Feeding Program for Orphan Foals

A mare’s death is a tragedy that will be compounded if her foal isn’t quickly placed on an effective feeding and care program.  However, with proper nutrition and veterinary support, orphaned foals can be managed and successfully developed into healthy adults.  To help orphans through the tough early stages of life, an emergency feeding program was developed at the Purina Animal Nutrition Center.

Starting at birth, here are the steps in an orphan foal feeding program:

• Day 1: The first and most important step is getting colostrum into newborn foals within the first 2 hours of life. This “first milk” gives foals the antibodies they need to temporarily build up their immune systems to fight disease, but after 18-24 hours they can no longer absorb these antibodies. Check with your veterinarian right away to see if foals should receive medication of any kind and if they have achieved proper immunoglobulin levels.

The newest Purina Research Team Member!

Our first foal arrived early Wednesday morning and he is up, nursing, running around and doing great.  He has arrived just in time for a major snow and ice storm, so he has yet to be introduced to the outside world.  And since its only 28°F in the barn, he’s got his blanket on to help him stay warm.  Brrrrr! This year, our mares and babies are being fed our Ultium Growth feed, as we continue a large multi-year study monitoring mare gestation and young horse growth on a high fat and fiber concentrate.  This foal doesn’t have a barn name yet, but he does have an official research number, 1301. He’s quite the scrappy fellow and tries to kick at you when you scratch his rear end, and that’s how we like them!  Of course he will be trained to behave more appropriately in the coming days, but some spunk is a good sign in a newborn foal.  We are expecting 8 more babies in the next few weeks, hopefully not all will arrive in the middle of snow and ice. Maybe this foal should be named Stormy….