We all know that nature can be a mean beast and that sometimes its offspring are motherless. A foal that has lost its young mother is considered an “orphan” because the foal usually stays with the mare until about six months of age. The same thing happened to the foal in the next video.
And we know that a newborn foal needs another mare or person to milk and care for, especially during the first critical days of life. right? Some producers have successfully used other mares as foster mothers. We have a real example in our video. In this situation, the mare must not only accept the fact that the foal is breastfeeding, but also breastfeed at the same time.
Some owners rub their foal with mare dung, milk or sweat to help the mare adopt a cub. Others apply some sort of steam ointment to the mare’s nose to get rid of the foal’s odor and to deceive the mare greatly. The same ointment can be applied to the pups.
Fawns born early should be seated on sucking mares or provided with artificial milk substitutes. In any case, newborns should get enough colostrum. Obviously, if a mare dies at birth, the foal must get colostrum from another mare to survive.
A good way to raise a foal is to fill their stomachs and drink water until they are ready to breed. Ideally, an alternative supply of colostrum, tetanus antitoxin and antibiotics should be provided. In addition, IgG levels should be checked and plasma infusions should be managed if possible. When raising children, create a safe, quiet environment with at least two helpers.
In addition to feeding the pups more frequently, their growth rate is ideal. Most orphan foals can be fed every 1-2 hours in the first week, then every 4-6 hours after the second week.
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