The Horse

MAR 2018

The Horse:Your Guide To Equine Health Care provides monthly equine health care information to horse owners, breeders, veterinarians, barn/farm managers, trainer/riding instructors, and others involved in the hands-on care of the horse.

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36 TheHorse.com THE HORSE March 2018 brands together, and the filly thrived. If you do switch between milk replacer brands, however, do so gradually to pre- vent gastrointestinal upset. Lastly, Walden stresses the importance of keeping flies out of the mixed milk replacer when leaving it out. "I kept live- stock fans on a timer, to go off at midnight and on again at 6 a.m.," she says. Creep Feeding & Weaning Walden says when her filly began eating the companion mare's food, she started her on a free-choice milk-based creep pellet in addition to the milk re- placer. Then it was a natural step for the filly to switch to regular feed. Foals' gastrointestinal tracts aren't prepared to transition to solid food until they're at least a couple of months old, says Buechner-Maxwell, and even then they're going to struggle because they depend on a microbial population to help them digest material such as hay. "Their colon doesn't develop that capacity fully until they're 6 to 10 months old," she added, "and in the wild that works be- cause they're usually not weaned until the next foal comes along. But we wean them earlier, so I recommend starting with a creep-fed complete, pelleted junior feed that's easily chewed and digested." At weaning Walden put her filly with six weanlings, adjacent to her companion mare. "They can touch noses, and the filly still hangs out with the mare," she says. Behavior Issues Attachment to humans presents the biggest behavior issue with orphans: their tendency to lack normal human-horse boundaries. "They become too bonded to a human," Buechner-Maxwell says. "I know of at least two orphans that have had to be put down because their behav- ior was just so (dangerously) abnormal. "Even the (now 11-year-old) orphan foal we have is far too aggressive—not in a mean way, but just wanting to be play- ful and near us," she adds. "I'm always on guard with him. The key is to minimize human interaction with the foal until it's bonded appropriately to an adult horse." For these reasons Walden says she tried to have as little contact with the filly as possible. "I'd scratch her a bit, but only as much as I would the other foals," she says. "I get them people-friendly, but I don't halter-break them until I wean them. "The only difference I see in her is not even a negative," Walden adds. "Like any mare and foal that have been kept sepa- rate from others, she doesn't interact and play as much as the other youngsters do. And even though the mare did her part to correct her when she needed it, she just doesn't seem to get that whole social status thing with other youngsters." Mares serve as ideal companions be- cause they'll typically provide the bonding and socialization that occurs between dams and foals, but geldings can typically do the job, too, Buechner-Maxwell says. Take-Away Message Walden admits that overall, her experi- ence might have been easier than most because her farm is her business, so she or her staff are present 24/7. But by consulting experienced owners, your vet, and/or a specialist, you can formulate a plan that will fit your particular needs and head off many orphan foal issues. h Caring for ORPHAN Foals

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