Hand Raising a Newborn Donkey Foal

I’m writing this for all donkey owners faced with hand raising a newborn foal.

I was a first time donkey owner, a one person operation and over sixty years old when I purchased a pregnant jennet and two other maiden donkeys. Less than a year later, I ended up raising the mare’s five day old foal.  I’ve never had anything make me feel so helpless and inexperienced as having a five day old donkey foal screaming and yelping for a mother who had clearly abandoned her.  I hope this information will help anyone in the same situation who may need advice.  The key is to trust yourself and use your best judgment.  Not everything you read applies to every situation or every foal. 

For starters, make sure you have a package of milk replacer and a baby bottle on hand in your foaling kit, in case of the unthinkable.  Even though you may wish it won’t happen, it might. Also, once the baby is born, make sure you have the vet come within the first twelve hours to ensure it received Colostrum from the mother’s milk.   I unknowingly waited five days and luckily the foal was o.k.

Once the foal was born, I started watching the mare and her foal and of course never having been through the experience before, I didn’t trust my judgment in recognizing possible signs of trouble. In hindsight, I questioned whether the mother was bonding with her baby because by the second day she would let me walk in the paddock and be alone with the baby while she stood twenty feet away. Once, I also observed her attempt a kick to push the little one away. I kept thinking “if I didn’t know better I’d say she wanted me to have the baby”.   Well guess what, she did.  So my advice is to trust yourself, if it doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.

I also observed that the baby was very rough when nursing, snatching and yanking the teat. In hindsight, I think the foal was not receiving enough milk.  I kept monitoring the mare and it seemed to me that she never bagged up enough to support a young foal. But since I didn’t know what a full jennet bag looked like, I just assumed everything was alright.  So I recommend you have the vet check this when he makes his initial visit to check the foal.

On the foal’s fifth day, I finally called the vet to come make a routine check, that’s when all hell broke loose. Once the vet drew blood from the foal and we placed the foal back in the paddock, the mother not only rejected her, she tried to kill the foal by kicking it.  The vet suspected that drawing the blood changed her smell, but it’s my belief that the vet was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back.  When the opportunity presented itself for the mother to get rid of the foal, she did so.   We tried for an hour to reintroduce them after which time the vet instructed me to hand raise the foal because it would be too dangerous to experiment further and from his perspective the mother could never be trusted with the foal.

At this point the true horror of the situation set in for me.  Frankly, the vet left me uncertain as to whether I was capable and up to the task of raising the foal. He’s an old time vet and I think he thought I didn’t have it in me.  From my perspective I didn’t know if I did or not, but I could not let her die without making every effort.  He told me I had about twenty four hours to get the baby to drink milk or it would be a major crisis and if she did not drink by morning to contact him immediately.  He instructed me to purchase a powdered milk replacer especially developed for horses from a Farm and Feed store and to try to bottle feed her (no more than 4 ounces initially). I've read you can also use goats milk. He then instructed me to take her first thing in the morning to a local horse farmer and ask him teach her to “bucket feed.”  The vet stated that foals can aspirate the contents of the bottle and drown or get pneumonia when bottle fed. Therefore he advised me to get her on the bucket as soon as possible.  This proved to be the best advice he gave me, because bucket feeding is so much easier.  It was already 4 p.m. and I live 45 minutes from any type of feed store but I sent someone to quickly purchase a regular baby bottle and powdered milk replacer (Foal Lac).  I spent that night in the barn on the floor with the distressed foal trying to get her to take the bottle. She screamed and howled all night.  It took from 6 p.m. until 1 a.m. to get her to drink the bottle of warmed milk replacer. Finally, I was able to coax her by sitting on a hay bale and placing the bottle horizontally behind my knee so that only the nipple showed. She licked the nipple and drank her first four ounces as she buried her head in the side of my knee.  I’ve never been so relieved.  We made it through the first night and ultimately she took another two ounces later that night.

At 8 a.m., I loaded the baby foal into the back seat of the car and took her to a local horseman who agreed to teach her to drink.  Amazingly, he taught her to drink from a bucket in 20 minutes.  He held her firmly but gently and repeatedly saturated her nose with milk until she learned to sip.  I remember thinking that I would have been too gentle and hesitant to properly teach her.  I vowed not to treat this donkey as I have my dogs, that is like they are humans. I knew I could not have a donkey with separation anxiety, braying, howling, wetting or chewing every time I departed. Therefore, I knew I would have to be emotionally strong and not overreact to the little foal.  Despite her numerous attempts she definitely was not allowed in my lap.  I remained true to my word.  She brayed and howled when I left her in the evening and in spite of myself I continued to the house. She tried to climb in my lap and I resisted, gently placing her back on the ground. From day one I provided her with gentle corrections when she tried to jump on me.  I did allow her to bury her head and otherwise snuggle, who could resist.

My next hurdle was determining how much to feed her.  I constantly checked the internet for advice, but generally there were no specifics on exactly how much to feed. I didn’t have an effective way to obtain a birth weight on her.  Most information stated that mini foals are born weighing between 20 and 30 pounds, so I assumed that my foal was average which would put her at 25 pounds. In hindsight, I think she was smaller.

 Additionally, everything I read stated that the first month was the most critical period for a foal, so I dedicated all my effort to attaining the first month. Each month attained became a milestone.  All sites stated she should be fed six to eight times a day.  I quickly concluded I simply couldn’t keep that schedule and I certainly could not sleep in the barn with her every night.  At this point, I had to use my best judgment.  I continually implored her to hang in there with me as we learned together. Initially for the first couple of days, I did feed her eight times a day, arising at3 a.m.  Ultimately, I decided her last feeding of the day would be at 11 p.m. and then I would feed her again at 6 a.m.  I reasoned that as long as she was drinking well during the day she should be able to make it seven hours overnight.  For the next three days, I fed her the bottle five/six time a day.  I fed her at 6 a.m; 11 a.m.; 3p.m. 7p.m; and 11 p.m and if she appeared to be hungry I would offer her an extra helping in between. 

When she was eight days old, I shifted her over to the “bucket” system by using a small plastic Tupperware container. She sipped the contents from the container as I held it.  At this point I also let her determine how much she should drink.  I think within a couple of weeks she was up to 6 ounces at each feeding.  As she started to grow, I increased the amount she drank by how much she tolerated.  She never “over drank,” if she felt full she stopped drinking.  Also, by this time I offered her water with each feeding. This schedule continued until she was almost a month old.

It was during this period that I also learned of another system that I could have used which entails converting a medium size IGLOO cooler/thermos into a substitute milker.  Some folks drill out the cooler where the faucet is and replace the faucet with a rubber lamb size nipple. I think you can even purchase a pre-made device on the internet.  At any rate, they hang the thermos on the fence post and the foal can drink whenever they want.  The benefit of this system is that you don’t have to be physically present when the foal drinks. The downfall is that the foal could aspirate the contents. This system will work if you have a maiden donkey you can place with your foal.  Of course the thermos as with any system must be routinely cleaned .

In terms of housing, I had no choice but to put the foal in the stall alone, however, I separated the stall from the other donkeys, with a wire gate, which allowed the other donkeys to have  nose contact with her.  I also installed an inexpensive baby monitor so that I could hear everything from my house. I lined the stall with straw and hay since I read that they can also aspirate sawdust shavings.

During the day I would let her out to play alone for an hour or so at a time in the wire fence paddock.  Once again, the three donkeys (including her mother) could go nose to nose with her through the fence.  Her mother could have cared less.  I quickly realized that for the foal’s sake this situation could not go on for long.  I had read many internet stories about hand raising horses and if they do not receive proper mentorship from another horse, they grow up unmanageable and untrainable.  I was determined not to have this happen to the foal.  I wanted a healthy, normal, happy donkey. I briefly thought about having one of my maiden donkeys raise the foal, but when I put each of them in with the foal, neither maiden showed much interest. Once again, my better judgment told me no. My concern was that the foal’s mother was also the herd leader to the other jennets.

My little foal was now two weeks old and growing up strong, but lonely and isolated. Finally, in desperation, I reasoned that perhaps a weanling or yearling donkey could help the foal adjust and would be young enough for both of them to bond. I searched the internet, until I finally found a lovely 10 month old weanling named “Shawna” that had been placed up for sale by Shorecrest Farms in Pennsylvania.  Fortunately, Shawna’s owners were in agreement that the plan might work and they were willing to transport the weanling to me.     

I started the introduction process of all donkeys by putting my three big donkeys out to pasture for a few days.  I placed Shawna in the front paddock which allowed her to go nose to nose with the big donkeys and if she came close to the stall she could go nose to nose with the foal.  Shawna spent the first couple of nights howling, she too was missing her family.  On the third day I divided the foal’s stall in half with another gate and I moved Shawna into one half.  I brought the bigger donkeys back in the paddock.  The two little donkeys quickly bonded and within two days they were both sharing a stall together and both could go nose to nose with the bigger donkeys.

My foal was just over three weeks old and presumably a happy donkey. She bonded with the weanling quickly.  Fortunately for me Shawna is a “sweet” little donkey with a gentle unassuming temperament. Shawna was old enough to eat hay and grain and the foal studied everything she did. Of course, it only follows that within a couple of days the foal decided she would not drink her milk anymore. She only wanted to eat grain and hay like the bigger donkey, even though she was not capable.  By this time, she was a little less than a month old, so I knew she still needed her milk.  I placed a call to the vet and was instructed to try her on “Foal-Lac pellets” which is pelletized milk replacer.  It worked, the foal continued to eat her Foal-Lac five times a day until she was about six weeks old, at which point she started trying to eat grain and stopped eating the pellets.  In responding to her needs, I started feeding her four times a day and mixing the Foal-Lac with Mare & Foal feed, the same grain Shawna was eating. 

Once she was four months old I cut her feedings down to three times a day and I continued increasing the mix of Foal-Lac and Mare & Foal grain until she was six months old. Admittedly I kept her on the milk pellets longer than most advise but I wanted her to have the best start possible. I also used these feeding times to bond with both donkeys by grooming them and gradually getting them accustomed to halters, leg lifting etc.

Aside from the customary vaccinations the only other important issue I encountered was that I dewormed the foal when she was four months old, using an equine version of Ivermectin.    The day after deworming the foal went off her feed for the evening meal and appeared sick and lethargic, so I quickly called the vet for an emergency visit.  Her vitals were fine.  The vet indicated that perhaps passing the worms had given her an upset stomach. Within several hours, the foal was herself again.  I was instructed the next time I dewormed her to use a Strogycide which I did and all was fine. I think if I could do it over again, I would not have used the Equine Ivermectin on her and started her out with another type of dewormer.  I have continued to use the Equine Ivermectin on my other Jennets with no problems.

Today, my foal has grown ino a beautiful young donkey. She’s smart, well mannered, has an excellent temperament and is an otherwise normal mini donkey.  When I enter the paddock she stays at my side until I leave and frequently she gives me donkey hugs by circling around my legs.  The one thing I have noticed, that I cannot change is that she does not appear to have the same "fear" response of the unknown as the other donkeys. I don't think this is a good thing,  but she is relatively safe where she is and I will count on the other donkeys to help teach her in this.
I fully integrated her into the herd at six months of age by introducing her to one donkey at a time over the course of two weeks.

My foal is now approaching two years old and presumably a happy donkey. The experience has bonded both of us for life.  It has also brought me closer to the other jennets I own.  Donkeys are so smart and they watch everything. They watched me raise this foal and it increased their trust level with me.  They know I will go to the end of the earth for them.

I hope this information is helpful for anyone raising a donkey foal and if you find yourself in this unfortunate situation, trust yourself and good luck.

                                                Two Hours Old

                                                  One Day Old

Three Days Old

                                     
                                                     Abandoned

                                        Life's a Kick With or Without Momma

                                          Three Weeks Old Meeting "Shawna"

                                            Three Months Old

                                            Her Best Buddy "Shawna"

My Beautiful Nineteen Month Old Donkey