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Discussion on "orphaned" foal with a big ol' belly
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 15, 2000 - 10:27 pm:
I rescued a foal from a nurse mare farm. His Mom is still alive but is taking care of a foal that someone thinks is more important than mine....(such a crazy world) He is now 3 1/2 months old. I am concerned because of his big belly. I am now feeding him just 3x a day. His feed includes free choice timothy hay(~12%protien), 1 quart of Purina Junior and 3/4 scoop of Foal Lac pellets 3x a day. He is out at night on a nice pasture of clover/orchard grass and fescue. Will he get over the belly or am I feeding too much? According to the Foal LAc pellets he should be getting more.. He, "Kabub", is 3/4TB and 1/4 Perch, and is as close to perfect as you can get! Is the belly part of being am orphan or is he overfed?
thanks! ;)
~barbara
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 16, 2000 - 8:10 am:
Oh, and he has been wormed twice with ivermectin.
~b
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 16, 2000 - 10:15 am:
Hi Barbara,
Wow---TB/Percheron---I'm jealous! Good for you, for taking on an orphan. It *is* a strange world. He sounds like he'll be a real beauty, though, with that breeding.
Two things that came to mind about his big belly---one, even though he's been wormed with ivermectin, you might try worming him with a pyrantel product like Strongid paste. Our vet used to recommend that be used on all the foals until they were yearlings, then we'd switch to ivermectin or moxidectin.
The other thing is, you might cut back on his hay some---I don't know, because none of the foals around here of that age seem much interested in it, but they are on their mothers so I'm sure that makes a difference. He might not have adequate teeth yet to be chewing hay as completely as he needs to, which would tend to give him a large belly. If he has access to grass, I might just go with that for his roughage.
Good luck and keep us posted on his progress!
~Amy
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 16, 2000 - 1:08 pm:
Hi Amy
Thanks for the advice and nice words! "Kabub" was a bright red when we adopted him and has shed out to a strawberry roan with 3 white socks! You couldn't get a better temperament either!
~barbara
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 16, 2000 - 2:02 pm:
Barbara,
I agree with Amy about deworming and also about the roughage. We seem to go through the big belly stage with our foals once they are weaned.
It is like their bodies are adjusting to the all roughage diet and it takes time...but I also believe deworming them with certain types is important. We have found Panacur great for this.
He sounds beautiful!
Denise
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 26, 2000 - 10:16 am:
Whoa guys, I have a different take: Barbara whether or not the feeding is correct or not has to be done by looking at the overall condition of the foal. The belly could be due to lots of roughage but I see no problem with that even at this stage as long as the overall condition is good. Yes the belly would be more trim with a lower roughage diet but this is secondary to the overall condition.
Next is deworming, the two products suggested Strongid and Panacur do not kill the larvae of the worms, therefore are not recommended as the main part of a foals deworming program: ivermectin cannot be beat for efficacy and safety.
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 26, 2000 - 10:37 am:
Dr O
Thank you! Although he gets free choice hay, he eats less than a flake a day. He is on a lovely 16 acre pasture with just another foal and mare. He is out at night, so am sure he eats quite a bit of grass. He's been wormed 2x with Ivermectin. Basically, once a month for now. As he grows his belly is looking a little smaller. But is still large, especially compared with my other foal who is the same age.
~barbara
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 26, 2000 - 10:56 am:
I have heard that right after foals are weaned, and particularly if they are weaned early, they are susceptible to the big ol' pot belly as described. I have forgotten the reason given, but, as Dr O said, remember that it really wasn't much concern as long as the overall picture was of a healthy foal. Barbara - I take it your other foal is still nursing?
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 26, 2000 - 12:04 pm:
Barbara,
It sounds like you are doing a real good job with the orphan foal. The pot belly is probably caused by the foal comsuming complete meals in a short time instead of lots of small meals. I routinely wean all my foals at three months. In the last month prior to weaning I have a foal creep feeder (a special gate across a stall in the loafing shed with bars up and down 17" apart) that allows the foal constant access to grain with a milk supplement. I also keep hay in there for them. They eat a little, play, sleep, nurse and go eat some more.
This way doesn't force them to consume large quantities of grain at on time which is hard on their digestive system. When I physically wean them I remove the mares and leave the foals with the creep feeder and their environment doesn't change except for their dams leaving. Also and I know some will laugh, I wean my foals according to the recommended dates in the "Old Farmers Almanac". I can take the mares through the gate to another pasture or to a trailer without the foals trying to follow or climb through the fence. There are only a few nickers in the following hours, but the foals and mares are calm and relaxed and no one is stressed. Laugh if you will, but it has worked without ever getting a foal hurt for me for 35 years.
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 1, 2000 - 8:43 pm:
Dear Barbara,
I don't know if this helps or not, but we have an orphan TB filly who turned 3 months old today. We took her in at 13 days. She has a "big ole belly" on her, too  ... but, she's bright-eyed, energetic, shiny coat, full of mischief and growing like a weed. My vet thinks she's doing wonderfully and isn't at all worried about the belly. We had her checked for parasites when she was about a month and a half old (she had a bout of diarreha that we couldn't get a handle for about 10 days) and she was clean. We're going to worm her tomorrow for the first time. She definitely has more of a belly than my non-orphan colt did, but I don't know if there's any correlation. She's our first orphan. Anyway, I thought it might help.
Good luck!
Nancy
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