Oh Baby! It's a Bottle Colt!

by Kate of Callison Ranch Beef:

TC is the newest baby on the ranch! She was given a second chance at life after a traumatic first day in the world. Here is her story.

Sometime in the night on March 27th, shortly after she was born this little girl was forced through the barbed wire fence by another Mare. This particular mare tends to lose colts pretty often. We aren’t sure why this happens. After loosing a baby of her own she ran off the mother of this little filly, causing the filly to go through the fence in the process. It’s very sad to see a mother who wants a baby of her own so badly. So, Sunday is when we found her outside the front pasture of our house, my husband went to put her back in with the others. She was weak and wobbly. Probably only getting to nurse once, thankfully getting enough colostrum milk to keep her alive. Her tongue had swelled and was hanging from her mouth (this happens when the colt isn’t able to nurse). She had a small cut on her chest where the barbed wire wasn’t so forgiving. We gently picked her up and put her back over the fence, guiding her by hand up the hill toward the herd of mares. We don’t want to intervene the natural life process unless we absolutely have to. In hopes that her mother would come back to her with no rejection, we let her spend the day in the pasture. By evening we noticed she was standing by the fence under the trees all alone. Something needed to be done as quickly as possible or she would die. So, we loaded her up in the trailer, still weak and frightened, she was brought into the barn. We didn’t have a colt bottle on hand, since it isn’t often you have to hand raise a young horse. We fed her with a syringe trying our best to keep her alive. The following day at 3 days old we put her in a pen with her mother, wanting nature to take it’s coarse. Unfortunately the mare kicked at her and she was shunned. This happens sometimes, especially when it’s a young mother who has yet to raise babies before this one.

All hands on deck! My little sidekicks Lexi and Krease have been the best help. Other than the goal of keeping this colt alive, we also wanted her to get use to being around people. Generally they are very leery and jumpy. Not really handling them up close and personal until about the age of a 2 year old when it’s time to start breaking them. In this case, the baby was still so young and small we were easily able to make friends. Plus, she thinks we are Mama now! If you would like to keep up with her story as she grows checkout @the_unbridled_arterberrys on Instagram.

Being apart of agriculture and living on a ranch we think it’s very important to let our kids be hands on and involved in any learning opportunities. Teaching them now will ensure that they will be able to care for their own livestock and continue to pass on what they have learned for generations to come. When I took this picture I thought this is what “Pure Bliss” looks. All giggles and big grins as the little filly swishes her tail and plays with them as colts would normally play with other colts. When I’m in the peaceful barn with my own babies I always think of the song “Humble and Kind” by Tim McGraw.

Don’t you wish everyone greeted you with this much excitement?! I love walking into the barn to feed the filly. She will put a smile on your face really quick! For those who aren’t familiar with the term “filly” it is the name of a girl baby horse. A little boy is often called a “horse colt”. But it’s just fine to call them colts. This gal still doesn’t have a name from us yet! Any ideas? We love original and unique.. let us know what you think!

Time to eat! Here’s how it goes. We feed her every 2 to 3 hours for now, the bigger she gets the less often we will feed. It’s a lot like bottle feeding a calf with the exception of a few things. We picked up a bucket of milk supplement from Stillwater Milling Company and a bottle designed for foals. Unlike a calf bottle that has a large firm nipple. The foal bottle is smaller in size and the nipple is slender and flexible. Her tummy is still small, she’s taking almost a full bottle with one scoop of the supplement powder at a time. The kids and I will take turns feeding her, which doesn’t take long at all. That’s if you don’t stay and give her lots of attention. The products we use look similar to the ones listed below.