>>> It is pretty vital to get the colostrum into the foal, whether by suckling or with a syringe. You may find she'll accept the foal after a couple of days - keep them in the stable but separate foal from mare with a gate or similar, and keep on persevering.
One other thing that I told Janice this morning, for the general knowledge of the list. (I assume the breeders know this.) It's vital to get the vet out to check the foal, so they can test his immunities. Janice said he was dry and standing when she found him, and it takes a while for a foal to dry fully. There's a finite window of opportunity when 1) the mare produces the colostrums and 2) the foal can absorb it. I think that window can be as short as 2-3 hours, and maybe up to 8-12 hours - but ask your vet and don't trust me to be exact. Sina wanted Landi to nurse, and he was certainly strong enough to try quickly, but her bag was so engorged that he couldn't grab hold. In fact, it was hard for us to grab to milk her. We tried to let them work it out for a couple of hours, but then we intervened. About four hours after he was born, we were finally able to milk about 6-8 ounces, and he had no problem with a bottle. That relieved her pressure sufficiently that all was well from that point and we relaxed that our mission was accomplished. However, much to our surprise, Landi's blood tests showed he did NOT get the necessary immunity. So, the next day, the vet gave him a plasma transfusion. I'm not sure if Sina simply stopped making colostrums too quickly, or if his window to absorb it closed in such a short time. Whatever, we wouldn't have had a clue if we hadn't had him tested. He's taller than both mom and dad now, at 22 months, and his health never faltered. Moral of the story: many breeders keep some frozen colostrums from each birth to hold for the next one. However, if I'd been going to pick a mare whose milk seemed like a prime candidate to store, it would have been Sina. She didn't leak ahead of time, and she obviously had plenty to spare. I saw a filly in our neighborhood fall seriously ill in just this way about 15 years ago, and I took turns with the neighbors doing watch-shifts for her 24-hour care. She survived, but it didn't look good for a while. She was born perfectly healthy, but her body wasn't able to fight off some little infection that our world is full of. I NEVER want to watch something like that again. This little non-incident with Landi was a close-enough call for me. Karen Thomas, NC No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.516 / Virus Database: 269.21.5/1314 - Release Date: 3/5/2008 6:38 PM IceHorses Community for Photos and Videos: http://kickapps.com/icehorses "The greatest enemy of the truth very often is not the lie- deliberate, contrived and dishonest -- but the myth -- persistent, persuasive and unrealistic." "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." ~ Arthur Schopenhauer [] Lee Ziegler http://leeziegler.com [] Liz Graves http://lizgraves.com [] Lee's Book Easy Gaited Horses http://tinyurl.com/7vyjo [] IceHorses Map http://www.frappr.com/IceHorses Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IceHorses/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IceHorses/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
