A Traumatic & Dramatic Entrance into the World

I awoke to a chorus of frantic brays at around 6 am on Monday, March 26th.  I was used to brays at feeding time, or what is supposed to be feeding time on the days I am sleeping in, but there was something odd enough about the brays that they woke me up that morning.  It took me a few moments to realize what I was hearing but once it registered, I hurried outside to check on the donkeys.  Was someone hurt?  Were they being attacked by a dog or something?  I got out there, in my pajamas no less, let myself into the pen and stood there, assessing the situation.  Frida and Cody both were letting loose with bray after bray and that is when, in the dim, early morning light, I noticed a fourth little donkey, standing next to Vida in the paddock!  The baby was here!  In excitement I ran back to the house to let my sister Jennifer know, who just happened to be visiting that night, and to grab a sweatshirt.  I nearly gave her a heart attack when I burst into her room declaring "The baby is here!!!" in a frantic, excited manner.  I hurried back outside to see the baby and tend to the post-foaling tasks at hand.

I've foaled quite a number of babies out in my previous jobs on breeding farms and was pretty familiar with mare's behaviors following foaling and what my role in the whole process was.  Unfortunately, Vida had not gotten that memo.  What  I witnessed that night was something I had never seen before in my life and I hope to never see again...

Once I got back outside, I tried to make my way over to check out the new little addition.  He was standing and, since they were in the paddock, I assumed that they had walked out there.  I had seen that she had birthed him in the stall, as evidenced by the large damp area of birthing fluids and the placenta.  As I approached, cautiously, Vida promptly turned her butt towards me, backed up, and let her legs fly, double-barrel kicking at me with all her might.  I scrambled back and watched with growing horror as she started to lick, nuzzle, nudge, bite, shove, paw, and trample this new little baby.  I remember Jennifer asking my why she was doing this and I had no reply to this; I'd never seen such a thing!  I asked her to go get a flashlight as it was still fairly dark outside, and while she was gone, watching as the activities escalated.  Vida would nudge and paw the baby until it got up, at which point she would essentially shove it around until the baby fell and it would start all over again.  I could tell the baby was exhausted; I had no idea what had gone on before I got out there.  At one point, the foal was in a ball on the ground and she just kept pawing at it, walking over it and standing on it.  I tried to approach to get her to stop but she just started kicking at me again, this time connecting and catching my on the side of my knee.  I was really worried that she had killed the foal; I just couldn't see if it was still alive.  When Jennifer got back with the flashlight, we could see that the baby was still alive and moving and all we could do at that point was watch in horror the cycle of the baby get up, get knock over, get pawed and trampled repeat.  Eventually they somehow ended up back in the stall.  I had since called in reinforcements to help me try and catch up Vida so we could tend to the foal and end this horror show.  Jennifer suggested I try giving her some grain to catch her and so I put some in a pan, created a lasso with a long rope and was able to catch her, halter her, and tie her up. 



Meg and baby



Not long after I caught her, my friend Meg, a veterinarian, arrived to help us.  She was able to assess the situation a lot better than I was and was the calming, practical voice in the storm.  The baby, which it was now discovered was a boy, was cold and did not have a suckle reflex, which is essential to survival as he needed to be able to nurse to get colostrum, the first milk that will provide him with the antibodies and protection for the first few months of his life.  Over the next half hour or so I went and got the heat lamp and heating pad from work while Jennifer and Meg dried him with towels and a hairdryer.  His temperature, once I had a good thermometer, was less than 95 F, when it should be between 99-101!  Once he was dry and rested a bit, Meg tried to see if he would nurse but the reflex to suckle was still not there.  Jennifer had gone to the store and gotten a baby bottle and Vida was milked out a bit to try and bottle feed him.  Unfortunately, when there is no reflex, there is no way to get the colostrum into him without tubing him. 

Marissa & the little guy

My boss from work, Dr. Hagerman, arrived, did an exam of the foal and then prepared to tube the colt.  Vida was milked for about 200mL of colostrum and the baby was nasogastric tubed with it (a small tube was passed through his nose down into his stomach).  On the exam Dr. Hagerman found that his lungs were clear, his heart rate was a bit slow and irregular, and he had bruising around his eyes and a huge bruise on the upper gums in his mouth.  Once all that could be done by this point was done, we had planned on bringing him to the clinic to warm him up and more easily treat him.  I had been hooking up my trailer when Meg and Marissa, my friend a coworker, told me he was starting to develop a suckle reflex! Yay!  It was weak but I didn't want to disturb the progress we'd made with him, and Vida had finally started to calm down, so I decided to not bring them to work.  I had found my dog Greta's jacket and put that on him to help keep him warm and it fit perfectly!  Everyone eventually had to get on with their day so I was left to monitor him, with Jennifer's help.

Tricia milking Vida

By 11 am he needed to be tubed again with more colostrum since he was still too weak to nurse.  Dr. Tricia Arnold came and milked Vida (after sedating her since she was being really bad and kicking a lot) and then tubed him again.  I was able to untie Vida afterwards and, when hardly anyone was around, she was much better with him.  Perhaps she knew he was getting help and getting better?  Why she did what she did I will never know...

Over the next couple of days he seemed to be getting stronger, nursing and getting more active.  He had to be tubed with milk on Tuesday morning to give him another jump start after I went out that morning and discovered that his eyes had a large amount of discharge coming from them and had essentially "glued" his eyelids shut.  He hadn't been able to nurse for hours and was painful!  I cleaned his eyes off and called Linda.  She and Dr. Jodi Chadim, a new vet at our clinic, took a look at his eyes and discovered that he had quite large corneal ulcers on each eye, likely due to the trauma after he was born.  He was put on ophthalmic ointment and antibiotics, and tubed with milk.  After that he was really good with nursing and seemed to be improving. 

I thought we had finally turned the corner when on Wednesday night I got home and noticed he wasn't quite right.  I had spent Tuesday night trying to set up a wireless webcam to monitor them but couldn't get it to work so I kept an eye on him while I continued to work on it.  I noticed over the next half hour he seemed kind of depressed and sore on his back legs.  By that time my dad had arrived to take on the webcam and see if he could get it to work so it was one less thing I had to be worried about!  I called Linda and she came by that evening to look at him.

Linda (left) & Jodi examining his legs

She found that he had a fever and was extremely sensitive to palpation of his hind legs, especially around his fetlocks, which were swollen.  She was concerned that he might have joint infections and recommended that we tap his fetlock (ankle) joints on his hind legs.  She and Jodi anesthetized him and went to work.  Once his ankles were shaved and cleaned, the extensive bruising was revealed, along with a bunch of small wounds and serum oozing; evidence of the damage Vida did to him Monday morning.  His joints were tapped and, thankfully, they were not infected.  Upon further inspection, it was concluded that his legs were extremely bruised and wounded, including one of his front legs, and this caused him to have some cellulitis (infection under the skin) and pain.  He went on a stronger antibiotic and some pain meds.  The bruises are going to take time to heal but thankfully shouldn't be life-threatening, like joint infections could be. 

What a cutie! (note the blue eye - the corneal ulcer)

My dad was able to get the camera working so I now have a "Donkey Cam" to monitor them throughout the day and night.  The little guy has gotten stronger and healthier each day, and will hopefully continue on that path.  He is now on eye meds several times a day, antibiotic shots twice daily, gastric ulcer prevention (Gastrogard) daily, and pain meds as needed.  He is a fighter, this little guy!  Vida has turned into a decent mom; she does things sometimes that are odd but has her moments.  She had a couple little boughts of colic (abdominal pain) but since seems to be ok.  She most certainly won't win "Mother of the Year" but will hopefully continue to make up for nearly killing her son.

 

I still haven't decided on a name for him.  I was almost afraid to name him until I knew he would make it.  Jennifer thinks I should name him Fergus (means "man-strength/virility").  Other names have been tossed out there... Winston. Gary. Quintus. Pinocchio. Geppetto. Jiminy. Oliver ("elf army"). Vian ("alive" in latin). Duncan ("darked skinned warrior"). Liam (strong-willed warrior).  Any other suggestions?