Donkey Foal Not Thriving

[yinzer81]

I have a two week old little jack. He is the mothers first, and a surprise to us. We got her about 11 months ago and I had no idea she was pregnant. I thought she had a huge grass belly, and wormed her 2x. Duh.
Anyway, she did well, and he seemed okay, until about 10 days, when he got scours. I read this is typical, so just kept an eye on him. Yesterday, at day 13 he seemed very lethargic and had very watery yellow bm's. although he was still nursing. I gave him about 1 1/2 oz of kaopectate, and 2 oz of Pro-Lyte Plus Nutritional/Enery Supplement. He seemed much better by evening and was back to following his mother and other 2 donks around. His bm's even looked like they might be getting thicker and darker. This morning he still seemed better, so I didn't give him anything. I saw him nurse and follow the others around, he even seemed to have a bit more bounce in his step. I just came back in now, this afternoon and see watery yellow bm's again, but he doesn't seem as lethargic as yesterday. Should I give more kaopectate and Pro-Lyte? I am so confused as to whether this little guy needs to see the vet or not. We had the vet out the day after he was born to check him and the mother out. He did a "foal protocol", so he has been checked out and got vaccinated. We really can't afford to keep having the vet here, and I have another Jenny due within a few days, so he'll have to be out again then.
Any suggestions or comments will be appreciated. I keep being told by my husband, and my dad ( he lives next door) that I'm a like a momma hen, and need to stop worrying and let his mother, and nature, take it's course. I don't know if that's possible...I'm a worrier when it comes to these fagile little babes. He also seems thin, I can feel his ribs. I wish I knew what was "normal"! Help!

Thanks

 

[goodhors]

Can you call the Vet and ask for advice? With the runs, he is probably dehydrating fast in these temps. Vet would be better able to advise on the stuff you are using with him, or give you something else that would be better.

I am going to say his scours are from the mother being in foal-heat, he is at the right age, so his system is reacting to her system with her hormone changes. The lethargic part bothers me more. Foals can dehydrate pretty fast when it is hot outside. Can you do turnout early in the cooler part of day, barn them in the heat, let them out again in cooler evening? We do that with our mare and foals, when the temps get up and real hot. Flies are miserable then as well, so mother and foal are always moving anyway. That can be hard on them, since foals like to nap a lot. Being leg weary is hard on them.

I would consider changes in poop texture and color are not uncommon at his age of 10 days, mother in foal-heat. Are you keeping the wet poops cleaned off his rump and legs? You can get a foal scalded with stuck-on poop, so hair falls off, they get raw sores if they don't get the poops washed off daily. You might want to Vasaline his back end, hocks, places that poop is sticking to. The slippery hair gives poop less places to stick, easier to clean him off then. I use Dollar Store cheap Vasaline because you can go thru quite a bit. Foal-heat lasts about 5 days.

Lastly, I would not worry about his being ribby. At 10 days, he is still unfolding a bit from being in his mother. Kind of like butterflies out of a cocoon, they are all folded amazingly to fit inside, have to unfold the right parts in the right order. Foals are slower unfolding than butterflies, but they do expand quite a bit in the first couple weeks. You DO NOT want a fat foal, very hard on those young leg bones. Ribby is actually good, you are raising an athlete, not a meat animal. Young animals SHOULD be a bit ribby for the first couple years, until their legs are stronger to carry more mature weights. Ribby is NOT EQUAL to thin or undernourished. Lighter weight allows younger animals to race and play, without straining body parts to move a fat body. Fat animals play less, may hurt themselves easier trying to play hard with big body load.

Donkeys' gain weight easily, on almost nothing. They are designed to be able to eat rough foods that look inedible, still stay able to work hard. Few pet donkeys are short on calories in the USA! Most are on severe diets to prevent founder, Insulin Resistance, because they get obese so fast on our good foods. I find looking at a donkey neck is a better indicator of him being fat or skinny, than looking at the ribs or back/spine areas. Fat crest under the mane is a sign of excess food, storing fat there, so animal needs to get back on a diet of limited calories.

 

[yinzer81]

Thank you so much for answering. I have called the vet and they say they have to see him to be able to tell me what he needs, no help there. Like I said, we just had him out when the foal was born and have another one due any day, I can't afford too many vet visits. I gave him 2 more oz. of the pro-lyte. He seems okay. I thought he might be hot too, but they have plenty of shade and it's actually much hotter in the barn than out in the shade. I'm glad to hear that ribby is good, and I have been washing him off, and did put vasoline on him yesterday. I'll put more on again tomorrow. He's also been nibbling at grass, hay and drinking water, so I'm hoping those are all good signs. He is 14 days old, I must not have been clear, is that still normal for scours?
I'm just hoping my other jenny has her's soon, she looks like her legs are going to collapse from the weight! She's bagged up and looks ready to go, but I didn't see any waxing today, still I'm hoping within the next 48 hours.
Thanks again!

 

[rodeogal]

everything you said is a HUGE WARNING SIGN. even though he is nursing, the runny BM are a RED FLAG. he needs to see a vet like 2 days ago. please get him to a vet