Title: Orphan Foal Management
1Orphan Foal Management
- Feeding Caring of the Orphan Foal
Sarah VandenBussche
Saun Bratton
2Two Goals
- Instill in you the basic information on how to
care for and treat a recently orphaned foal
(on-farm situation) - Guide you on how to help owners with continued
orphan foal care (feeding, general care, and
socialization)
3What we will cover
- The first 24 hours
- FPT testing for treatment
- Milk replacers
- Feeding program
- Expected growth rates
- General care owner
- recommendations
- Serious medical problems
-
4Causes of an Orphan Foal
- Mare sickness (colic, colitis, infectious dz)
- Poor milk production
- Injury or dz of mares udder (laceration,
- mastitis)
- Mare death (ruptured uterine artery during
- parturition, euthanasia)
5The First 24 Hours
- THE MOST IMPORTANT!!!
- Make sure foal receives a sufficient amount of
colostrum - 250ml every hour for the first 6 hours after
birth, or - 2-3L total divided into 3 to 4 doses, given at
hourly intervals
6Failure of Passive Transfer
- In horses, defined as serum IgGlt200 mg/dl at 24
hours of age - Incidence varies from 2.7 to 24
- Most insurance companies now require
documentation of adequate passive transfer of
immunity before the foal can be insured!
7Testing for F.P.T.
- radio immunodiffusion
- - latex agglutination
- enzyme immunoassay test (CITE), can be done
stall-side - - an IgG level gt800 mg/dl is considered protective
8Colostrum
- Should be thick sticky with a SGgt1.060,
(corresponds to an IgG concentration gt3000mg/dL) - Collect from mares after foaling when a
sufficient amount is present, (200 to 500ml can
be milked without compromising antibody passage
to the foal) - Should be frozen for saving
- Shelf-life of 1 year
9Feeding Program 2 Options
- Once sufficient immune protection has been
established! - Nurse mare or goat?!
- Manually feed (bottle or bucket)
- feed 10 of foals weight at day 1 and increase
- to 25 from day 10 through weaning
10Milk Replacers
- commercially available replacers (Foal Lac)
- homemade recipes should only be used for a
- short period of time, when a commercial
- replacer is unavailable
- fresh cows milk (whole) should be avoided
- (2Xs fat and only 2/3 sugar content of mares
- milk, causes loose stools)
11Homemade Formulas
- 4oz evaporated milk, 4oz
- warm water, 1tsp white corn
- syrup
- 8oz of 2 cows milk, 1 tsp
- white corn syrup
12Orphan Foal Feeding Program
DAY FEED SCHEDULE FEEDINGS PER DAY
0 18 hrs Colostrum ¼ pint hourly 18
19 hrs 13 Equine milk replacer 6 quarts daily 8
14 34 Equine milk replacer Creep feed Week 3 7-9 quarts Week 4 4-6 quarts Week 3 ½-1 pound/feeding Week 4 2 pounds per day 6 6 2 2
Day 35 Discontinue milk replacer Continue creep feed Hay 2 pounds per day 2 Free Choice (hay)
36 66 Continue creep feed and hay .75 pounds per 100 pounds of body weight 2 Free Choice (hay)
67 180 Continue creep feed and hay Increase to 1.5 pounds per 100 pounds of body weight 2 Free Choice (hay)
13Orphaned Foals
- Expected growth rates
- General care
- Serious medical problems
14Expected Growth Rates
- Orphaned foals under management
- 30 days old
- smaller in size
- slower growth rate
-
- 180 days old
- no difference in wither height
- only a slight difference in weight
15Expected Growth Rates Continued
- WITH PROPER MANAGEMENT
- no long term effects on mature size of foals
- WITH IMPROPER MANAGEMENT
- growth may be stunted
16General Care Information for Owners
- MONITOR! MONITOR! MONITOR!
- Illnesses in foals are often vague
- KNOW NORMAL PARAMETERS!
- Dramatic changes in health can occur quickly
- Dont wait and see
- Any ill foal is an emergency!
17Normal Parameters
- Body Temp first 4 days, 99-102 degrees
Fahrenheit - HR first 5 minutes, 70 bpm
- Resp. Rate - first 15 minutes, 60-80 br/m
- - then 20-40 br/m
- First urination - avg. 8.5 hours after birth
- - colts earlier than
fillies - - First stool within 24 hours
18Normal Parameters, Continued
-
- Righting Reflex established within 5 minutes
- Suckling Reflex established within 30 minutes
- Attempts to Stand within 1-2 hours
- Ability to Stand Unassisted within 1-3 hours
- Time to Nursing avg. 2 hours (range of 35-420
min)
19General Care
- Provide dry, clean,
- warm environment
- During cold weather
- -heat lamp set at 68 degrees
- -down vest
- When stronger, turn out
- into pasture for exercise
20General Care, Continued
-
- Rear orphan foal with
- -another orphan foal
- -pony/horse/nurse mare or goat
- Encourages socialization
- Reduces behavioral problems
21General Care, Continued
-
- Best overall care Nurse Mare
- - Mare must have good disposition
- - DO NOT leave nurse mare and foal
unattended until foal is accepted by mare - - May need to tranquilize mare
22Serious Medical Problems
- Neonatal Maladjustment Syndrome (NMS)
- Septicemia
- Failure of Passive Transfer
- Ruptured Bladder
23Neonatal Maladjustment Syndrome
- NMS used to describe a variety of behavioral
disturbances - NMS is also called
- Barkers
- Dummies
- Wanderers
24NMS Continued
- Noninfectious
- Due to hypoxia?
- Due to difficult birth?
- Seen within first 24 hours of birth
25Signs of NMS
- Loss of suckling reflex
- May appear blind
- Teeth grinding/chomping
- Abnormal vocalization,
- similar to a barking dog
- Anisocoria
- Low body temperature
- Jerky, stiff movements
- Seizures/paddling
- Abnormal respiration
- Coma, death
26Treatment of NMS
- Control seizures
- Maintain body temp., hydration, electrolytes,
- acid-base balance, and blood glucose
- Oxygen therapy
- Broad spectrum antibiotics
- Prognosis good if not also septic
- Recovery 2-7 days
27Septicemia
- High cause of death in neonates (one-third of
all - foal fatalities)
- A TRUE EMERGENCY!
- Again, foal may appear normal but may
- deteriorate within hours
28Septicemia, Continued
- Primary routes of infection
- Respiratory tract
- GI tract
- Umbilical cord/placenta
- Usually Gram neg. bacteria
- E. coli, Klebsiella, Enterobacter,
- Actinobacillus, Pseudomonas
29Signs of Septicemia
- - See previous 10 signs of
- NMS
- Cyanotic or bright red MM
- Hemorrhages in oral MM
- Blood shot eyes
- High HR and RR
-
-
- Respiratory Distress
- Severe depression
- Unable to rise or arouse
- Diarrhea
- Straining to defecate
- Colic
30Treatment for Septicemia
- Intensive care/close monitoring
- Should be taken to a hospital
- - Oxygen
- IV nutrition
- Assisted ventilation
- Broad spectrum antibiotics
- NSAIDs
- - IV fluids
31NMS and Septicemia
- May appear similar
- Do CBC and blood chemistry panel
- NMS foal, normal results
- Septic results, abnormal results
- Treatment is very similar
32Conclusion
- First 24 hours is most important!
- Ensure adequate colostrum intake
- KNOW NORMAL PARAMETERS
- MONITOR! MONITOR! MONITOR!
33References
- Equine Clinical Neonatology, Anne M. Koterba, et
all, - c1990, Lea Febiger, U.K., pp. 4-5, 9, 11,
71, 74-81, - 275-290, 302-303, 482, 627, 631-635,
639-641, - 730-731, 735-744, 772-773, 777-778.
- http//www.horses-etc.com/Foals.shtml
- http//www.ianr.unl.edu/pubs/horse/q1237.htm
- Merck Veterinary Manual, Eighth edition, c1998,
- Merck Company, Inc., New Jersey, p. 1595.
-
34Questions Thank You!