# Help! Mare wont nurse



## Rancher6 (May 9, 2012)

Milk the mare. I'm serious. Milk the mare, put the milk into a bottle with a nipple and feed the foal. I've had to milk mares before because I had a foal who was stall blind who couldn't find the teat. In that case the vet had to put an intranasal tube in the mares nostril...we poured the milk into the foal's stomach via a funnel on the tube.

Milking a mare is not much fun but her teats will get full and painful if she can't feed her foal. Get a halter on her, and work her teats with your hand and squirt her milk into a clean cup...and you may have to do this around the clock every few hours. 

I have had to sit in the barn for 24 hours straight, milking the mare every two hours. Check with your vet on the all the above. And good luck.


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

Rancher said:


> Milk the mare. I'm serious. Milk the mare, put the milk into a bottle with a nipple and feed the foal. I've had to milk mares before because I had a foal who was stall blind who couldn't find the teat. In that case the vet had to put an intranasal tube in the mares nostril...we poured the milk into the foal's stomach via a funnel on the tube.
> 
> Milking a mare is not much fun but her teats will get full and painful if she can't feed her foal. Get a halter on her, and work her teats with your hand and squirt her milk into a clean cup...and you may have to do this around the clock every few hours.
> 
> I have had to sit in the barn for 24 hours straight, milking the mare every two hours. Check with your vet on the all the above. And good luck.


What is stall blind?


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## Rancher6 (May 9, 2012)

The foal can't find the teats. Instead it'll stick it's head into a dark corner of the stall trying to find them. It's not actual blindness, it's newborn disorientation. And if it continues the foal will starve. It's an emergency that requires aggressive action but if action is taken the foal will most likely turn out just great, like this foal of mine did. I may not have the proper medical term for it, but thats what I call it


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## HombresArablegacy (Oct 12, 2013)

Rancher said:


> Milk the mare. I'm serious. Milk the mare, put the milk into a bottle with a nipple and feed the foal. I've had to milk mares before because I had a foal who was stall blind who couldn't find the teat. In that case the vet had to put an intranasal tube in the mares nostril...we poured the milk into the foal's stomach via a funnel on the tube.
> 
> Milking a mare is not much fun but her teats will get full and painful if she can't feed her foal. Get a halter on her, and work her teats with your hand and squirt her milk into a clean cup...and you may have to do this around the clock every few hours.
> 
> I have had to sit in the barn for 24 hours straight, milking the mare every two hours. Check with your vet on the all the above. And good luck.



What Rancher said^^^^

Milk the mare and bottle feed the foal. Also try rubbing some of her milk and or urine on the foal and let her smell it.Sounds like she's rejecting the foal for whatever reason.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

Rancher said:


> The foal can't find the teats. Instead it'll stick it's head into a dark corner of the stall trying to find them. It's not actual blindness, it's newborn disorientation. And if it continues the foal will starve. It's an emergency that requires aggressive action but if action is taken the foal will most likely turn out just great, like this foal of mine did.


That's sad. 
Would he latch on if directed by hand?


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

You dont need to bottle feed. They will drink from a bucket.


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## Rancher6 (May 9, 2012)

HombresArablegacy said:


> What Rancher said^^^^
> 
> Milk the mare and bottle feed the foal. Also try rubbing some of her milk and or urine on the foal and let her smell it.Sounds like she's rejecting the foal for whatever reason.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


 
Good advice, and it could be any number of reasons or no reason at all. Once you start the milking process, the mare may eventually become more receptive to the foal...hopefully. But you gotta get that good mare's milk into the baby.


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## Rancher6 (May 9, 2012)

natisha said:


> That's sad.
> Would he latch on if directed by hand?


 
In this case, no. And easier said than done.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

if her milk is not coming in then she has no milk, why did her milk stop ? 
is this what you mean by she wont let her milk down ? i dont think she can stop the production of milk, she must have some sort of problem either with her bag, teat, or hormonal .
try milking her, do not get kicked, or get that foal on milk replacer now !


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## blueriver (Oct 10, 2009)

Are you positive the foal is not nursing? I have seen some mares who put foals on a feeding routine ... Kick, nip and push the foal away until they decide its feeding time.
The foal may be nursing when your not around and getting a belly full.

Is the foal looking bad, thin, dehydrated?


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

blueriver said:


> Are you positive the foal is not nursing? I have seen some mares who put foals on a feeding routine ... Kick, nip and push the foal away until they decide its feeding time.
> The foal may be nursing when your not around and getting a belly full.
> 
> Is the foal looking bad, thin, dehydrated?


My thought if the vet said they both looked fine.


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## becca2 (Apr 30, 2015)

she'll let me milk her but i can only get about 10mL every hour which isn't enough to sustain him and hes refusing the formula


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## becca2 (Apr 30, 2015)

i have sat in the barn for 24 hours straight and shes consistenly pushed him away every time, hes been eating a lot of her grain and hay which is why he hasn't started to look ill yet, hes still getting nutrients but its causing him to be constipated which is why we sat in the barn and finally realized she was only letting him get the bare minimum


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

I'm not sure how much grain a 2 week old foal CAN eat.

Obviously he can't digest it. Not that you are counting that as food but I'm sceptical he's even getting any.

If the vet looked at them what did the vet say? Surely he/she gave advice??

I would tranq/hobble/hogtie- whatever it takes to get her to nurse, sounds like it's more of a nursing issue then rejection.

It's very strange to me that the vet said they are fine and left. Maybe you should talk to the vet- did the vet feel the foal was getting enough milk?

I know with sheep it is very hard to bottle feed once they are nursing and difficult to swap.

Get the vet back out. The vet can administer to the mare as/if need be.

I'm guessing the foal is getting something or he would be in worse condition by now.


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

Are you sure she is not letting him nurse , maybe when you are not looking?
How does the foal appear-happy, playing, etc?
Some foals will just bunt the mare.s bag, when they are not really hungry, goofing around, and a mare starts to regulate when that foal can nurse.
I havE watched many of my mares over the years, and if that baby just nursed and is goofing round, she will walk off, or tell him 'not now'
iF HE IS HEALTHY he is nursing, when you are not watching, so in that case, leave them alone!
The only reason a mare would reject a foal and not let him nurse, after having bonded with him, would be if she had severe mastitis
is the mare dripping milk , with a full distended bag? If not, that baby is nursing
If baby is healthy, running and playing,sit out there for an hour at least< and I bet you will see him nursing
If so STOP interferring!!!! Your first foal?


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

Rancher said:


> The foal can't find the teats. Instead it'll stick it's head into a dark corner of the stall trying to find them. It's not actual blindness, it's newborn disorientation. And if it continues the foal will starve. It's an emergency that requires aggressive action but if action is taken the foal will most likely turn out just great, like this foal of mine did. I may not have the proper medical term for it, but thats what I call it


Dummy foal syndrome, usually caused by a 'red bag' birth (O2 deprivation )
I had two born that way. With help, they re connect those brain pathways, to get a normal suck =response, to walk in some cases, and to know how to get up and down
I had one that I had to milk the mare for the first 24 hours, and manually lay the foal down after feeding him, as he would just stand, exhausted on his feet, not knowing how to lie down


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

becca2 said:


> i have sat in the barn for 24 hours straight and shes consistenly pushed him away every time, hes been eating a lot of her grain and hay which is why he hasn't started to look ill yet, hes still getting nutrients but its causing him to be constipated which is why we sat in the barn and finally realized she was only letting him get the bare minimum


I don't know, does not sound right in my mind, unless you have interfered so much, that the normal mare/foal bond has been disrupted
A mare is not very protective of a foal when born, and then a few weeks later, not let that foal nurse. Heck, most mares will still let them nurse at on e year of age, unless you wean them!
If the foal is constipated, they will not nurse, as they get colic pain. You need to have him treated. What they will do then, is just bump the bag, pretend to suck, but not really latch on
Kind of late now, but did he pass all his meconium? I had foals that had to be aggressively treated for high meconium impaction
Let them out, and that is the healthiest. I guess, I would have to actually see that this mare is not allowing that foal to nurse, as that case history just does not add up,


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