Helpful hints

Collect it, Filter it and Freeze it:-

Colostrum collection is a very easy process and one that should be taken at every opportunity. Please take a few minutes to collect for the sake of a needy foal.

Proceed as follows:-

Collecting:-

First wash the mares udder with warm water. Do not take colostrum from the mare until the foal has had its first nursing. Take a container such as a margarine or cool whip container. Approach the mare from the left side (near side) holding the container in your left hand and placing under the udder, place your right thumb and forefinger to the mares teat. Squeeze and pull down gently from each side consecutively filling container until the udder is relieved of pressure. Depending on the supply two collections are sufficient. The colostrum texture should feel very sticky. Do not attempt this process on maiden mares without professional attendance.

Filtering Process:-

Filter the collected colostrum through a kitchen filter or cheese cloth. Write date and year collected on container or freezer bag to be stored. Colostrum can be frozen for two years.

Defrosting:-

Defrost at room temperature or by cold water only. DO NOT microwave or place in warm water as this will destroy the antibodies.

Congratulations:

You have just taken a collection that will help a future champion. Thank You. Now add your collection to our colostrum page.

Shipping is at the cost of the recipient and should be packaged cold, via Greyhound/FEDX/UPS.

A field study has recently been completed on a Thoroughbred stud farm in Ireland to investigate the prevalence and clinical features of thoracic (chest) trauma in newborn foals. The researchers found that 20% of newborn foals had evidence of thoracic trauma, which included broken or damaged ribs.

The researchers propose that the cause of the trauma may be pressure on the chest during birth when the foal passes through the pelvic canal. Foals that had chest trauma were more likely to have come from mares having their first foal or from mares who had difficulty foaling. The researchers also suggest that a high level of confinement and continuous intervention, could lead to mares being inadequately dilated due to excessive disturbance during foaling.

In the chest trauma group of foals there was no evidence of clinical signs, and it was determined by ultra sonograph that there was an absence of associated trauma to the lungs and heart in this group of foals. These findings suggest that fractured or damaged ribs did not have adverse effects on the foals in this field study.

It is very important to note that there can be serious consequences of rib fractures in foals and the Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center in Kentucky has reported that rib fractures in very young foals, occurring during birth or during the first week post partum accounted for 13% of all life ending fractures necropsied at the centre. Although the occurrence of thoracic trauma may frequently be sub clinical, it is the authors' opinion that foals with thoracic trauma should be ultra sounded to determine if there is any evidence of thoracic organ injury. The authors also suggest that foals born during difficult foalings and foals born from mares having their first foal should be considered high risk for chest injury and that the mare should be allowed to foal with as little disturbance as possible.

Source: D Jean, S Laverty, J Halley, D Hannigan and R Leveille Thoracic Trauma in Newborn Foals Equine Veterinary Journal (1999) Vol. 31 No. 2 pg. 149.

I hand milked my mare daily to keep her milk supply coming in, as was advised on a web article, but the only problem was that this only made a small bag and later that same evening, the mare had to be given oxyticin injections to stimulate milk production. In my situation, the milkings were increased once the foal started nursing but I now know that in a critical situation, this is too late! The hand milkings should be increased days before the nurse mare leaves the farm so the mare leaves with a large bag. I guess the ideal would be to hand milk the mare on a schedule similar to the time schedule of the anticipated nursing foal. This way, a foal, especially a sick one, will not have to spend his energy reserves on a low-producing mare. Here are a few other tips-
1. keep plently of fresh water available at all times for mare in addition to a good quality grain and hay(I like an Alfalfa mix)
2. keep a mineralized salt-block available (Even though these aren't cows, Dairy farmers will let you know how important salt is in relationship to milk production)
3. Calf Manna in the diet can be used to help with milk production
4. Send some of mare's grain/feed with her to farm (Anything that will help reduce stress with the move to the farm will help)
5. Consult vet for possible hormone therapy(oxytocin)
6. keep mare in an overall state of good health and up-to-date on immunizations.
7. Allow mare to as much green grass as possible, within moderation, as to avoid founder, as there is no substiture that is as high in nutrients or quality as grass(AVOID FESCUE!) It is also important in milk production. If foal is weak, this may not be possible.
8. remember, the more the mare is milked, the more she will make. Even if foal is not able to nurse, it is important to manually milk the mare to maintain or imcrease milk production. I have also contacted my state breed association in hopes to gain added support to this cause. Thanks again Cyberfoal and keep up the good work. Sheryl McGrath ipf@mtco.com Marseilles, Illinois.

Tools to help in feeding the Orphan Foal I found the following tools/dishes very helpful in making feeding the orphan foal much easier and helped to have little or no loss of the Foalac or Equilac or Kid Milk Replacer. (Equilac is available at IFA for the best price locally in 25 lb. containers): -- small grain bucket with lip -- Rubbermaid number 9 (10 cups) storage bowl with rounded bottom -- Rubbermaid number 2 (4 cups) storage bowl with rounded bottom -- 1 gallon fruit juice container with inverted sides (the rough sides / the little squares that stick into the bottle makes the milk mix up easy without having to use a whisk) I put the “number 2” bowl inside the “number 9” bowl, inside the grain bucket. When I got to the foal, I poured the milk into the “number 2” bowl. Because the foal wants to “nudge” while eating, the configuration of the bowls this way did the following: -- no milk was wasted, all milk spilled over into the “number 9” bowl and could still be used -- I had a good grip because the grain bucket had a lip -- the bowls were able to move when he nudged causing less spillage -- the rounded bottom made it possible for the foal to get all of the milk I then would pour warm water into another small grain bucket mounted on the stall wall at a tipped angle, allowing the foal to get water (or, at least, wash his sticky mussel). All of the above saved considerable money and the foal fed better and he did not suckle on me or near me. When the foal got proficient at sucking up all the milk, I quit using the smaller bowl. I mounted the grain bucket on the wall next to the water-grain bucket and would pour the milk into the “number 9” bowl and put that bowl inside the grain bucket. Now I wasn’t holding the milk at all but could still remove the “number 9” bucket for washing. At this point I started putting the warm water into the grain bucket after feeding the foal the milk and removing the “number 9” bucket and started using the other grain bucket for a creep feeder with Equine Junior. Remember to clean all buckets and jugs thoroughly between feedings. Also, remember to use some quality enzyme the first few days to get the bowels working properly (I used the Dynamite product because it was a liquid that squirted easily into the milk) Sincerely, Rusty LaFrance quarter moon ranch las vegas, nevada http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ranch/4472/

The following submision sent by Sandra Kistner:-

I thought with the popularity of your site that some things need to be
conveyed to people with foals that they want on a Nursemare. I always
tell people that a bottle is only there to feed the baby til a mom
arrives. Some places I've been the hole is so big that baby guzzles the
milk instead of sucking it. I also find that if they hold the bottle
with the nipple facing their wrist and let baby come under their arm for
it it makes them look under a mare easier and they don't aspirate the
milk into their lungs because their head is in a natural position for
nursing.

Think before breeding your mare:- From IAHA website.

By Cory Soltau, D.V.M.

Why do people get frustrated, upset and discouraged when they breed or attempt to breed their horses? Because sometimes they have not thought through every step or have not discussed potential grey areas with a stallion owner or veterinarian before the breeding season begins. After 30 years as a breeder and 23 years as an equine vet, I'd like to share some pointers about this topic.

Work with Mother Nature
The optimal time for impregnating a mare is April, May or June. Why? Because with a gestation period of approximately 11 months and 10 days (that is not exactly scientific, but those numbers work for me) the foal will arrive in March, April or May when fresh grass is up, the weather's warm and the babies have a better chance of survival.

In response to industry/horse show pressure to produce competitive yearlings (a trend which I don't understand or approve of), size and maturity have become paramount. This has forced breeders to breed their mares earlier in the year under not so optimal conditions. To accomplish this, we use artificial light and synchronizing drugs and hormones to achieve earlier breeding dates often in direct opposition to Mother Nature's common sense. When Mother Nature prevails, breeders find they have spent time, energy and money trying to fight her and have become frustrated and disillusioned.

Remember that even with the best management, the equine species has a fertility rate of 68 percent and is not our most fertile domestic animal. Rather than its reproduction capabilities, horses are selected for speed, beauty, function and performance ability.

Where is your mare?
The first thing to take into consideration is whether your mare is at home, in a show barn or at a breeding farm. I think most vets would agree that the secret of breeding success is a good teasing program. If your mare is not being exposed to a stallion, she may go through "silent" estrus showing no outward signs. That may make it a bit more difficult to track her cycles. A stallion's presence will usually stimulate her to show full breakdown where the vulva winks, she raises her tail and urinates. Teasing programs often use a pony or older stallion instead of the one she'll breed to, but a good teasing program is paramount. If she doesn't have that stimulus, you need to consider how to make that available. Otherwise, your vet will have to come out and palpate her to see when she is ready. After you add up the costs of a vet and semen shipping, which can be $1,000 if you've shipped three times, you'll find it's actually cheaper to just keep a mare in a breeding barn for a few months.

Assure her health
I suggest that you have your vet come out and do a swab culture or uterine biopsy on your mare early in the season so you know she's clean with no uterine or vaginal infection. Mares that are 12 or over, or that have had many foals, may require a uterine biopsy so you know that she can carry a foal full-term. There are glands in the uterine lining which interact with the placenta. If there's excessive scarring from trauma or chronic infection, that lining is compromised. The mare may conceive but will probably lose the foal. However, if you're intent on breeding a mare with some degree of uterine scarring, there's still hope with supplemental hormone therapy such as Regumate.

Doing this preliminary work is important because up to 20 percent of the mares I've examined have had an infection, mostly from a fecal contaminant. Arabians are usually well-conformed regarding the anus and vulva, and a mare with a flat croup can still have a good pelvic angle. Sometimes the vulva is angled outward from vertical so when she passes manure, it trickles down and causes an infection. There is a procedure called the Caslicks operation that sews up the top of the vulva in such a case, but let's just try and breed well-conformed horses! As a judge who is also a veterinarian, when I look at mares, I can't help but look at them from a functional point of view, particularly in breeding/halter classes where conformation should include all conformation.

Consider past medications
If she has been actively showing, has she been on prolonged progesterone therapy, progesterone implants or Regumate? That needs to wash out of her system well in advance, so if you're planning on breeding in March, make sure to stop any therapy in September so her system has time to adapt to a normal cycling mode.

Don't breed during transitional estrus
Most mares go through winter anestrus, the dormancy period when the ovaries take a break and shut down. The mare will not cycle during this period, which is Mother Nature's way of assuring that she's not going to conceive and subsequently give birth at an inopportune time when conditions are not optimal for the foal's survival. This first estrus of the Spring will last for 10 to 12 days, but it is not the estrus you want to breed on. Most breeders will tell you that to breed on this cycle when the hormonal ebbs and tides are coming back into play is often a waste of time. It's best to let her go through that. However, you want to watch when that ends, count 14 to 16 days, then plan on trying to have her impregnated during one of the next several cycles.

Ask the stallion owner
Make sure to contact an owner well in advance because you need to find out what a stallion's availability will be throughout the season. If you're not going to use frozen semen, you may be at the mercy of a stallion's show schedule, so you really need to plan ahead. Ask what his success rate is on both shipped fresh semen and frozen semen because a lot of semen won't freeze well. There's also a range for fresh sperm, with some lasting only 12 hours and your more robust ones still lively at the ripe old age of 72 hours. Be sure to check to see if your vet is comfortable handling frozen semen. If not, you may need to find services through another veterinary facility, stallion station or even a nearby university.

Ask how much advance notice a stallion owner needs. A breeder wants to have as many of his stallion's babies on the ground as possible, but facility management varies. Some collect semen on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Some ship on a first-come, first served basis. (Neither of these make sense to me by the way.) In a perfect world, the breeding manager will prioritize shipments based on a mare's readiness, not who booked the stallion first. Ideally, you want the sperm waiting when the follicle ruptures and the egg is released into the fallopian tube. Once the egg drops down the tube, there's about a 24-hour window for conception to occur. So if the vet comes out Wednesday and tells you that Sunday is the day, you want semen that's collected Saturday afternoon. Make sure the stallion owner is able to accommodate you. Most of the big stallion stations operate seven days a week from February through July precisely because they want to deliver good customer service and maximize the conception success rate.

If the breeding is unsuccessful
You want to give your mare up to three cycles to conceive. Know ahead if the stallion is going to breed after July. Will there be a re-booking fee for next year? How much? What determines a live foal? If the mare owner, out of stupidity, turns a mare and foal into a pasture with other horses and the foals gets kicked and dies, that's not the stallion owner's fault. If a foal stands and nurses, then dies, is that a live foal? You need to talk about these things beforehand.

As a final note
It's nice to do business with people on your word. Don't be afraid to ask questions. Be sure to ask for SCID-clear certification from a lab. It is criminal to breed two carriers, but totally reasonable to breed to a known carrier if one of the parents is bona fide SCID-clear. Find out if there other heritable defects such as cerebellar hypoplasia, seizure disorders, etc.?

Also, ask if the stallion is Sweepstakes nominated, and find out which category. Only a Nominated Sire, Nominated Mare or Non-Arabian Nominated Sire allows Breeding Entry eligibility, not an Original Entry.

With a little forethought and knowledge about the process, you can have a very successful breeding season.

Thoracic Injuries in Newborn Foals