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Discussion on Two mares foaled, one foal died, other foal nursing from dead foal's da
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Member:
ellebell
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Posted on Tuesday, Mar 20, 2012 - 2:01 am:
Had two mares foal last night. One was a red bag and the foal died. the vet pulled it and treated the mare and she is fine. The other mare had a healthy filly, but she is dominated by the mare who lost her foal, who has now tried to take over the surviving foal. She won't let the real mother nurse her own baby. I'm out of town and my husband wants to know if he should try to take the red bag mare out of the pen so the foal nurses from its own mother. I'm kind of afraid the grieving mother will freak out as she is high strung. Advice please.
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Member:
stek
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Posted on Tuesday, Mar 20, 2012 - 4:12 pm:
Sorry to hear you lost a foal. Do you know the cause of the red bag? Fescue/infection?
Sounds like a delicate situation. My primary concern would probably be that the foal was nursing from somebody and getting colostrum. If they foaled at about the same time I would assume the dominant mare has colostrum now too, so if the foal is nursing from her they are getting colostrum. Not sure if other problems that cause red bag could present something that the dominant mare could transfer to the foal, but I've seen several red bag deliveries due to fescue that turned out OK and the mare nursed the foal normally.
My inclination would be to remove the dominant mare but that could come with its own set of problems. Will be interested to hear how this turns out .. I've never seen a mare claim another's foal but all my foaling experience is in an environment where the mares are kept separate to foal. Hope it comes out OK for you.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Mar 21, 2012 - 5:35 pm:
Hello PRUs,
Yes you should take out the mare that is harassing the mare and her foal. It strikes me that whatever risk that move runs it is less risk than the situation you currently describe where all 3 are at risk of harm.
DrO
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