# Very underweight foal (Pics)



## 6e (Sep 10, 2005)

We picked up this foal from a lady who had been keeping him in a dog run. He couldn't run or anything. Turn around and walk from one end to the other. That's about it. She said that she'd been trying to get weight on him but couldn't. She said he'd been wormed a couple of weeks ago. I'm going to take a sample to the vet anyway. But at any rate, you can see he's sitting a tad low in the hocks. She said he's about 4 or 5 months old. He's very wobbly in the back end and actually stands with his hocks crossed. 
What I have on hand to feed is shredded beet pulp, 12% sweet feed, mare and foal feed, alfalfa pellets and weight builder supplement for a mare we also picked up from here that is under weight and they are also on green pasture with all the grass that they could possibly eat.
My question is, how much to feed him to start and where I should end up evenutally on how much feed? I'm figuring he's maybe 200 pounds? From what I've read on the foal bag, he "should be" eating around 2 pounds of that feed a day. I figured start out with 1/2 a pound and work up. Input from those that do rescue?
Here's a pic of him and the mare and her foal.


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## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

slow and easy, its better for him to be thin than to colic. I wouldnt offer him any sweet grain right at the moment let him get used to the grass, if you have good grass a baby will pick up quickly on that alone. I would give him some b12 and start with forage like timothy at the richest, beet pulp and maybe a bit of the weight gainer. Probotics will greatly help.
Unlike a older horse that has had grain and has some of the enzymes stored to digest it this little guy probably doesnt and is stressed enough.
One thing in his favor is he is young and they pull out of it amazingly well and fairly quickly. I wouldnt worry about his legs just yet outside of maybe having a good farrier do a proper trim on them to get things going the way they should.


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## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

oh, and minerals, not a salt block but good minerals loose preferably and yes I would deworm him every three days for the next 9 even with a sample as they are not always accurate especially in starvation cases.


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## 6e (Sep 10, 2005)

So, deworm every 3 days for 9 days? 

What about the mare and foal feed? Can he handle that? It's not a sweet feed, it's a pelleted feed. Could he handle that mixed in with the beet pulp?


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## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

Why oh why are they breeding that mare?

Bless your heart for taking the little colt. It's doubtful he's had grain before based on what he looks like, but go really slow and work up, like you are going to do. Beet pulp is good for putting on weight, but I don't know how well it works for foals, only horses. When you take the fecal sample to your vet, can you show him a picture and ask his advice? I would trust my vets advice first and go from there.


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## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

the every three days for 9 days works well because of the new hatch out every 3 days of most worms typically I will do a soft wormer like safeguard (panacur is the same exact thing) OR strongin and then do ivomectrin the rest on a foal quest the third for a horse, then start a normal worming pattern if thats what you want to do.
I wouldnt give him anything but the good grass or a good hay (no alfalfa too rich and hard on the kidneys) until you get the worming thing over with. When you start grain no more than a handful at a time.
I know its hard not to go out there and not do an all you can eat, and you can just make it low grade hay or grass no grain. Grain is not a natural part of a horses diet. Most mare and foal feeds are very high in protein and that as mentioned above is very hard on the kidneys and hes going to be flushing out enough toxins with the wormers and general yuck, he doesnt need any more stress. In a month you wont be able to tell this guy was ever starved.


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## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

ps, the grass will also make him move getting more butt muscle built up. Make sure to ease him into the grass and mediocre hay being the main source of his diet the next few days. I personally wouldnt use a burmuda until his drinking habbits are known, rye or timothy would be better, orchard grass is perfect due to it being very thick.


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

I would not worm until you get the fecal results back from the vet and then I would follow his recommendations. Do NOT worm with one of the newer wormers like Quest, as they can be dangerous with thin horses and young horses.

Later on, (couple of months from now) I would do a "pro-pack" worming. Use one of the fenbendazoles (Safeguard is the one I use) and you worm with twice the amount every day for 5 days. This is the only thing that will get some of the worm infestations, like encysted small strongyles.

As everyone has said, start slow with a weanling that is this thin/debilitated. I would start with good grass hay free choice, then maybe alfalfa or alfalfa pellets and possibly a senior feed which is designed to be easy to eat/ easy to digest ... but only a handful of each 2 or 3 times a day.


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## 6e (Sep 10, 2005)

BlackWillowFarm said:


> Why oh why are they breeding that mare?
> 
> Bless your heart for taking the little colt. It's doubtful he's had grain before based on what he looks like, but go really slow and work up, like you are going to do. Beet pulp is good for putting on weight, but I don't know how well it works for foals, only horses. When you take the fecal sample to your vet, can you show him a picture and ask his advice? I would trust my vets advice first and go from there.


That mare is actually one that I owned 3 years ago. My husband and a friend had gone together and bought her for me as a present, but a year after I had her I got pregnant and got really sick in the pregnancy and was bedridden off and on through it and just couldn't keep up with the horses, so I sold her, but always regretted selling her. Then I found her for sale and bought her back for WAY more than I sold her for, but it was worth it to me to get her back. She isn't hardly a shadow of the horse I sold. This is her when I sold her in 2008. She was a beautiful horse.


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## 6e (Sep 10, 2005)

BlackWillowFarm said:


> Why oh why are they breeding that mare?
> 
> Bless your heart for taking the little colt. It's doubtful he's had grain before based on what he looks like, but go really slow and work up, like you are going to do. Beet pulp is good for putting on weight, but I don't know how well it works for foals, only horses. When you take the fecal sample to your vet, can you show him a picture and ask his advice? I would trust my vets advice first and go from there.





SFM in KY said:


> I would not worm until you get the fecal results back from the vet and then I would follow his recommendations. Do NOT worm with one of the newer wormers like Quest, as they can be dangerous with thin horses and young horses.
> 
> Later on, (couple of months from now) I would do a "pro-pack" worming. Use one of the fenbendazoles (Safeguard is the one I use) and you worm with twice the amount every day for 5 days. This is the only thing that will get some of the worm infestations, like encysted small strongyles.
> 
> As everyone has said, start slow with a weanling that is this thin/debilitated. I would start with good grass hay free choice, then maybe alfalfa or alfalfa pellets and possibly a senior feed which is designed to be easy to eat/ easy to digest ... but only a handful of each 2 or 3 times a day.


OK. The lady said she had been feeding free choice Brome hay and had started grain the day before and fed alfalfa by vet's instructions, but that he wasn't gaining weight. I'm no expert on why he wouldn't gain weight. We were thinking of calling our vet out and getting a full examination of him and make sure there's nothing going on. His back end has strengthened a little in just the few days he's been here, but still very wobbly for a 5 month old foal. He was weaned, I'm guessing from what she said, when we was around 3 months old, but he looks and acts a lot younger than what he is. Maybe it's just been a too long since I was around the babies.


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## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

6e said:


> That mare is actually one that I owned 3 years ago. This is her when I sold her in 2008. She was a beautiful horse.


What a huge difference! Good thing you have her back! She/they need you.


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## chris30523 (Jun 11, 2005)

If it were me I would get a vet check on all of them. I also wouldn't believe that someone wormed them if they let them get in this condition. I think when they fill out that they will all be nice looking horses and very appreciative for what you have done for them. I also am suspicious of the colts weaning age ..Good luck


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## ShyAnne (Jun 18, 2008)

I agree with what everyone said, also I would add talking to your vet about a ulcer guard.
If you have contact with a doe goat, the goats milk would also be good for him. Its very easy to digest, full of goodies. Also start slow with milk.


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

Makes me want to throttle the people that did this to them.

Is very good of you to take the colt on. It will take awhile to get him healthy again but it will happen! VBG


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## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

You didn't go to free choice grass right away, did you?


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## 6e (Sep 10, 2005)

Yeah we did.  That's all we have available, although I wouldn't call it a "rich" pasture. Just prairie grass basically and they're in a smaller area at the moment. He really doesn't seem to be grazing a whole lot. He grazes and then he lays in the sun and sleeps and then grazes some more. He's been out there going on 3 days now, so I guess this late in the game if it was going to make him sick it would have. I don't have just a dirt area to pen him up on.


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

Offer him good local grass hay, will help if he can get some of that in him.


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## myheaven (Apr 14, 2006)

I would not trust a single word that woman told you. I think she lieing threw her teeth.


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

bergere said:


> Makes me want to throttle the people that did this to them.
> 
> Is very good of you to take the colt on. It will take awhile to get him healthy again but it will happen! VBG


You beat me to it! I am so glad those horses have been rescued. Thank you so much!


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## beccachow (Nov 8, 2008)

Man, I cannot imagine seeing a horse I loved turn out that way. I feel sick for them, and for you . BUT!!! SO glad you got them back, please keep a picture diary of the progress for us!


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

Be careful with the worming. Years and years ago, I got a yearling colt from a breeder friend... his vet had messed up the worming doses for his babies and under dosed them. This baby was small and thin. I was pretty ignorant and went right out and wormed him full on. He coliced and I lost him. Now I'd do some careful research into the best products and dosages for that situation, I think we have a lot more choices now. I don't remember what I used, but it was explained to me that killing off the whole worm load at once can cause colic. 

Poor babies, I hope they turn out well for you.


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## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

Granny Carol, that is why we typically say use a soft wormer like safeguard first, ivomectrin can be pretty harsh but not as bad as some, you should never use quest on a foal or sick horse but its great when they are back on there feet.
The old way was to worm a horse for several days in a row, new research coming out of uga is saying to worm every three days to allow healing and new eggs to finish hatching.
Doing a hard kill on worms often causes more harm than good, if it dosent colic them then to toxins from the worms can take up to two weeks to show up and most dont put the two together and are still left wondering why the horse died.


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## DaniR1968 (May 24, 2008)

He LOOKS wormy. Safeguard is safe. I like the idea of worming with that every few days. Horses don't need grain. He will put on weight just with good grass and free choice hay once the worms are under control. 

If the woman only started feeding him grain and alfalfa the day before, he is not going to put on weight that fast. She probably lied about how much she was feeding him and about worming him. 

Good luck with all of them and bless you for getting them into a better situation.


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

6e said:


> OK. The lady said she had been feeding free choice Brome hay and had started grain the day before and fed alfalfa by vet's instructions, but that he wasn't gaining weight. I'm no expert on why he wouldn't gain weight. We were thinking of calling our vet out and getting a full examination of him and make sure there's nothing going on. His back end has strengthened a little in just the few days he's been here, but still very wobbly for a 5 month old foal. He was weaned, I'm guessing from what she said, when we was around 3 months old, but he looks and acts a lot younger than what he is. Maybe it's just been a too long since I was around the babies.


Not only may she be lying, but even if not, some people cannot tell good hay from moldy junk they won't even eat.


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

To add to southerngurl's statement, bad hay doesn't have to be moldy, it can look fine but actually have little nutritional value and if they feed vs free choice, all flakes are not created equal just like all scoops are not created equal. 

With good feed, clean water and a bit of space to develop some muscle, I expect him to thrive. I'd love to see pictures of this guy in a month and again in 6 months because I do feel that the change will be profound.


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