Any ideas on getting a pony foal to suckle from its dam?

Question

The mother is very good but this foal just is just not sucking. Has been tube fed colostrum and the vet is coming out again to try to get the baby to suckle. It will put its head down near the udder and if the mare tried to present her udder any harder she would be on her back like a dog, but the little thing won't even attemp to attach. Any ideas are very welcome...

Answer 1

I know that the foals are very tiny, fragile and need their feeding, but maybe if you let her get kind of hungry. Say instead of feeding her at 6 a.m. make it 11 a.m. By that time, the foal should be hungry enough to give it a try if you squeeze out a little milk in her mouth. I would make sure the mare's teet had some milk on the tip too. We have had calves that wouldn't try to nurse and when they got hungry, they decided to nurse. I hope this helped. Good luck with your new baby!