Early arrivals

Samantha Feighery RVN, lead clinical nurse at Rossdales Equine Hospital, discusses prematurity in foals and the care that they and their dams need

NOT all new beginnings go to plan and, as with humans, horses born prematurely may need extra care. By knowing what is normal behaviour for a newborn foal, those responsible for them can identify what is abnormal and when veterinary intervention should be sought.

A NORMAL NEWBORN

A HEALTHY newborn foal should be able to stand one hour after birth and be nursing from the mare by two to four hours after birth.

The milk the mare produces in the first hours of a foal’s life is called colostrum. Colostrum is yellow in colour, thicker and stickier than milk and contains antibodies essential to support immunity in the newborn.

Foals’ immune systems are not fully developed at birth, so it is important that they ingest this colostrum within the first six hours of life, so that these antibodies can be passed from mare to foal. This is called the passive transfer of immunity.

A normal foal will nurse at least five times an hour, and will spend a large amount of the time asleep.

Foals should urinate and defecate within six to 12 hours after foaling. The first faeces is called meconium, which is sticky and dark in colour. If a newborn foal is not following this normal timeline, do not hesitate to contact a vet.

BEYOND THE NORM

OCCASIONALLY a mare can foal too early. Normal gestation in the mare is 320 days to 360 days. Broadly speaking, a foal is classed as premature when it is born with a gestational age of less than 320 days.