Twin Foals

  • Thread starter Thread starter AMH
  • Start date Start date
A

AMH

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 April 2011
Messages
332
Location
SE London
Visit site
Having been joking about the size of the mare and that it must have more than one (scanned with only one!), last night she delivered live twin fillies. One is up, almost unaided now, and we're hoping for the best. The other is hanging in there, taking a bottle and responsive, but not keen to get on her feet just yet.

Vets have suggested various options, but we're on a feeding rota for now and keeping everything crossed. Mum is being brilliant with the one that is up, and keeps just checking in on the other, but I think that one's down to us for the time being!

If anyone has any experience of coping with twins, any advice is gratefully received!

In the meantime, there's a vid on Youtube for anyone who'd like to see them - link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRfSJD1ygZU
 
Oh my goodness, what a shock for you!

What a fabulous mare she is! They both look to be a similar size, I really hope this goes well for you.
 
Oh my goddness, what a shock for you!! Glad that they are both living and mummy is doing well. I really hope the weakest foal will be OK! It will be alot of work for you, but well worth it if they both turn out ok :)

Thinking of you and hope the "Family" keep fighting!! xx
 
crikey, what a shock. very good news that both have survived so far. if you haven't already i would get vet out asap to give both an antibiotic, and to get some colostrum down them both. also, i'd put lots of straw around the one on the floor so she has something to get a purchase on when she does try to stand, shavings etc are lovely for bedding but hopeless for foals that first vital time or two when they haven't got control of their limbs or a lot of strength (i've just put 3 bales of straw - which normally i detest - all over my lovely clean cardboard bedding for just this reason).
very very best of luck with them both, please keep us posted!
 
Wow! congratulations! they both look (as best as you can see on the video!) to be a good size and healthy looking! keeping everything crossed they both do well for you :)
 
I'd be surprised if there were many on here, with experience of rearing twins. That said, I suspect that as you're already applying a large dose of common sense, there's little else that you can do.

There is a finite milk supply, and when a mother, of what ever variety is asked for too much, then they are generally pulled down very quickly. Horses aren't designed with a milk supply for twins. Sheep are, but when they have triplets or quads, then we generally take one or two away, and put them on a bottle. That probably wouldn't be a sensible option for a foal. The best option would be if you could find a foster mare, but that may not be too easy.

I've never tried rearing equine twins, but certainly with lambs and calves, the artificial milk which I offer, will be rejected by the youngster which is accustomed to it's mother's milk. You may well find that the foal which is already latched on to the mare, will reject artificial milk.

If you are the only milk supply, then I suspect that the foal which is currently down, will very soon recognise that fact, and will latch on to you. From what I hear of it, it can be a trying business!!

Sallyf has been successfully bucket feeding a foal, so if she can find the time, then she may have some more constructive thoughts than mine!!

I wish you luck, and will you let us know how life proceeds?

Alec.
 
dont want to hijack the thread but what Alec said made me think...
I know hand rearing foals is considered a last resort with horses, but in this situation do we think if the foal is living with its mother but being fed/topped up by a person do you think you would get the same behaviour problems you so often see with hand reared foals?!
 
wow amazing what a brilliant mare!! have no advice sorry but just lots of luck and i hope all goes well xx
 
amy_b said:
.......I know hand rearing foals is considered a last resort with horses, but in this situation do we think if the foal is living with its mother but being fed/topped up by a person do you think you would get the same behaviour problems you so often see with hand reared foals?!
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I meant to say, but didn't!! :o I honestly don't know, but I would think that the foal needs a mare, its own, or some one else's.

Alec.
 
What a surprise, do you have any pics of the mare in the latter stages of her pregnancy?

Did she go full term?

Fingers crossed the little one makes it, has it had plasma transfusion?
 
Congratulations . The people here www.sawyercreek.com raised twins last year on a maiden mare . She fed them herself and was fed huge amounts and foals were creep fed as soon as they showed an interest. I give them as an example as they have a website and everyone else I know who has raised twins doesn't .If you go half way down the foal page there is a picture of them . The ones to have been sucessful all kept the foals together with the mare and it has not been a problem . The only people I know who lost a twin was when they seperated one off and in fact went on to lose both . I'm sure if you contacted them they could give you some advice. Interestingly their vet trained at UC Davis and when there they had a TB mare in with triplets who all survived.
 
Alec Swan said:
That's exactly what I meant to say, but didn't!! :o I honestly don't know, but I would think that the foal needs a mare, its own, or some one else's.

Alec.
Click to expand...

I wasnt disagreeing with you :)
it would be interesting to find out but I cant imagine many people have an answer because hand reared foals are hand reared for the reason of there being no mare! :rolleyes: would be really interesting to know whether foals that live with their mothers/nanny but are fed by people have better manners etc...hmmm!! :)
 
amy_b said:
I wasnt disagreeing with you :)
it would be interesting to find out but I cant imagine many people have an answer because hand reared foals are hand reared for the reason of there being no mare! :rolleyes: would be really interesting to know whether foals that live with their mothers/nanny but are fed by people have better manners etc...hmmm!! :)
Click to expand...

I would think that as long as the mare is still 'in charge' of the discipline of the foal then it shouldn't make any difference. I think it is best to leave them all together and supplement all of their diets.
 
Baggybreeches said:
I would think that as long as the mare is still 'in charge' of the discipline of the foal then it shouldn't make any difference. I think it is best to leave them all together and supplement all of their diets.
Click to expand...

this, exactly. i've heard of mares successfully rearing two foals, either both their own or even their own plus an orphan. i think as long as you're prepared to feed the mare oodles so she can make enough milk, and supplement the foals' diets too, it has to be better to leave them both on mum.
 
Update - will try to answer everyone's questions through the fog of sleep deprivation...

Firstly, both still alive! One can suckle if we get her up on her feet, and she's had a little totter round the barn, wee and poo (mostly all over my jeans) and looking fairly bright, considering.

The 'weaker' one is still not able to stand, despite trying. We've had her up a few times and the limbs work, after a fashion! She's being bottle fed at the moment and seems to be taking some each time. She has attempted to suckle when we've supported her, and she does know where she's aiming.

The mare is being a total star, allowing us to milk, encouraging both of them once their up and positioning to allow them to feed. She's got BUCKETS of milk so we're just feeding that at the moment, little and often. She was running milk for a couple of weeks beforehand and so didn't have much in the way of colostrum, but we did have a bit left over from the foal born last week, so they have had some at least. Pretty resigned to plasma if we get them to tomorrow, but it could be worse...

The vet's seen them, they've had steroids and antibiotics and the colostrum was tubed in so we know they got at least that much. We've also been told that even now there will be some antibodies in the mare's milk, and since there's so much we'll stick with it. We were offered the option of taking the weaker one to intensive care, but we're told the mare would certainly reject it if it survived, and we've decided that we and Mum can offer them everything they need at home. They're both in dog coats (so cute!) and hot water bottles, so we'll just take it a feed at a time. Somehow, we'll get some sleep, but at least there are two of us.

We're very lucky really, we've still got a very good mum and two foals alive, and anything more is a bonus.

Keep you posted...
 
Bless there little cottons, good luck with the beautiful babies,keep us posted on their progress :) x
 
I hope this of some use;

One of my Broadstone mares delivered live, full term twin fillies despite 3 scans indicating single foetus pregnacy! I am unable to see your video at present but gather yours are more level in size.

The larger filly was fine - like any normal foal - fed and played.

The smaller filly could not stand and was very weak. She was propped within an L shape of big bales within the box and bottle fed every 2 hrs. This was exhausting at night and we gradually managed to extend it to 3 hourly feeds. What I would recommend is that at night you make the bottles a feed ahead and stand them in hot water as soon as you wake up - make the next one whilst that bottle is warming (and use a baby bottle sterilising kit). When you are bleary eyed being organised is essential - so is chocolate and tea!

Then once the filly could stand she quickly copied her sister and learnt to latch on - I used honey as the link....honey on the teat of her bottle and the mare's teats. As a result I was able to continue topping her up with artificial milk. (do not fuss her or talk to her when you are feeding her). The mare disciplined her quite well.

Sadly it was not to be as her limb deformity got worse and at 5 weeks I had her PTS - by which time I was incredibly fond of her :( The larger filly on the other hand was absolutely fine.

I had one other foal who was seperated from the mare for 5 days due to a post foaling colic. This was a very pushy colt and I used a shepherdess system to feed his milk until he was re-united with his dam - again I used honey as the link when getting him back on the mare.

Finally do not let her feed to fast - you can imagine how much quicker a foal can drink a bottle of milk versus the same amount from the mare.

On the subject of the vet....and the scans I had a refund on the AI package and the milk powder provided.

The very best of luck, I hope it works out OK and please let us know.
 
parkside said:
I hope this of some use;

One of my Broadstone mares delivered live, full term twin fillies despite 3 scans indicating single foetus pregnacy! I am unable to see your video at present but gather yours are more level in size.

Thank you, parkside, that's really very helpful. The weaker one doesn't have the best time co-ordinating her back end at the moment, but hopefully she'll get to a point where she can stand and nurse as yours did.

Unfortunately, these were natural cover and only scanned the once, so think it might just be one of those things we have to swallow! The vet is also reknowned locally for not making this kind of mistake, but we're all human.

We'll try the honey tip if we get that far - and every 2 hourse is doable, but we're prepared for some sleepless nights!
Click to expand...
 
Wow! Many congrats and buckets of good luck!!
If I weere closer and not waiting on a mare myself I would offer a hand - I know what 2 hour feeds to to a person!!
I have no experience of twins in horses, but like Alec have sheep, and have had several quads and 44 sets of triplets this year!
We have for the 1st time used a shepherdess - basically a bucket in a baine marie with teats! - and it has been wonderful! Once the orpahns/rejects have been given adequate colostrum and are strong enough to go onto the sucker (generally a couple of days old depending on their size etc) it cuts your work down so much! And also means that we arent trampled under 10 sets of hooves everytime we appear! Bonus!

Good luck and pics needed of babies in dog coats!! I put weak lambs in tiny rugs too!!
Hope you are managing to get a few hours sleep during the day xx
 
I wonder if any kind people on here locally could help you out with the feeding? I would if I was closer. I know how tiring every two hour feeds can be and sometimes you just need a few hours uninterrupted sleep.

Good luck with your lovely fillies.
 
smiles24 said:
I wonder if any kind people on here locally could help you out with the feeding? I would if I was closer. I know how tiring every two hour feeds can be and sometimes you just need a few hours uninterrupted sleep.

Good luck with your lovely fillies.
Click to expand...

We've had some very kind offers - worst of it is that I keep the horses with my cousin here in Devon, but live in SE London, so it's she who will bear the brunt of the care. We have had some very kind offers - she and I both work full time. At the moment the vet says that they need 1.2 - 1.8 litres of milk a day each, which we think we can manage for the next couple of days, and by then a decision might have been made for us... We're so lucky with the mare - she's foaled before but it's her first time with us, and she's just being brilliant.

Just been out to have another check - the 'weaker' one is a little more alert but we're trying not to get too optimistic. BUT I've just been told that the stronger one, while I was writing, has been picked up and then took herself to her mum and latched on. RESULT! Will put film on the same link as before, momentous occasions here...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top