| Author |
Message |
    
lynsey
Nursing Foal
Username: Lynz
Post Number: 20
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 07:37 am: | 
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my foal is 5 days old, the mother was fine with the foal suckling upto yesterday and now she is kicking out and not very happy when she drinks,i have distracted her with food, and held her , though she is still not happy about it. any words of wisdom? |
Kim k
Breeding Stock
Username: Kimk
Post Number: 670
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 09:53 am: |
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did the foal have teeth at birth ? Sometimes they are born without their teeth and the will pop the surface within the first week to 10 days, if the foal didn't have teeth and now does, it will learn to latch on without biting. It takes a bit of time and your mare is doing what she is doing because it hurts ! Normally after the baby latches on its ok.
Is the mare making enough milk ? It too can hurt if the mare is not producing enough milk and baby is trying to suck. Listen for the baby to be swallowing frequently while nursing, watch the throat to see if it looks like it is swallowing. |
Jos
Board Administrator
Username: Admin
Post Number: 980
Registered: 10-1999
| | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 10:09 am: |
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Also check to make sure that the mare does not have mastitis. Is her udder hard and hot? Can you milk a little milk off, and if you can, does it look like milk or cottage cheesish (if that's a word!)? |
lynsey
Weanling
Username: Lynz
Post Number: 21
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 02:36 pm: |
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no she has no teeth and i can here a sucking noise when the foal is drinking, i was worried that she wasnt producing milk but i had a look after she drank and there was a drop of milk on her teats. She has not got mastitis and it looks like milk. |
lynsey
Weanling
Username: Lynz
Post Number: 22
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 04:05 pm: |
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i have been out watching them and sometimes she lets the foal drink and other times she won't, do mothers some times decide that they have had enough or does the foal only drink when it is hungry? |
Kim k
Breeding Stock
Username: Kimk
Post Number: 675
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Monday, August 14, 2006 - 06:00 pm: |
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Yes, mothers dictate when and how long they nurse for! It is natures way of letting babe know mom is in charge and making the foal dependant on the mare. If all else seems normal and they appear to be nursing, baby is swallowing and you can see the movement,noise, and it is producing urin and manure, then I would bet everything is pretty normal. Babe is looking normal, and not dehydrated (test with the gums--press on them and the red should return quickly, or a fold test in the neck, pull the skin up and it should return to the flat appearence quickly-- if it does not return quickly then chances are there is some dehyrdration)...
Good luck
Kim |
Kris Moos
Breeding Stock
Username: Kris
Post Number: 842
Registered: 01-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 11:12 am: |
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my mare did the same thing, but she had mastitis. her milk was not "cottage cheesish" or yellowed, but her udder was very hard and hot and she wouldnt let her baby eat. Vet attributed it to bruising because the colt was a very nudgy foal, always nudging for more, aggresive, after some bananine and antibiotics she was as good as new! |
lynsey
Weanling
Username: Lynz
Post Number: 23
Registered: 07-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 01:10 pm: |
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well i have been watching again today, she is better with her again, a few faces being pulled but no kicking out, i had a squeeze of her teats and got some milk out but it was an effort to get it out, i did the dehydration test and at the moment the foal is okay, i have seen her drinking water from thr bucket in the feild too. |
