The Horse:Your Guide To Equine Health Care provides monthly equine health care information to horse owners, breeders, veterinarians, barn/farm managers, trainer/riding instructors, and others involved in the hands-on care of the horse.
Issue link: https://thehorse.epubxp.com/i/936432
34 TheHorse.com THE HORSE March 2018 paste form. Owners mix the powder with water (following manufacturers' direc- tions) and feed it in a bottle or pan; they can deliver the paste to the foal's mouth. "Colostrum replacement products raise the concentration of IgG in the foal's bloodstream," says Buechner-Maxwell. "However, it is not clear that providing IgG alone provides full protection, as mare's colostrum contains many other beneficial elements (including some of the mare's immune cells) besides IgG. "Another alternative is providing equine plasma," she adds. "If the foal is less than 6 to 12 hours old and is clinically normal, the plasma can be delivered orally. If the foal is older than 12 hours and/or has already received several feedings of milk or milk replacer or is ill, then the best way to deliver the plasma is through the intravenous route, which should be done by a veterinarian." Regardless of the source, always check blood concentrations of IgG after giving the foal a commercial product, she adds. Foals that don't receive colostrum with- in the first day after foaling are highly susceptible to infections from organisms that cause diarrhea (aka scours) and other bacterial and viral infections that can even progress to sepsis, a potentially deadly body-wide state of inflammation. It's important to check IgG early on be- cause "once an animal starts to get sick, especially an equine neonate, it's really a downward spiral," Karner says. Diarrhea in foals can be life-threaten- ing, so call your veterinarian if it occurs. Momma vs. Milk Replacer Obviously, the closer to nature you can get, the better for the foal, so finding a nurse mare is your best-case scenario. Googling "nurse mare" will bring up some options, including networks for individuals who are searching for or offering nurse mares. There are also commercial providers—farms that breed mares for the express purpose of provid- ing nurse mares and then find "foster parents" for their now-orphaned foals. Another alternative for obtaining a nurse mare is to work with your veteri- narian to chemically induce lactation and/or motherly behavior in a surrogate dam by administering hormones to a mare that hasn't foaled. Know that it does, however, take about 10 to 12 days for the hormone therapy to take effect. Buechner-Maxwell says foals generally suckle twice an hour, drinking 25% of their body weight daily by 1½ to 2 weeks of age. "So a 50-kg (110-lb) foal will drink 12 liters or more of milk a day," she says. "That's a lot. In our clinic we've got a technician on duty to feed the sick foals every two hours, but that's hard for most people so I suggest a milk replacer." Last year's orphan is the first Walden has raised on milk replacer, to which she added probiotics for gut flora. She placed the filly with an older mare as a compan- ion and teacher. "The mare didn't have any milk, but the baby would drink the milk replacer until her belly was full, then she'd go over and suckle on that mare for a couple of minutes, then lie down and go to sleep," says Walden. Bottle or Bucket? Even among vets, opinions vary as to which is better for feeding—a bottle or a bucket. The key is to make sure the foal doesn't associate the human with his feed. Walden used a bucket. Getting the filly on the bucket "wasn't as hard as I thought," she says. "It took three or four days, feeding her every three hours. I found that if the filly was on the hungry side, she'd put her head wherever she needed to to drink." After the filly was drinking well out of the bucket, Walden started mixing enough to last four hours. Then she stretched it to every six hours. "I eventu- ally had to make a little creep feeder (de- signed to accommodate a foal's muzzle and prevent a larger horse from accessing feed) because the mare decided she liked the milk replacer, too!" she says. Walden recommends asking other breeders for milk replacer brand recom- mendations. Where one was good for 12 hours but didn't smell as naturally milk- like, another smelled like fresh, whole milk but didn't last as long once mixed due to its higher fat content. Still another brand caused the filly to scour. Walden settled on mixing her two preferred Caring for ORPHAN Foals ISTOCK.COM PAM MACKENZIE If a nurse mare or surrogate dam is not available, you'll need to bucket- or bottle- feed the foal milk replacer, which comes in paste or powdered form. For more information about feeding and managing orphan foals, see: ■ Managing Foal Rejection, TheHorse.com/35292 ■ How to Feed Orphan Foals, TheHorse.com/31320 ■ How to Build an Automatic Milking Device for Orphan Foals, TheHorse.com/35293 ■ Orphan Foal Behavior, TheHorse.com/35579