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may add information to this page later about training of an orphaned foal, for they
are a very special case. The handler needs to be very careful about
teaching respect to an orphaned baby.
The best idea given me was to
find a mare to foster baby. Call your vet clinics and see if they know
of any mares who have lost a baby and could take on a foster. The reason
I like this is because you don't end up with as many temperament and
respect issues later on in the foal's life if they have been raised by a
mare, even it that mare is not the mother. Here is ane article on:
Inducing Lactation in an Open
Mare and Adoption of an Orphan Foal
by Peter Daels, DVM,
PhD Diplomate ACT, Diplomate ECAR
For right now, I
want to share an idea about an igloo nurser for those of you who end up
with this unfortunate situation. I have never had an orphaned miniature,
but did lose a big mare and put this idea into my bank of information.
Emergency
Recipe for Replacement Milk:
1 gallon
homogenized milk
1 cup buttermilk
1 can evaporated
milk
1/2 cup corn
syrup
The buttermilk
is for the live cultures the foal needs; the evaporated milk adds
the necessary extra milk solids, and the corn syrup adds the needed
sugars. (Don't use honey for the needed sugars as honey contains
botulism spores).
Warm to body
temperature (99 degrees F)
Here
is a site with a darling picture of the igloo idea in use with a
miniature donkey.
Igloo
Nursing Cooler for Big Horse Orphaned baby
1 1.5 gallon
Igloo cooler
2" or 4" PVC
screw on pipe (this pipe should be slightly smaller where it
screws into the cooler. Take the cooler and nipple with you to
make sure you get the right part).
Goat's
/lamb's nipples (for a big horse) (one for each week of
expected use)
Rubber
stretchy (about 18") with snaps on each end
Several
double end snaps, screw eyes, and a short rope
Wire whisk
for mixing
4 small
lunchbox freezer packs-these can keep milk fresher and also
occupy space in the cooler bottom so that there is less milk
waste
Unscrew the spout on the
cooler and remove the plastic nut on the inside.
Screw the PVC pipe into the
threads on the cooler with the plastic nut
securing it on the inside
Fit the lamb's nipple over
the end about 3/4 on the end of the PVC
pipe. You may need to clamp this on.
Adjust your nipple flow by
opening up the 'x' on the nipple tip. The
milk will drip if you open this up too much. Test the milk flow.
This is a tight fit and you may need to use pliers to attach.
Place the cooler at normal nursing height. If it is not
correctly placed, the foal could aspirate.
Most vets advise you to feed
an orphan every 3-4 hours, but I know from watching our babies
on cameras that they nurse much more often than that off of
their mommas. The cooler allows them to nurse on a more natural
timetable. The milk temperature can decrease as the foal ages
and adjusts to the change. Many of the commercially made milk
replacers are good for up to 12 hours so that means changing
your igloo only 2-3 times per day.
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