How can I get goodness into my foal

[thatsmygirl]

As some know iv taken on a foal from a rough home and I'm battling worm damage with her at the mo but she won't eat anything other then grass. She's in at night. She's 5 months old. Does anybody know if there's a syringe type vits/mins suitable for a foal to get some goodness into her? I know about foal assist but is there any others?

 

[Sukistokes2]

How old is she, I did read but that has slipped my mind

 

[Dizzydancer]

What are you feeding overnight if she is only eating grass? Could you get some readigrass or similar? Not sure if suitable for foals but if not eating hay then maybe worth a try!

 

[thatsmygirl]

She's 5 months old, iv tried alsorts but she won't touch anything. At the mo over night I'm mixing grass with hay ( I pick the grass) but she seems to pick out every bit of grass and leave the hay. She also has just grass in her stable and a few stud nuts but won't eat them anyway.

She's not passing green water anymore its improved slightly but she's run up, has covering over her ribs and can't see them but very in at the back.
Iv tried
Just grass
Fast fibre
Stud nuts
Safe and sound
Alfa a
Speedibeet
Just to see if she will pick at anything and the only one she tried was Alfa a but after a couple of picks decided it wasn't for her.

 

[mjcssjw2]

have you tried soaked pony nuts? it was the only thing my filly would eat, or what about some feed balancer, think top spec will send you some samples if you ring and ask.

 

[AmyMay]

Ave you tried haylage?

 

[Tern]

A handful of Grass Nuts like Bailey's Ultra Grass?

ETA: Or they are also known as Pasture Cubes. (D&H)

 

[LittleBlackMule]

I have been in much the same situation before, with a donkey yearling that had no idea what to do with hard feed.

I ended up picking handfuls of really lush grass, and encouraging him to eat it from my hand while holding it over the feed bucket. As he ate, I gradually lowered it down so his lips were brushing the feed as he ate the grass. The feed was well soaked, so I could get some of it to stick to the grass to get him used to the taste.
It took a while, but he got the idea eventually.

 

[Sukistokes2]

When I bought Moses he was straight off the field, he was full of worms, had lice, was under weight and had not a clue about any food other the grass and bread. Your foal will not associate what is in a bucket with food. With most foals it is their mothers that show them about feed in buckets. At some point you will need her eat from buckets, to get in bits and medications, so get another horse to teach her what buckets are about. Find a friendly mare to help out. It will take a little while but will be worth it, much better then forcing stuff down her throat. Or paying the earth for special powders and potions.
Wish you luck with her,

 

[thatsmygirl]

I have a topspec sample on the way and have soaked the stud nuts but no good. I haven't tried haylage as I just felt it would be to rich for her belly which is in pieces. Iv soaked hay which she seemed keen on then lost interest as well as steamed. Iv been feeding my little pony in the yard loose with her so she can watch him eat which has worked with others in the past but she just watches him and shows no interested in what he's eating.
I wonder if a Timothy haylage would be worth a try as it won't be rich :/

 

[Sukistokes2]

Have you had her teeth check? Or had someone look in her mouth, just a thought.
It took Moses a couple of weeks to work out that buckets had food in them.

 

[AmyMay]

OP, why don't you give Redwings a buzz and see what advice they can offer?

 

[thatsmygirl]

How old is she, I did read but that has slipped my mind

Thanks for the pm I have replied but not sure it went ( phone Internet playing up)

I'm taking her temperature every evening which is constistant. She's such a well behaved little filly and is so so pretty

 

[thatsmygirl]

Have you had her teeth check? Or had someone look in her mouth, just a thought.
It took Moses a couple of weeks to work out that buckets had food in them.

No I haven't that's a thought, thanks

 

[thatsmygirl]

OP, why don't you give Redwings a buzz and see what advice they can offer?

Thanks for this it hadn't even crossed my mind to ring a charity for advise. Thanks

 

[iconique]

Has she got friends? I've found that some only trust when they see others eat the same? (but make sure its not a food proud pony!)
They do take time to understand new food, I've got a 2 year old homebred that trusts us implicitly but she is always wary of something new food wise, for example mints were a complete no no until recently! And then only because her neighbour was wickering for more herself!

She's only 5 months, Id certainly be talking to the vet about what they suggest? Worm damage is also a worry and I'd be wanting something to make sure her gut is ok, hard food at this age is hard (we had a 3 month orphan but her mum seemed to have prepared her!) and I don't know her history? So wish you lots of luck and good vibes for this little girl!
Wishing you luck

Also wanted to add that our 3 month old orphan liked readigrass!

 

[*hic*]

Has she got a friend whose feed she can share so that she gets the idea?

 

[blitznbobs]

I've not met an animal ( horse dog cat mouse fox rabbit toddler) that won't eat havens slobbermash - it's like cocaine...

 

[be positive]

I have a topspec sample on the way and have soaked the stud nuts but no good. I haven't tried haylage as I just felt it would be to rich for her belly which is in pieces. Iv soaked hay which she seemed keen on then lost interest as well as steamed. Iv been feeding my little pony in the yard loose with her so she can watch him eat which has worked with others in the past but she just watches him and shows no interested in what he's eating.
I wonder if a Timothy haylage would be worth a try as it won't be rich :/

Would your pony be kind enough to go in the stable with her overnight? that may be the best way for her to learn how to eat and how interesting food can be.
I took on a similar foal many years ago, she could not even eat grass as she had such long legs and a short neck grazing was extremely hard work so she just didn't bother to try, she had no idea what food was and when she arrived was probably on the verge of giving up, I had another weanling and put them together with a large trough for feed, gradually the other very greedy foal started to nudge the weak one towards the through as if encouraging her to try and eat, little by little she got the idea but I feel her life was saved by the other foal more than anything else.
As far as I can remember she was given steroid injections for some time as well as vitamin B12, it took the whole winter to get her looking fairly normal, she was well behind most yearlings but did eventually catch up and went on to a useful normal life.

 

[Jnhuk]

My weanling didn't recognise a bucket feed at first but learnt off the other horses.

I used Suregrow

http://www.dodsonandhorrell.com/our-feeds/breeding/thoroughbred/mare-stallion/suregrow.html

I would also post in the breeding section on here as very knowledgeable people there who are very experienced with breeding/youngstock

 

[thatsmygirl]

Would your pony be kind enough to go in the stable with her overnight? that may be the best way for her to learn how to eat and how interesting food can be.
I took on a similar foal many years ago, she could not even eat grass as she had such long legs and a short neck grazing was extremely hard work so she just didn't bother to try, she had no idea what food was and when she arrived was probably on the verge of giving up, I had another weanling and put them together with a large trough for feed, gradually the other very greedy foal started to nudge the weak one towards the through as if encouraging her to try and eat, little by little she got the idea but I feel her life was saved by the other foal more than anything else.
As far as I can remember she was given steroid injections for some time as well as vitamin B12, it took the whole winter to get her looking fairly normal, she was well behind most yearlings but did eventually catch up and went on to a useful normal life.

I don't know if he would but when I'm there in the evening I do let them loose in the yard with hay so she can watch but takes the odd pick that's it. They do seem to get on well and caught them grooming each other on Sunday in the field which made me happy. The vet is coming out again end of week for just a check up so will see if we can jab her some vits or something.

 

[Clever pony]

What about pony nuts,sugar beet and molasses stirred into a sticky soup? Mmmmm!

 

[Peregrine Falcon]

You've tried the fast fibre but what about the calm and condition from the same company? With our forest foals they get a basic chaff and sugar beet to start off to encourage them.

 

[Maesfen]

My weanling didn't recognise a bucket feed at first but learnt off the other horses.

I used Suregrow

http://www.dodsonandhorrell.com/our-feeds/breeding/thoroughbred/mare-stallion/suregrow.html

I would also post in the breeding section on here as very knowledgeable people there who are very experienced with breeding/youngstock

This.

What type of bucket are you using, is it a deep one as foals don't like to stick their heads into anything they think is a trap; they like to eat from something lower than eye level; it also helps if it's a light coloured bucket too.

Ask D & H for both a sample of their milk, Equilac and their balancer, Suregrow to try, explain the circumstances, I'm sure they'd be helpful. Some will say don't go back to milk but for her circumstances, she needs to get some nourishment down her and grass is not enough for her, she needs to get her stomach lined so I would be giving her at least 3 feeds of Equilac a day for a couple of weeks at least to get some goodness inside of her (use a shallow light coloured bowl). Mix a spoonful of Suregrow with a spoonful of warm damp bran then feed by hand. She'll nuzzle it, don't force it, if she takes a mouthful great, if she doesn't just try again the next feed time and before too long she should be eating it when you present it (I got ten day old foals eating it this way and within the day they knew it was good; it just sometimes takes time.
Don't keep changing from one food stuff to another, she's already had too varied a menu for something just off the dam, it's no wonder she's got loose bowels all the time even with the worms.
I'd also look at giving her some natural yoghurt (from the supermarket) which should help bind her and line her stomach, she needs to build up her own bacteria and clearing herself out all the time is not doing her any good at all.

Don't even think of giving her chaff of any kind as her teeth aren't formed enough to be able to chew it properly, it would just sit in a ball in her throat and could give her choke; by the same token don't give her any plain sugar beet as her digestion system isn't developed sufficiently to be able to digest the sucrose.

Good feeds for foals are Suregrow (you don't need to feed anything else with it other than hay/haylage and grazing) or any other stud balancer and I personally prefer Baileys Stud Cubes to any others as they're so easy for them to digest; you can damp them at first if you want but not enough to make them mushy, just so they break down a bit.

 

[meandmyself]

I'd be looking at something aimed at youngstock. There are loads of things out there. It might be worth getting some Foal Creep pellets- Baileys do them. They also have a liquid called Foal Assist that might be good for her- it's basically a vit/min supplement designed for foals.

 

[Goldenstar]

I'd be looking at something aimed at youngstock. There are loads of things out there. It might be worth getting some Foal Creep pellets- Baileys do them. They also have a liquid called Foal Assist that might be good for her- it's basically a vit/min supplement designed for foals.

Me too .
I would not be feeding sugar beet , anything sugary or sloppy to a poorly foal without expert advice .
Feeding sloppy stuff to horses with watery droppings is likely to make things worse .
I would be offering readigrass or similar and hay chop as well and trying different things like this .
World horse welfare would give you good advice for nothing .
You vet ought to have access to expertise in this area if you want to go that route .
This will be a long job .
And sadly you need to prepare a little bit of yourself for the fact it might turn out well for the little thing .
Fingers crossed here .

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Have you looked on Halleys Horse Feeds?

 

[Vickijay]

Babies don't come pre programmed to eat hard feed. I would pick a youngstock mix and some suregrow pellets, no chaff and get another kind horse in with the foal, on a rope if necessary and let the horse teach the foal about eating bucket food.

This will probably be need to done at meal times for about a week. Ideally a mare that had a baby would be best, but if not the kindest horse you have. To begin with the foal will probably just look bemused, but within a few days it will give it a go. Use 2 separate buckets.

I doubt it will be that the foal doesn't like it, it will be that the foal will have no idea what it's meant to do with it, let alone even think about eating it!!

 

[thatsmygirl]

I would like to thank everybody for taking the time to reply so thank you so much. iv been given great ideas and will be ringing our local charity for advise. I'm aware she may not make it but she's got the chance unlike the rest that I had to leave behind in the field. I just so wish the RSPCA would act but they are well aware as are the WHW who iv actually rung myself.
My pony has been acting as mummy and they are grooming each other so I think he's going to be up for the job to teach her I'm not sure how he would react to being stabled with her over night though but its an idea worth trying while I'm about. She has eaten some just grass over night, I'm using a shallow tub rug bucket. Tbh I don't feed my horses high sugar and def wouldn't be feeding her normal sugarbeet/molasses and any other high starch/sugar feeds as I know their systems aren't designed to digest it in a adult horse let alone a foal. Iv been here a few times before but its away worth asking advice as others come up with ideas you don't always think off.
I will keep you all up to date.

 

[twiggy2]

If she really is eating nothing other than grass then bringing her in at night is a really bad idea, can she stay out with your little pony with access to hay? If her gut is compromised then being without food moving through her gut for any period of time is high risk. everything in a bucket is alien to her and putting her head in a bucket to eat will be something she is reluctant to do, if you can get her to eat one thing other than grass she will then be easier to get on to other things-maybe try soaked hay to mimic the fact that the grass is wet. once she is comfortable eating hay it will be safer to bring her in at night and maybe the stable environment is one she does not feel safe in and if that is the case she will be less likely to try something new in there.

good luck with her and let us know how she gets on.