"Orphan Andy"

Born 5/17/2008

"Orphan Andy" was born unexpectedly and early in the pasture, and his dam rejected him. We luckily had 3 foals born in about 24 hours, so were able to milk some colostrum and give him.  Prayers for Andy are appreciated!

We will be offering Andy for sale, but we do not want to commit to selling him until we know that he is healthy. This might be near weaning time, as we don't want to prematurely assume that he is fine.  If you're seriously interested in Andy, contact us. At this point (late May), we don't want to have someone get their hopes up that they will be getting him, and then be hurt if Andy doesn't make it.

5/20 Andy got his stomach tube out, and still wouldn't accept milk replacer (even spitting out what we tried to force feed him). Thankfully, in the evening another mare (Cody) let Andy nurse.  Addition to the day's events: Around noon, my mother-in-law ran to the house to tell me "Andy's in the round pen with a stallion, and I think he's dead!" I rushed to the barn, and "G" immediately ran to Andy and was mothering (or fathering) over his baby. Andy was on his side, with tremoring muscles in his hips. I moved his legs into position to drag him from the pen, and he woke up from his nap! What a relief!

5/22 It is amazing how much stronger Andy is. He sprints, bucks, and kicks in the barn. His legs are straightening up also. Now, if he'll just fill out and gain some more muscle/fat!

5/24  We're still trying to get Andy to take foal milk replacer from either a bottle or a bucket, but no luck. Right now, he's not getting enough milk from Cody to be looking like he's blooming, as Monty is dominant and keeps Andy from nursing as long as he wants. I don't want to take Monty from his dam, so am offering milk replacer to both he and Andy. Cody now is bonding with Andy, and gets nervous when he is not in her same pen/stall. :-)

5/27 Andy is still with us, and might be a "little" bit more filled out today. He seems to be winning the battle of getting Monty to share the milk factory, and I've even seen them nursing at the same time. I'm giving him probiotics, and so far he has not scoured. Cross your fingers that we avoid that! 

5/28 Gaining weight, I think! His stools are darker, too, though still soft. I'm going to try probiotics daily for 5 days upon vet recommendation. Every day, we love Andy more. I've heard from several people lately that raised orphan foals for months, only to lose them around 9 to 12 months of age. It will be devastating at this point. We're in love over our heads. But, we'll hope for the best.

5/29 I'm worried about Andy tonight, and gave him lots of extra hugs this evening. He is scouring despite the probiotics and so I gave him a double dose of Pepto. He seems tired and weaker. I know we're defying odds, and also trying to keep a foal alive that would have died in nature. But I'd SO like him to stay with us. :-(

5/30 Better this morning, thank goodness! I never thought I'd be GLAD to have a foal perform a "Fly By," but I was today. If you don't know what a fly by is, it's when a foal runs past you and kicks up his heels at you after he goes by. Normally, quite scary and a naughty behavior. But Andy was feeling good and zipped past me on his way from the stall to the little dry area I moved the family of three to (we had 2.25" of rain last night driven by winds, and 1/3rd of our barn is covered in inches of water). I didn't see him poop, but he has smears on his rear that look like his stools are more like pudding that pure liquid. More probiotics and Pepto today, and hopefully he'll feel better and begin to return to normal digestion.

6/4 Slowly gaining...I took a couple new pictures today, but am behind with work so will try to post them in the next couple days. Alaska foaled today, and her foal is bigger at birth than Andy is...and Andy is 2 1/2 weeks old. Andy must have just come before he was supposed to for some reason.

6/13 Concerned day...Andy seems to be more laid back than normal. We haven't seen him play, and he is resting more than he has recently. I've also noticed him snoring every time he sleeps, so wonder if he's getting weaker. No fever, though. We've had some really bad weather, and he may just be tuckered out.

6/20 Snoring is a thing of the past...he did that for about 3 days, and then quit. It didn't come from his lungs, and he didn't have a fever. He seems to be gaining some weight too, and is much thicker. Still not as bloomed as he should have been, but understandably so due to his rough start.

7/2 Nothing too new here, other than that Andy seems to be gaining a little weight and looks to be feeling better. I'm a bit worried about the upcoming heat of the summer, but hopefully nature will take its course and he'll take in salt and drink extra water. Monty has finally figured out the foal feeder, so hopefully will soon begin to eat some concentrates and alfalfa, and then maybe Andy will go in also. That will help them both considerably!

7/17 All is still going well! Andy feels at home in the dam-proof pen that I keep better hay and some foal starter in, so he's getting more calories now than ever. Although Cody has done a great job of milking for two and keeping her own weight, Andy and Monty have been lighter than our other foals. I can already see a difference after just a couple weeks.

8/3 Andy continues to grow, and is finally shedding off. His foal hair is very light, so he looks like a moth-eaten blanket! But he's going to be shiny and black soon enough. He runs, plays, sleeps, eats, and enjoys attention like any foal, but still is thinner than the other foals. Cody has done an excellent job of nursing two foals, and she has maintained her weight pretty well other than having a bit of a hay belly from all the hay she must eat. Monty (Cody's "real" foal) is shedding off fast, and will be almost totally black, with some brown on his head.