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  Discussion on Transition to solid feed
Author Message
Member:
Stina

Posted on Thursday, Apr 8, 2004 - 3:52 pm:

I am caring for a healthy orphan foal. He will be 8 weeks old this Saturday and, to date, refuses to consume any solid feed. According to "Foal-Lac Powder" container, he should be consuming "Foal-Lac Pellets" and a junior feed with 16% protein. This concept does not appeal to this colt at all. Should I be concerned? I have compensated for the lack in calories by upping the milk replacer volume to 4 quarts instead of the recommended 3 per serving. He was straining to deficate, so I added some psyllium to the milk replace and that seems to have helped. I suspect the straining is due to his gut maturing while his diet isn't. Any idea on how to encourage him to eat something other than the milk replacer?
Member:
Goolsby

Posted on Thursday, Apr 8, 2004 - 4:13 pm:

Stina
I am in Casey Creek orphan foal group although I have not adopted one yet. The website is orphanfoal.org They have been raising orphans for several years. There is alot of advice and stories there. If you would like, I will post your question there and see if any of those folks have ideas for you.
Colleen
Member:
Stina

Posted on Thursday, Apr 8, 2004 - 5:07 pm:

That would be great Colleen...THANKS! I tried to go the website, but no success. Could not find the site with the URL you provided.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Apr 8, 2004 - 9:16 pm:

Hello Stina,
Why should he try something new when you continue to give him more and more milk. By allowing him to "grow out" of the amount of milk he is consuming he will begin to explore new foods.
DrO
Member:
Goolsby

Posted on Friday, Apr 9, 2004 - 9:48 am:

One response was to put brown sugar on the grain to get them to eat it.
Member:
Stina

Posted on Friday, Apr 9, 2004 - 1:05 pm:

Yes, Dr. O, that is the obvious question. Let me tell the rest of the story as I think it addresses your question.

This is not my foal. His owner had been feeding far in excess of the recommended volume of milk replacer and did not have the Foal-Lac pellets in front of him 24/7. Once he came to live with me, I started to alter his diet and gradually reduced the milk replacer volume to normal levels and have the pellets in front him. He DrOpped a bit of weight (obviously) and I considered this unacceptable, so I upped the milk replacer volume slightly, but to nowhere near what his owner had been feeding (I think it was around 8 quarts, 4x per day - eeek!)

I have taken the time before feeding him, when I know he is hungry, to place Foal Lac pellets in his mouth. IF, I can get them to the back of his mouth, he will chew and swallow a few. But his first inclination is to spit them out.

Am I wrong is assuming it would be bad for the foal to loose some weight in the process of getting him desperate enough to each solids? I can't imagine any weight loss could be beneficial regardless of the cause. He is not fat, but wrather a very healthy, full bodied foal who appears to growing very well.

All suggestions and comments are welcome...thanks!
Member:
Bethyg2

Posted on Friday, Apr 9, 2004 - 3:00 pm:

Stina- why not soak the pellets in warm water, thereby getting lots of H2O into him, also you could mix in some of the milk replacer to get him interested. That way he won't find them dry and boring, and he won't dehydrate either.I don't find the psyllium fiber stuff so good if they're not getting enough water to help it. I have been feeding my foal Equine Jr (purina), a complete feed, but always wet (soaked for 15 minutes)so he gets a lot of water because he had been dehydrated. My vet had me do this after a terrible bout of pneumonia with this 8 month old. I plan to gradually stop soaking.This has worked extremely well. -Beth Gordon
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Apr 9, 2004 - 10:41 pm:

Not knowing the foals current condition or how much weight was DrOpped I cannot really answer your questions but a DrOp in condition to moderately thin in a foal in good condition is not a bad thing.

You might even take Beth's suggestion one further and soak them in milk, if it will ease the transition.
DrO
Member:
Goolsby

Posted on Monday, Apr 12, 2004 - 9:06 am:

Stina

How is it going with your foal. Here are a few responses I received from the orphan foal group.

Have you tried the Omalene 300? Catcher was refusing to eat plain pellets until I mixed it with the Omalene. Of course they love their milk though. Catcher is turning 1 this month (I can't believe it) and was just weaned from his last bucket of very diluted milk.
He would take a bite of his strategy, a swig of milk and gulp it down. Had a real planned meal going there until I interrupted the process by finally removing his milk.
Careen

Tell her to leave him some hay to munch on and back down the milk a
little. He gets hungry enough he'll start eating, and most foals are
munching small amounts of hay within a few days after being born.
Bridget

Has he had solid food available all along? If not, I'd start making it available -- hay (not something too rich) and perhaps the omalene 300 (?) that Casey Creek uses. Hopefully, he'll get curious and figure out it's good. In the meantime, I'd probably start watering down his formula to help with the constipation. That might also help him get hungry enough to start eating, though I'd proceed with caution.

Lynne
Member:
Stina

Posted on Monday, Apr 12, 2004 - 10:09 am:

Thanks Colleen for the recommendations from Casey Creek.

Wetting down the Foal-Lac pellets hasn't helped as it quickly turns to a completely gooey mess. It is getting really warm here during the day and I am reluctant to leave wet feed in front of him as it will grow all kinds of things. He has solid feed (foal-lac, hay, and a high quality junior feed in front of him 24/7. He has pasture as well. He munches on a bit of hay on rare occasion, but is still unwilling to go for any pelleted feed or a grain ration.

I too have always had foals that are munching on hay and grain along with the mares by around the 2nd week, but this foal is reluctant to do so.

I am going to dry diluting his milk, but I have to say, he has been good about drinking water. And now that he is out in a paddock and pasture, the increased excersize seems to be helping the straining problem. Prior to living with me as of week ago, he had hay in front of him all the time, but not any grain.

So, I think I am left with feeling like the evil step-mom and starving him a bit. As I said, I plan to dilute the milk so he is getting adequate amounts of H2O, but fewer calories in hopes that his desire to satisfy his hunger will force him to start exploring more.

Again, thanks for all the recommendations and Colleen, please give a word of thanks to all at Casey Creek who responded.

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