Care for the Orphan foal

by Nancy A. Aronoff, D.V.M. http://www.manepoints.com

A foal may become orphaned for various reasons, ranging from the dam's death, rejection, illness or lack of milk production, to even more temporary situations, such as the dam being shipped off to be bred without the foal.

The age of the foal at the time it is orphaned will determine how it should be handled. A newborn or one under three months will need to have foster care, whether through hand-rearing or through use of a nurse mare. Hand rearing will involve a major commitment in time and energy.

All foals should have their immunoglobulin (blood immunity) status checked 12 to 24 hours after birth. There are reliable, commercial kits available for this. An antibody concentration (IgG) of 400-800 mg/dl or greater indicates that passive transfer has occurred.

Within four to 12 hours after birth, foals should have either nursed colostrum from the dam, been bottle fed eight ounces of colostrum replacement, or had colostrum administered by nasogastric tube by the veterinarian.

There are colostrum banks that freeze and store it. Colostrum is good for at least one year after collection if it remains frozen and was of good quality at the time of collection. If there is any doubt about whether the foal got any colostrum, the veterinarian will administer plasma intravenously to the foal. The confirmation of the immunoglobulin status of any foal is an important step and should not be overlooked.

The ideal situation for an orphan foal is a nurse mare. This way, the foal remains on its normal diet of mare's milk and becomes socialized in a normal way.

Additionally, after the foal has bonded with the mare, there is no labor added to the normal care and feeding processes of raising the foal.

Commercial nurse mare managers are skilled at assuring that the bonding takes place. However, the added expense ($800 - $1,500 in some areas for a six-month lease) may be more than the value of the foal. If a nurse mare is impractical, then the only alternative is to hand-raise the youngster.

Bottle feeding is not without risk. If the head is held too high, or the foal is lying flat while nursing, the milk can run down the trachea into the foal's lungs causing aspiration pneumonia -- which can be fatal if not caught in time and treated.

Never try to bottle-feed a foal that is lying flat. Make sure the foal is standing or braced between the handler's knees. Then hold the bottle so the foal's nose is below its eye level.

The safest, easiest method is to train the foal to drink milk from a bucket.

For starters, don't feed the foal for four hours, so it'll be hungry. Warm the milk or milk replacer to body temperature and use a flat pan or small bowl to start. Push the foal's muzzle into the milk and use your fingers in the foal's mouth to stimulate a suckle reflex. This may take several attempts. Make sure the foal doesn't go too long without food.

Foals under five days of age need to be fed every two hours. The number of feedings can gradually be reduced and the amount fed can be increased until the foal is eating every six hours at seven to 10 days old. Young foals should be offered hay and grain as soon as they show interest in them.

Older foals that are already eating solid food when orphaned may be fed milk replacer pellets as long as they are drinking adequate water. A loose mineral supplement should be present, along with clean, fresh water.

A good worming and vaccination program set up with a veterinarian is also important. Foals should have access to shelter in hot or cold weather.

Foals need contact with other horses to learn how to respond to their own kind socially. Normal playful behavior with humans may be cute when they are small, but becomes dangerous when they have grown. It is best to raise an orphan with another orphan, or have a quiet horse or pony as a companion. Turning out an orphan foal with a group of weanlings has been reported to work in raising a well-socialized individual.