Orphan Filly-Need Some Ideas

LKR · Postby **LKR** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 9:51 am

Have a 7 week old orphan filly. She lost mom 2 weeks ago. She eats hay, absolutely refuses to eat grain even though she was eating it with mom before mom died. We got a goat and are feeding her what little the goat is producing, about 3 quarts a day. Tried to get her to eat foal-lac pellets, no go. Tried soaking them until they dissolved into milk, won't drink that. I am going to get foal-lac milk and try that. Any ideas? She is bright eyed, but all she wants besides hay is goat milk. At $10 a gallon here that is not an option, plus availibility is iffy. Any ideas? I am going to start by mixing the goat milk 1/2 and 1/2 with the foal-lac milk. I hope she will accept the mixture so I can get her to take straight foal-lac on some of her feedings that I know she needs. Also, what supplement would be good for her?? I can mix it in applesauce and syringe it into her if she won't eat it. She needs more than 3 quarts of goat milk a day I would presume.

madelyn · Postby **madelyn** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 10:29 am

We raised an orphan on Buckeye Mares Milk Plus formula. Worked great. It's only $90 for a big bag. You mix it with water.

majxmom · Postby **majxmom** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 2:34 pm

Magic didn't like the pellets much either. He would eat them if I mixed them 50/50 with Equine Junior, but the EJ made him colic, so that was no good. I gave him 50/50 goat's milk and foal-lac liquid (made with water from the powder). He liked that a lot. The goat's milk needed to be pretty fresh. The foal-lac would make him loose and the goat's milk would tie his bowels up, so 50/50 was perfect. Be sure to feed him out of a bucket, not by bottle, or you can give him aspiration pneumonia. If you absolutely have to use a bottle, use the tinest hole possible, not a calf nipple.

I would try not to give him too much grain. Orphan foals can have a lot of nutritional issues later with insulin resistence and laminitis. Be on the lookout for colic, and if you get it more than once, look at what you are feeding him. Try removing things one at a time to find the culprit; for me it was the Equine Junior. After i took him off of that, he never has colicked again in eight years.

Try to get him out with other foals as quick as possible to minimize orphan behavior. Good luck, I know what you are in for.

Postby **Roguelet** » Sun Jun 21, 2009 2:56 pm

Is a nurse mare an option in your area? I personally believe that's the best thing for the mental as well as physical development of the foal...

Jean · Postby **Jean** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 5:14 am

You can buy goat's milk replacer. Close to same price of foal lac actually cheaper, start by mixing it with the goats milk with a small amount of water added and gradully increase to full amount. Has more fat than mare milk replacer so can keep them loose.

mini's mom · Postby **mini's mom** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 8:44 am

I don't know if they are still in business but helen & gert sterns used to have just a plain farm inpa & they had nurse mares - there was also one for sale on craiglist.org -

you could try mixing some molasses or caro syrup into the feed mixture & it makes the grain more palatable

hope it is helpful

minis mom