# Feeding 2 Month old Foal



## FoxRidgeRanch (May 20, 2008)

My boyfriend just took in a filly that is only 2 months old, dam had dried up  Can you guys give me some good feeds to try with this filly, She's about medium in the weight range so far. The only mare and foal feed I found right away was Omolene mare and Foal and I have equipride on hand and plenty of hay. I am worried for the little girl, very very very early to be weaned. She doesn't call out or anything just toodles around. She was feral but Kelly has been out with her everyday for a week and she is very curious, stands for her feet to be picked, halters good and is leading pretty well.


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## HombresArablegacy (Oct 12, 2013)

FoxRidgeRanch said:


> My boyfriend just took in a filly that is only 2 months old, dam had dried up  Can you guys give me some good feeds to try with this filly, She's about medium in the weight range so far. The only mare and foal feed I found right away was Omolene mare and Foal and I have equipride on hand and plenty of hay. I am worried for the little girl, very very very early to be weaned. She doesn't call out or anything just toodles around. She was feral but Kelly has been out with her everyday for a week and she is very curious, stands for her feet to be picked, halters good and is leading pretty well.


How long has she been off her dam? What was she eating after her dam dried up before your boyfriend brought her home?

If she still seems to want to nurse, you can try mare milk replacer and teach her to drink out of a bucket. You can also try giving her calf manna pellets. I'm sure others will have ideas on feeding her.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## FoxRidgeRanch (May 20, 2008)

She was just loose in a small field, so grass pretty much, I think they tried giving her oats before he got her. Straight oats :/


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Should have left her with mom and just supplemented poor thing.

Glad she is in good hands.

No food recommendations but I would get the vet out and would not forget about her mental health in the focus on the physical.

Do find a "mom" for her...

We have a bottle "dog" (lamb) who follows her momma (male GSD) everywhere XD

I would almost prefer if she was calling, she sounds depressed.

So cute!


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Miniature Donkey - Short ASSets Ranch - Miniature Donkeys - My Momma's an Igloo

Even for foals who have been weaned at the right time, I like to supplement with Foal Lac or another milk replacer. If your foal wants to suckle, this works great. If she'll eat the pelleted version, that's even easier. I feed Omolene 300 (mare and foal) and the foal lac pellets until the foal is about 6 mos old, in addition to free choice grass hay and plenty of clean fresh water.


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## Elana (Jan 28, 2011)

Two months is early but not so bad. Many foals are weaned just after birth from nurse mares and a lot of them do survive. 

Foal Lac.. pellets are bottle.. and get her on the pellets as soon as you can. If you can get her off the bottle and on a bucket for drinking the foal lac (if she won't eat the pellets) that will help her transition to the pellets. 

She probably should be examined by a vet... worms, dehydration, other issues.. to make sure she is set to right.


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## FoxRidgeRanch (May 20, 2008)

Oh gosh well the guys didn't look colt, Jaz is actually TAZ lol but she will be coming to my house this weekend and will be getting a round bale, a 30 gal tank, a mineral block, and omolene 300 mare and foal with equi pride (starting with very little)


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

She needs MILK or a milk replacer. She is not ready to digest nothing but grass and grain. 300 is good but by itself it's not enough.


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

I had one foal , who was weaned at age one month, not by me.
The owner has conditionally sold the mare, to be bred back, and I agree to buy the foal that was on the mare, when she was weaned, thinking at least 4 months old.
The Owner bred that mare to our stud, and when she vet checked in foal at thirty days, simply dropped her present foal off, while hauling the dam to her new home.
I fed "Scoots' calf mana, and a good alfalfa mixed hay
She grew up to be one of my best producing mares, after I put a show record on her as a jr horse. Scoots also reached her genetic potential,standing 16.1hh
Weanlings need a hay where nutrients are more concentrated, as they don't have the gut volume to process large amounts of hay to meet their requirements


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

FoxRidgeRanch said:


> Oh gosh well the guys didn't look colt, Jaz is actually TAZ lol but she will be coming to my house this weekend and will be getting a round bale, a 30 gal tank, a mineral block, and omolene 300 mare and foal with equi pride (starting with very little)


A two month old on a round bale!!??


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

My foals are fed free choice grass hay, they eat from their dam's feeder and I fill that with hay whenever it gets low. They can eat off the round bale in pasture if they are out, but they don't get nearly enough nutrition and their digestion is not ready to have "big horse food" as their sole supply. The need the extra nutrition in milk or milk replacers to meet their nutritional needs. For one thing, they eat very slowly and the amount of 300 and other concentrated feeds that they need to eat is quite large. If they aren't separated at feeding time, or provided a "foal creep" and left to eat, they won't get the amount they should. The bigger horses will take it from them.


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## FoxRidgeRanch (May 20, 2008)

I mean I pitch from a round bale of timothy x alfalfa mix, I Will prolly put on of my spare tank in the pen and set the hay in that. I need to pick up milk replacer. There are no lactating mare at either house. I do have Goats milk I get from the neighbor.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Foal Lac or another milk replacer made for horses would be your best bet, but in a pinch goat's milk is pretty digestable too. I understand now what you're saying about the hay. The alfalfa is pretty good for the babies, not sure how the baby will handle timothy, that's fairly coarse. If she's chewing it up ok, it should work.


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## FoxRidgeRanch (May 20, 2008)

Ok So I tried the bottle with All Star Milk Replacer, it was the only brand that seemed to support foals as well that we had, everything else was for lambs or Calves.

He doesn't want the bottle, but I have never bottle fed before, is there a good way to introduce it? If he wont do the bottle how else can I introduce it?

He is eating all of his grain, I give him about 2.5-3 cups of Omolene 300 right now with about a 1/2 cup of equipride mixed in. I did drizzle the milk on it last night just to see if he'd at least get a little in his diet. HE POLISHED THAT DISH!! LICKED it clean! I don't want to over load the little guy, everything is in very small amounts. He is eating his hay very well and gets as much as he can eat and then some as he lays in it at night in the barn


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## FoxRidgeRanch (May 20, 2008)

He is now calling to me every time he can see me, when I work on the fence, he's watching me from the barn. I would like to turn him out in the pasture next to my other horses but am kind of afraid even with the electric he'll pile on through and hurt himself. He's romping around a lot more to, just seems to have livened up a ton in the last 3 days.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

Did you try having him drink the milk from a bucket? I saw a place that rescues nurse mare foals do that to avoid bottle feeding 20+ foals.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## FoxRidgeRanch (May 20, 2008)

I haven't tried that yet  I will see what he thinks of it. I kinda made a mash right now of his omolene which he seems to like but it doesn't get enough of the milk into it, like a 1/4 of what he should have in one feeding.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

See if your feed store can order you Foal Lac Pellets. Or make the Igloo nurser I posted and let him drink out of it. It keeps the milk fresh and he can help himself as he wants. The best choice for him at this point would be the pellets mixed in with his 300. Horse Mare and Foal Supplements: Foal-Lac by Pet Ag

You can turn him out with your other horses when you find a horse that will be his "auntie" or "Uncle". Once that horse adopts him, he will be protected from the others, but before that, someone will chase him through a fence or kick him around and probably hurt him.


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## FoxRidgeRanch (May 20, 2008)

So I tried the milk bucket, the first night nothing but the 2nd night it was lower and the next morning gone. Every night since for the last 3-4 days, he polishes off his milk,grain and Hay and is really putting on the weight and is running around bucking and calling to me just awesome. Whole nother baby! Its wonderful!


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## HombresArablegacy (Oct 12, 2013)

FoxRidgeRanch said:


> So I tried the milk bucket, the first night nothing but the 2nd night it was lower and the next morning gone. Every night since for the last 3-4 days, he polishes off his milk,grain and Hay and is really putting on the weight and is running around bucking and calling to me just awesome. Whole nother baby! Its wonderful!


That's great news!! Sounds like things are looking up! Keep up the good work.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

FoxRidgeRanch said:


> So I tried the milk bucket, the first night nothing but the 2nd night it was lower and the next morning gone. Every night since for the last 3-4 days, he polishes off his milk,grain and Hay and is really putting on the weight and is running around bucking and calling to me just awesome. Whole nother baby! Its wonderful!


Great. I'm glad the bucket worked.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## FoxRidgeRanch (May 20, 2008)

I'm going to start putting more milk out at night when i get home from work so he can have some throughout the night too.


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## FoxRidgeRanch (May 20, 2008)

UPDATE! So not two days after my last post on this thread I slipped on my deck and broke my ankle bringing Red (the colt) his milk. So I havent been out doing a ton of stuff with him. mom and my boyfriend took over chores for me until a month ago. He is doing awesome! he has been switched to milk pellets with his omolene 300 and his morning and night hay. He's also become very very affectionate and follows me everywhere. Here are some pictures from today....


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

Neat color. He is too cute!!

Is he in with the other horses?


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

He's so fuzzy and cute! Glad he's doing well!


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## FoxRidgeRanch (May 20, 2008)

He is not in with theother horses yet. nI was going to put in one of the older horses then two then scoot him over in a few months cause he doesnt have mom to protect and I dont have any other youngsters right now to keep him company. He was in with the rams and goats but is now big enough that he chases them off the food and has become quite dominant with th


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

He just sounds like he's getting too big for his britches and I know how cute it must be when he follows you around but I don't need to tell you not to overhandle him and it sounds like he is starting to be, intentionally or no.

That cute little face sure does look like trouble LOL!


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