ORPHAN FOALS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3489, 25 January 1921, Page 10

ORPHAN FOALS.

As intimated in the previous issue of the Otago Witness, we undertook to say a word or two on the mothering and rearing of foals which have lost their dams, or which, through the inability of the mares i <•, furnish sufficient milk, • >e practically j at a stuudWl, and not developing as thc-v i should. In tli- fi- *• p!r e. it must be borne in mind that infinite patience U required - that, and elrankncs'-i— in addition to careful feeding. The only milk that can be foil with satisfaction to a foal

is cow’s milk, and yet all cow’s milk is not suitable, but one with a low percentage of butter-fat. A glance at the average composition of the two milks will emphasise the reason why : Mare’s milk—water 90.58 per cent., casein and albumin 2.013 per cent., fat 1.14 per cent., sugar 5.8/ per cent., ash 36 per cent. ; cow’s milk—• water 87.27 per cent., casein and albumin 3.39 per cent., fat 3.68 per cent., sugar 4.94 per cent., ash .72 per cent. Thus we have mare’s milk containing more water, more sugar, but only about half as much casein, albumin, and ash as the cow’s milk. It is necessary, therefore, to add water and sugar to the cow’s milk when feeding a young foal. As with other young animals, the first of the mother’s milk (colostrum) acts as a laxative to remove the faeces from the bowels of the newly-born foal. It is of importance that the foal should get some of this colostrum. Failing this (in cases of the death of the mother), it would be well to give it a dose of two ounces of castor oil in diluted fresh milk. How often do we hear of young, motherless lambs dying after taking several drinks of cow’s milk simply because the bowels have been neglected ? Digestive troubles with young animals happen very rapidly, and special care must be taken in preparing the food and in the feeding. This liquid food should be about the temperature of the blood, higher rather than lower. It is best to use the milk of a cow 7 as newly calved as possible, ant. the nearer it tests to 3 per cent, bun fat, the better. Beware of a rich milk. For the first feed of the orphan foal, take a heaped dessert spoonful of granulatesugar, and add just enough water to dissolve it. Then add three teaspoonfuls of lime water and enough new milk to make a pint. Heat this to blood heat, and let the foal suck half a teacupful each hour the first few days in the case of a foal which has lost its dam at foaling or soon afterwards. The milk, of comm should he fed from some sort of container with rubber nipple. The quantity of milk can he increased and the intervals lengthened gradually as the foal grows older, and gradually use whole milk, according to how the foal is thriving and he is doing well with six feeds a day 7, and then with four. If he has done well and is coming along satisfactorily in, say, three weeks, he should be drinking his milk and lime water out of a bucket, the sugar being eliminated at that age, but continuing the use of the lime water with milk. Be careful not to feed the youngster with cold milk, or there will be digestive troubles. Do not let, the foal have all the milk he wants. If .at first he starts scouring, sto-p the milk and give two ounces of castor oil, and let him drink the sugar and lime water in plain water instead of milk. If, later, after he is accustomed to the milk, he begins to scour, always stop the milk, substitute more water, and give castor oil in doses determined by the size and age of the foal. Be sure that there is plenty of fresh water available, which he can drink at will, and watch closely for signs of scouring. It is a sure sign of digestive troubles, and castor oil can be depended upon. Encourage the foal in every way. once he is “doing” well, to eat such food as oatmeal, crushed oats, a little oil meal, and clover hay. When a month old, or even younger, he will begin to nibble at grain. At first let him have a trifle of oatmeal from the hand, and gradually increase the amount, and when six weeks old add a pinch of bran. At two months old, some /sweet skim-milk may be gradually substituted for the new milk, and at three months the new milk may he rlis continued and the youngster given all the sweet separator milk he will drink three times a day. By that time he will be eating quite a lot of oats and bran, and may well have all he can clean up, in, say, the proportion of one-fifth bran to crushed grain. Bet him have grass as soon as he will nibble it. Find the foal company—a friendly calf will answer the purpose admirably—and allow them a safe enclosure to run about in and amuse themselves. Pet and coddle him all you like, and bear with him in his larks. He means no harm, and is only mischievous. Finally, after tire foal has taken its feed, all utensils should be thoroughly cleansed, as milk is an excellent medium for the growth and deveopment of upsetting bacteria.