Orphaned brumby foal saved by cow on Qld cattle station

A wild brumby foal orphaned and on death’s door has been saved by his ‘adopted mum’ – a Brahman cow. SEE THE INCREDIBLE PICS

An orphaned brumby foal has found an unusual new mum, bonding with a cow that has taken to grooming, protecting, and even producing lifesaving milk for her new ‘baby’.

North Queensland Grazier Robert O’Shea, could not believe his eyes when he saw the cross-species pairing on his Mount Garnet property.

A Brahman cow who adopted an orphaned brumby foal at a Mount Garnet property in Far North Queensland. Picture: Robert O'Shea.

“You’ll never see this in your lifetime mate – not out in nature,” Mr O’Shea said.

The foal’s mother died not long after giving birth, and Mr O’Shea noticed the young horse wandering into the pen with the herd of Brahman cattle.

“I thought, ‘poor little thing, it’ll probably die’. It was probably only a month old,” he said.

But when he returned two weeks later, the foal was still there and one of the cows was acting strangely.

“The little foal whinnied, the cow would moo and come over to it and the foal would start suckling.”

“That was a dry cow, she didn’t have any calves or anything, she just started making milk for the little foal.”

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life, I couldn’t believe it,” said Mr O’Shea, who at 64 had been around cattle for almost six decades.

The foal is going strong, and the O’Shea’s have dubbed him Lucky – as in “Lucky to be alive”, Mr O’Shea said.

“He’s a shiny little chap now, he’s looking good.”

The adoptive cow mum had taken her new role in stride, licking the foal to bathe it, and keeping him safe from threats.

“We had one of the brumbies approach the pen one day, and the cow charged up at him. She wouldn’t let him get near that foal,” Mr O’Shea said.

Robert and Ornella O'Shea. Picture: Supplied.

Lucky is set to move to a new owner in Richmond once strong enough early next year.

For now, Lucky continues to drink the cow’s milk and the pair are never too far from each other in the O’Shea’s yard.

University of Queensland animal scientist Luis Prada e Silva said while nothing beats mother’s milk, the cow “absolutely” saved Lucky’s life.

“The big difference in the milk is the amount of fat,” Associate Professor Silva said.

“The mare’s milk is usually higher in fat, but the Brahman cow would have milk that is higher in fat than what’s in the supermarket, so it would be closer to what the foal needs.”

“The foal needs to receive antibodies through the milk, so if it had its early days with its mum that would’ve helped.”

Professor Silva said the real mystery was how the cow began producing milk.

“I haven’t seen this before. Cows will adopt other baby calves but only when they have a calf of their own,” he said.

“I don’t think science would explain how lactation started without all the hormonal changes that needed to happen.

“It could have been the cow had a baby that died that nobody saw, it’s very unusual.”