Then you will want to read this and know a bit about how colostrum works so you can make sure your foal is protected.
Please be vigilant when your foal is born, if your mare doesn't have good quality colostrum containing antibodies to pass
onto her foal then the foal is at risk of infections, disease and death. Infections are one of the leading causes of foal deaths
under 1 month old and it’s often preventable.
10 points to remember.
1. Mares don't pass antibodies to the foal via the placenta, the
foal needs to get them from the colostrum/first milk.
Foals need colostrum to kick start their immune and digestive
system, without it they are at risk and often become very ill
and also die in the coming days, weeks or even months after
birth, even though they look perfectly healthy and happy to
begin with.
foal is born the quality is now too low, you can test the quality
before birth and know if it's good enough to store for later use
in case the level is low after birth.
6. Foals can't absorb the antibodies in colostrum after 24
hours old, the foals gut changes at this point and the antibodies
can't be absorbed, so this crucial time is the only opportunity
for a foal to receive the antibodies naturally and without costly
vet intervention.
2. You can now test your mares colostrum with a FoalGuard
colostrum meter, this should be done within an hour of birth,
it literally takes seconds to test, you only need three drops
of milk/colostrum. The foalguard colostrum meter is an
inexpensive device that can be used over and over every year,
no breeder should be without one in their foaling kit.
7. It is always a good idea to get an IgG test (blood antibody
test) done the foal by a vet at around 36 hours after birth to
ensure the foal has absorbed the antibodies and isn't at risk, if
the foal fails an IgG test it may need a plasma transfusion.
3. Make sure your foal is up and drinking strongly and
8. At the first sign of lethargy, lack of appetite, tucked up
regularly, even
more so if the
colostrum level of
the mare is slightly
low, the an