I would have never even thought about the prospect of milking a horse, let alone a miniature one with miniscule teats, but that just goes to prove that life is FULL of things that I've never even thought of! Our newest addition to the Funny Farm, a little colt out of our mini mare, Bows, had a traumatic first day... and so did the owners!
We were thrilled to find that our concerns about a possibly complicated delivery, with this first time mother, were unfounded. Bows delivered her foal with no assistance (we didn't know she was even doing it) and proved to be a natural little mother. Unfortunately, her teats are small and the baby couldn't wrap his little tongue around them. It wasn't until midday that we realized that he wasn't getting latched on and getting the colostrum he so desperately needs to ward off infection. Baby horses get no immunity from placental transfer; only through passive transfer through colostrum. A foal who receives no immunoglobulins antibodies has a 75% chance of falling ill; one who receives partial antibodies still suffers a 50% chance.
Realizing the importance of this colostrum, I worked out a way to extract it from Bows, a process that she was not particularly fond of. The foal suckled off a bottle for a time, and then we tried bucket feeding, which seemed like the best way to go... until we tried it the next time 'round. I started bottle feeding the baby at about 4:00 p.m. and continued on every 15 to 40 minutes until 5:00 a.m. this morning. We threw a couple of bean bags down on the floor of the horse shelter and I settled in for a night of milking, feeding and keeping warm baby. Marin stayed the night with me and was able to sleep... lucky girl! It was windy and chilly and a bit on the uncomfortable side, but what else could we do? My discomfort through the night was a whole lot less than the discomfort we would feel upon finding our darling colt dead in the morning. It was worth it.
The rest of the story is coming in the next post...
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