AILMENTS OF FOALS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1106, 20 April 1911, Page 8

AILMENTS OF FOALS.

THE LATEST BULLETIN. No. 0 of the new series of bulletins being issued by the Department of Agriculture deals with some common ailments in foals. The paper was written by Mr. H. C. Wiibie, F.R.C.ViS. ■ '• : Indigestioiris described by Jlr. AVilkie as a common disorder ofyouEg foals which frequently leads to serious consequences. "Its cause," he says, "may be looked for in any change in the character of the mare's milk, which renders ,it less easy of digestion. Perhaps the commonest cause, is a large supply of ovcr-rich milk,'but it may also arise from the directly opposite condition that of an extreme poorness of quality. A frequent sails!) of 1 indigestion and diarrhoea in foals is found in the alterations which take place in the mare's milk when she is put to, work during the time.she is suckling, a. foal." 1 ; N The symptoms' are: "The foal shows considerable', .■ dullness. and) uneasiness, loss of ■ the desire to suck, eructations. of ~ wind from tlie stomach, vomiting of.'milk through the nostrils, 'yawning, breath has a spur odour, tohguo 'coated aiicl whito or-'yellowish white, windy swelling of the abdomen, diarrhoea, and abdominal pain or colic which -is oftentimes very severe ' As to preventive measures, JCr. Wilkie writes: Prevention of this' disorder is based on an' examination and. avoidance of all the conditions ' which we know cquso'it., If a maro has a great flush of milk- it is • necessary to draw most of it off until this can be remedied by more scanty and dry feed. Tho foal will always be. able to get as much milk as it really needs. If the mare is in a very low condition and the,cause of indigestion is the poor .quality of the milk, which probably contains some deleterious, matters and is deficient in fat, ■ the reinndy' for. this is obvious. If the mare is being worked while suckling the foal, and the cause of indigestion is evidently.'the acid changes in the milk while the mare is heated and the' milk is retained in the. udder,* the udder should be emptied when the marc comes in, and plenty of fresh milk will be formed when tho foal wants it. Tho conditions caused by working niares, suckling foals aro not so common in this Dominion as in the older countries, but it is within my knowledge that 'they do occur , here. ■

JAVitli regard to curative measures, where- there is considerable diarrhoea and the foal is not otherwise very ill a simple and very effective remedy consists in .milking the mare out frequently, 'say, three or four times a.day, putting her on a diet of hay,' dry bran, and chaff, and giving her one or two doses of carbonate of fiodn. 1 oz. eaoh time. This I .have seen effectual time after time. In any but the newly-born, this treatment may be supplemented by giving the foal a dose, of carbonate of soda."