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Raising and Feeding an Orphan Foal
By Christina S. Cable, DVM

The birth of a long-awaited foal is an occasion to celebrate. All of the planning, breeding dates, pregnancy checks, and hopes finally are realized. But what if the unthinkable happens--the mare becomes ill, or she doesn't produce any milk, or worse, she dies. What do you do with the foal? How do you care for him/her? How and what do you feed the little one? This article will discuss some of the options/considerations for caring and feeding of orphan foals.
Those of you who are new to breeding and raising horses might have never experienced the dilemma of raising an orphan foal or feeding a foal whose mother is producing little or no milk. It is a very real problem and can be a very time-consuming ordeal. Foals can lose their mothers for any of a variety of reasons, such as colic, uterine hemorrhage, or the mare can reject her foal completely. Other problems can occur that result in the inability of the mare to produce adequate milk for the foal, such as mastitis (infection of the mammary gland), metritis (infection of the uterus), or any other serious illness. If a mare is grazing fescue pastures while in late pregnancy, there is a fungus that can live on the grass named Acremonium coenophialum, which if ingested by the mare will block her ability to produce milk for her newborn foal. The foal is not an orphan technically, but another source of milk must be found immediately. This fungus also can lead to other serious problems with foaling, such as dystocia or a weak foal.

Newborn Orphans
Newborn foals rely entirely on their mother's milk for nutrition. The first milk a foal ingests is colostrum. It is essential as it provides much-needed immunoglobulins that help a foal fight off infection, since foals are born with a virtually inactive immune system. Therefore, if a foal is orphaned at birth, it is a particular emergency to find another source of not only milk, but of colostrum.
Remember, a foal is only able to absorb the immunoglobulins from the colostrum for approximately 12 hours. Therefore, it is imperative that colostrum be administered as soon as possible. If colostrum is not available, the foal will need to be administered intravenous plasma by your veterinarian within the first 24 hours of life. Equine plasma contains immunoglobulins to help protect the foal from infection--but this is expensive at about $150 per liter. A 100-pound foal needs one to two liters of plasma if he/she has not received any colostrum. If colostrum is available, the newborn foal needs about 250 ml of colostrum every hour for the first six hours, then free-choice every one to two hours.
The foal then should be tested by your veterinarian at 18-24 hours of age to determine if it has had adequate absorption of immunoglobulins. If the absorption is low, then the foal should receive intravenous plasma as a booster. Otherwise, it will be susceptible to life-threatening infection.
Now comes the next problem--how to get the foal to drink.

Nurse Mares
If a foal has been orphaned, the best way to provide milk is through a nurse mare. The orphaned foal is fostered onto another mare which has lost her foal, or had her own foal weaned. There are several farms that raise pregnant mares specifically for the service of providing nurse mares. This might sound like a perfect answer; however, there are some problems.
Nurse mares can be expensive, anywhere from $1,000-$1,500 for leasing the mare, plus most farms require that you are responsible for re-breeding the mare. Secondly, fostering the foal onto the mare can be time-consuming. (For further information, see the article on Foal Rejection in The Horse of February 1997, p. 49.)
However, once the foal is successfully fostered onto the nurse mare, the foal has an ever-ready food source and he/she will be socialized properly. The fostering process should not be attempted without an experienced person to supervise, since often the mare must be sedated and/or restrained to prevent injury to the foal. Mares can be placed into stocks or hobbled to prevent them from kicking the foal. However, two people are needed at all times while introducing the mare and foal--one to restrain the mare and one to guide and protect the foal.
The mare and foal should not be left alone until the mare has fully accepted the foal. Signs of acceptance include the mare nickering to the foal when the foal is led away, and the mare allowing the foal to nurse without resistance. Acceptance of the foal can take up to three days, but usually occurs within 12 hours.

Bottle Or Pail Feeding
If a nurse mare is not an option, or if the mare rejects the foal, the next option is bottle feeding or pail feeding the foal. If the foal has never nursed from the mare, it usually will be quite willing to nurse from a bottle. Lamb nipples are excellent, as they resemble a mare's teat the closest. If these are not available, Gerber NUK nipples, which are designed for human babies, can be used. Calf nipples usually are too big for foals to nurse effectively. Whichever is used, make sure the hole in the nipple is not too large--when the bottle is turned upside down, milk should not flow out of the nipple--otherwise the flow is too fast and the foal might aspirate milk while drinking.
Foals which are fed from a bottle need to be placed in an upright position to nurse. This lessens the chance of milk traveling down the foal's windpipe instead of the trachea (aspirating) and developing pneumonia. To simulate a natural position for nursing, stand with your back to the foal and hold the foal's nose underneath your arm. Then gently insert the nipple into the foal's mouth (make sure it is over the tongue). The foal might bump your arm with his/her head, but this is normal--it is how the foal stimulates the mare to "let down" milk.
Do not hold the bottle above the foal's head as this position can make it very easy for foals to aspirate milk.
Healthy foals usually will drink only until they are full, so the foal should be allowed to drink free choice after it has consumed colostrum in the first 24 hours. It also is a good idea to record the amount of milk consumed at every feeding, especially in the first few weeks of life, since this can help alert you to a decreasing appetite or ensuing illness. Remember to clean the bottles and nipples after each use.
If the foal has been nursing a mare, then getting it to nurse from a bottle can be quite difficult. These foals might be more likely to drink from a pail or bucket. Pail feeding is definitely less time-consuming and has an advantage since the foal can drink free choice.
Foals usually are able to be taught to drink from a pail. Milk is placed on your fingers and inserted into the foal's mouth to stimulate the suckle reflex. With your fingers still in the foal's mouth, lower your fingers into a pail of warm milk while the foal is suckling on your fingers. Eventually, it will get the idea. With this method of feeding, a bucket of mare's milk or milk replacer can be left in the foal's stall or paddock and changed every six to 12 hours. The bucket or pail should be hung at chest level for the foal to drink, and it should be cleaned every time the milk is changed. Remember, all foals should have access to fresh water at all times.