Feeding the Newborn Foal
- Colostrum: The Foal’s Most Important Meal. Colostrum is the first milk secreted by the mare immediately before foaling and up to 24 hours after foaling.
- Storing Colostrum. Because the first milk is critical to the newborn foal, horsemen are encouraged to store colostrum. ...
- Nutrient Content of Mare’s Milk. In addition to supplying the foal with antibodies, colostrum also contains high levels of vitamins, proteins and energy.
- Provide high-quality roughage (hay and pasture) free choice.
- Supplement with a high-quality, properly-balanced grain concentrate at weaning, or earlier if more rapid rates of gain are desired.
What do newborn foals eat?
Now, what do foals eat? The primary source of nutrition for a newborn horse is mare milk. If the foal is an orphan or if the mare isn’t producing enough milk, then you should consider buying a milk replacer. 1-3 weeks after birth, the foal will automatically start nibbling on some hay.
How much should you feed a baby horse?
Check the crude fiber, protein and fat content. Recommended levels for foals are: You should feed foals 20 to 25 percent of their body weight per day (NOT per feeding). Weigh the foal daily and adjust the daily feeding volume respectively as the foal grows.
How to feed a baby horse with a bottle?
Gradually immerse your finger in the bucket of milk. Waiting several hours between feedings so the foal is hungry often speeds up the learning process. If the foal does have to be bottle-fed, hold the bottle at the approximate height of a mare’s udder so that the foal nurses in a natural position.
Do all foals need Creep feeding?
Not all foals need creep feeding. If you think your foal is faring well on the dam’s milk, forage, and concentrates, then there’s absolutely no need for extra nutrition. Don’t start creep feeding before 90 days of age. It is around this time that the mare’s milk starts to wane.
What do you feed an orphaned foal?
Mare's milk replacers and goat's milk have also been used successfully to feed orphan foals. Foals should be fed every 1–2 hours for the first 1–2 days of life, then every 2–4 hours for the next 2 weeks at the rate of 250–500 mL per feeding, using a warmed milk container and an artificial nipple.
What do you give a newborn foal?
Colostrum is the preferable source of passive immunity for the newborn foal because colostrum contains not only immunoglobulins (antibodies against microorganisms) but other important factors. The timing for oral administration of colostrum, or its substitute, is critical.
What milk Can you give a foal?
Acidified milk replacers enhance the foals ability to digest nutrients and allows the milk to stay fresh longer. Goat's milk is the second best alternative to mare's milk. The fat content of goat milk is higher than mare's milk but is easier for the foal to digest than cow's milk.
Can a foal drink cow's milk?
After ingestion of colostrum, foals require a continuous supply of milk. Commercially available milk replacers specifically formulated for foals are an option. Alternatively, unmodified goat's milk or 2% cow's milk with 20 g/l of dextrose (not sucrose) added can be used.
At what age do foals start eating hay?
one weekAs early as one week of age your foal may start taking some interest in feed by nibbling at hay or grain.
Can foals drink water?
Foals drink water less frequently than adults, and their drinking bouts are shorter. The duration has been measured at around a half a minute in foals, while an adult can drink as long as one minute.
How do you make foal milk replacer?
Homemade milk replacers are relatively easy to formulate. They generally consist of low-fat cow's milk (less than 2 percent butterfat content), water, lime water to reduce the incidence of diarrhea and an additive to increase both the energy content and palatability of the milk replacer.
Can you bottle feed a foal?
Start foals at 4 to 8 pints per day, and progressively increase intake up to 4 to 8 quarts a day. Feed four to six times daily with bottle feedings, or teach them to drink from a bucket.
Can a foal drink goats milk?
Foals generally accept goat's milk more readily than milk replacer. The milk supply of one goat may not be enough to meet the total needs of an orphan if it is not receiving other supplementation, and a second goat may be necessary.
How long can foals go without milk?
It's an emergency if: the foal has not stood within two hours and nursed within three to five hours. Failure to do these things may indicate a problem that requires urgent medical care. And time is critical because he needs to ingest colostrum within the first six to eight hours of birth.
How do you get a bucket to drink a foal?
Training a foal to drink from a bucket is surprisingly easy. Place a small amount of milk in the bucket so that the foal's muzzle can easily touch the base. This contact with the base of the bucket elicits a suckle response, and the foal will usually drink quite happily.
How do you care for an orphaned foal?
Foals orphaned at a very early age should either be placed on a foster “nurse” mare or receive an artificial milk substitute. In either case, it is imperative that the newborn receives adequate quantities of colostrum. Obviously, if the mare dies at birth, the foal must be given colostrum from another mare.
How do you take care of a baby foal?
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How long can a newborn foal go without milk?
It's an emergency if: the foal has not stood within two hours and nursed within three to five hours. Failure to do these things may indicate a problem that requires urgent medical care. And time is critical because he needs to ingest colostrum within the first six to eight hours of birth.
How much milk should a newborn foal drink?
Amount to Feed A suckling foal will consume as much as 30 pounds of milk in a 24-hour pe- riod. Foals can consume up to 25 percent of their body weight per day of a dilute milk replacer without risk of diarrhea. For example a 100-pound foal could consume 25 pounds of milk or 50 cups per day.
What do you do after a mare foals?
Encourage the mare and foal to rest as long as possible. Give them an opportunity to bond undisturbed. Treat the umbilical cord with an antiseptic solution, recommended by your veterinarian, soon after the cord breaks and for several days thereafter to prevent bacterial infection.
When to Wean a Foal
If the weanling horse is one you have raised since birth, you have a lot of control over how well-prepared your baby is for weaning time. Foals will start to show interest in feeds very early on and, by around two months of age, their mother’s milk will no longer supply all the nutrients needed for optimum growth.
Best Feed for Weanling Horses
When weaning horses, it is important to offer weanlings a high-quality feed specifically formulated for foals. Young, growing horses have different requirements for protein, vitamins and minerals than adult horses.
Monitor and Make Adjustments
Prior to weaning, the foal is growing at a rapid rate of about 2-2.5 pounds per day. This growth gradually slows after the foal becomes a weanling horse—to about one pound per day as they approach 12 months of age. The ability of the weanling’s digestive system to digest forages also increases post-weaning, as does their daily forage intake.
Quick facts
Colostrum is the mare’s first milk containing protective antibodies for the foal.
Colostrum
Colostrum is the first milk a mare produces. It’s rich in antibodies that protect the foal from infection until their immune system fully develops. Foals don’t receive any antibodies prior to birth and thus, depend on colostrum.
Feeding milk
You should feed foals 20 to 25 percent of their body weight per day (NOT per feeding). Weigh the foal daily and adjust the daily feeding volume respectively as the foal grows. You can gradually increase the milk volume you feed and decrease how often you feed.
Foal Behavior After Birth
The foal will usually stand within 30 minutes, typically after several failed attempts. As soon as it is steady on its feet, often within an hour of birth, the foal will attempt to nurse. Teat-seeking behavior is persistent, even somewhat random, because the foal does not know exactly where the teat is located.
Care of the Newborn Foal
If you are present during the birth of the foal, your first step after the delivery is to make sure the foal is breathing. Quietly approach the foaling area and remove the birth sack (amnion) from the foal’s head. If the foal is breathing, your job is complete and you should leave the foaling area and observe the mare and foal from a distance.
Foal Health Problems
Diarrhea in the newborn foal is not common and may indicate a serious illness in the foal. A squirting type of diarrhea can result in dehydration and death of a newborn foal in a few hours. Immediately consult your veterinarian if your newborn foal develops diarrhea. However, mild diarrhea is common in older foals (1 to 2 weeks of age).
Care of Orphan Foals
Orphan foals can result from death of the mare, inability of the mare to produce milk, or maternal rejection of the foal. Orphan foals can be raised successfully with some extra care. As with mothered foals, you should make sure the orphan receives colostrum soon after birth.
New Foal Checklist
Several simple post-foaling management practices will help ensure the health of your mare and foal. A checklist follows.
First Things First
If your foal is orphaned at birth, or rejected by his dam (a problem that occurs an estimated 2% of the time, and is most common with first-time mothers), your first consideration is to get him to ingest some colostrum. That all-important first milk will jump-start his immune system through a process called passive transfer of antibodies.
Surrogate Moms
After the critical newborn stage has passed, your next task is to arrange some method of regularly feeding the orphan foal. His digestive system is not yet equipped to handle solid food, so some sort of milk or milk substitute needs to be provided—and it needs to be available on a very frequent basis in the first weeks of the foal’s life.
Bottle Babies
Because nurse mares are relatively scarce, and can be expensive to lease, a great many farms hand-raise their orphan foals. While this is a valid approach, it often can result in a foal which is more socialized toward humans than to horses. But as he grows, his lack of equine social skills can make him dangerous.
Bottle Or Bucket?
You have two options when feeding an orphan foal—offering milk from a bottle with a nipple attached, or providing it in a bucket from which the foal can drink.
Switching To Solid
As useful as milk replacers are, most breeders agree that the sooner you get an orphan foal to start accepting solid feed, the better. A handful of milk-replacer pellets can be offered from the time the baby is about a week old. It might even be helpful to place a few in the foal’s mouth (since he has no dam to demonstrate for him).
Preparing for an Emergency Before It Happens
Each time you have a new foal, milk some of the mare's colostrum in the first 12 to 24 hours. Taking 8 ounces from each mare should not hurt her current foal in most cases after her foal has nursed well several times.
Urgent Care
The foal must get colostrum within the first 24 to 48 hours, and multiple doses of it. Horse colostrum can not be manufactured, so this requires advanced preparation.
Tips for the First Day
Get colostrum into the foal. This may require bottle feeding, force feeding with a large syringe, or finding a mare that foaled the same day.
Tips for Milking Mares
Try using a baby bottle liner (not the drop in kind, though they'll work in a different way) to milk. It can actually fit right on the teat and you can milk the mare through the soft plastic.
Surrogate Mothers
Don't discount a mare with an older foal. Mares with newborn foals might be too worried about their foals. Mares with older foals might be more relaxed about motherhood. Try them all! But protect yourself from injury, as some mares will violently refuse.
Tips for Bottle Feeding Foals
Find a good-quality milk replacer. Foal-Lac works, but Buckeye and Progressive Nutrition make a much better replacer. We raised one of our stallions on the Progressive Nutrition milk replacer from 2 weeks of age after she coliced, and he looked as good as our foals on their dams.
Tips for Bucket Feeding Foals
Milk must be warm to train the foal to drink from a bucket. You'll waste some, but it's necessary to keep what is in the bucket warm until the foal leans to want to drink it.
