. Is given orally in a paste form.
spoke with the vet again, we have concluded that she is upset about being removed from the herd, and because she is not relaxed she is not releasing. tonight is supposed to getdown to high 20's then warmer tomarrow night, so tonight will be her last night in isolation, i will then move her to the ajoining pasture and she will share the barn at night with the others seperated by round pen panels for at least a week before joining completely. after the trauma we had here last night i am not ready for the stress of putting them all together. The story goes like this... i had the yearling in her pen eating her grain (panels), i had the thin mare/her mom loosly tied to the panels to eat her grain,(very quiet mare has never pulled) she finished her grain and backed a step, when she felt the pull she stopped, well it opened the gate a tiny bit to where ht yearling thought she could squeeze through it, and did, took off running, at which time the mare thought she could too, she backed up but it electric fence nad all hell broke loose, she took off bolting forward pulled panels, was afraind of this panel following her so she ran dragging two 12 foot sections behind her ran through electric wire fences taking out several posts and wire before i was able to slow her down she had run back into the pasture with the other horse and was runnig with them, still dragging 24 feet of steel! finally she stopped and i was a ble to disconnect her , she came out with no blood but a banged up hock, is a bit stiff, but ok, well in hte process of fixing fences to stop a herd of horse from running hte neighborehood my mare T got her self out of her stall adn her and jericho were runnig free in teh hay field...spent time cornering her and jericho to get them put back...uh the nerves are over done!!!!! so needless to say i am gun shy right now about things happening to the horses! so it will be a bit before i am ready to go through the stress of pecking order again! but jericho is eating ok today. i have left them out 13 hours past couple days, seems to be helping, she is more relaxed when outside...which is what she is used to! so hopefully after tonight she will be as calm as wver and all will be well... cuz ia m spent!!! oh vet said if 1cc of oxy is working then she has hte milk and is just not letting it down, so does not want ot give her anything else, said just decrease amt of oxy ti 1/2 cc if i need to use it again, but once she is happy he thinks she wont need it at all.
KRIS, I'M SO SORRY YOU'RE HAVING SO MANY PROBLEMS! GEE, YOU FINALLY GOT THE COLT BUT THE PROBLEMS HAVE JUST KEPT COMING! KEEP YOUR CHIN UP. THAT'S WHAT I'M TRYING TO DO! HOPEFULLY T WILL DO JUST WHAT THE VET SAID ONCE YOU'RE ABLE TO LET HER "OUT" AGAIN. GOOD LUCK!
Hey everyone, there is a lady with a question concerning the foal's umbilical cord and she seems desperate. Maybe you guys have the info she needs, I know I can't answer it for her. It's on the main page...Thanks. Stormy
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HOPEFULLY T WILL DO JUST WHAT THE VET SAID ONCE YOU'RE ABLE TO LET HER "OUT" AGAIN. GOOD LUCK!
