The secret of the foal’s strength in its first hours .. The respiratory rate, pulse and lactation must be monitored. Some of the characteristics of weakness are: “coarseness of hair, drooping ears, low weight and deformation of the legs..”
Written by – Dr. Bassem Badr
Director of stables and Chief Veterinarian
King Abdulaziz Center for Purebred Arabian Horses
Caring for newborn foals is one of the things that will affect the newborn horse throughout its life, and the secret of the foal’s strength lies in the first hours of its birth, so standing and breastfeeding must be followed during the first two hours of birth as they are the two most important signs of a healthy foal, while measuring temperature, pulse and breathing.
There are some vital signs important for diagnosing the health of the foal. Therefore, genetic problems that may cause obstruction of the foal must be examined, and the condition of the foal is assessed as normal, through a number of indications, the first of which is: Knowing the normal pregnancy period, which ranges from “315 to 340” days, and that the birth took place. Normally.
The second stage of childbirth ..
It is the real birth stage, as this stage is 20 minutes long, if there is no problem with
The birth process, where the birth process is divided into three stages: “labor, childbirth and the delivery of the placenta.”
The third step
Monitor the respiratory rate and pulse, which at first is faster than the normal rate and then gradually decreases, as for breathing it is less than 40 per minute and the heart rate is less than 80 per minute, so that the mother mare begins to lick the foal and motherhood begins during the first moments of birth and the foal begins Also in approaching the mother due to the instinct that appears immediately after birth.
The stage of miscarriage begins, “foal casting”, within a period ranging from two to four hours and is greenish brown in color. If the foal consumes an appropriate amount of colostrum milk, it accelerates the descent of the foal, and it is necessary to notice that the foal urinates naturally, within six to seven hours. After birth and as soon as the foal starts feeding.
Breast feeding:
The rate of breastfeeding in the first hours after birth is “from 3 to 4 times an hour”, and this rate gradually decreases with the increase in the age of the foal.
Lactation period:
The breastfeeding period is at first two minutes, then it takes a rest period and sleeps about half an hour continuously, and it may be prolonged, then the foal begins to explore the environment around him, such as the mother and the place in which he lives.
Indicators of poor births
Among them is that a foal is not fully developed for a pregnancy period of “less than 315 days” and the characteristics of the foal are not fully developed:
Rough hair and drooping ears, weakness of the foal, the average weight of the foal is lower than the normal size, the normal weight of the newborn foal is 10% of the weight of the mother, and the presence of deformation of the menus (non-straight legs), with the foal being exposed to a period of birth of more than half an hour, so the stage of birth is the second stage, which is about The exit of the bag and its bursting until the foal’s birth and difficulty breathing: it is an increase in the rate of difficulty in breathing or an increase in the rate of breathing and failure of the foal to stand and breastfeed within two hours, in addition to the presence of abnormalities in the foal or abnormal behavior such as the mother’s refusal to breastfeed the foal.
The foal must be monitored during the first days after birth, even if it appears outwardly that it is normal, healthy and healthy, noting behavioral changes, as the foal should enjoy activity and vitality during the first days and the first indication of a problem is the running of the foal for long periods.
The foal breastfeeding different parts of the mother’s body after knowing the nipples and breastfeeding the mother and this indicates that the amount of milk in the mother’s shield is insufficient, so the breastfeeding period is within two minutes. If the period is prolonged, the mother’s shield does not have enough milk to feed the foal or the foal’s inability To breastfeed naturally.
Seventh: Swelling of the foal’s abdomen and inability to urinate during the first 8 hours, failure to expel the foal, presence of tearing, difficulty in defecation, yellowing of the eyes and gums, and the appearance of diarrhea with lethargy, weakness, and a rise in temperature, and this condition differs from the diarrhea that may occur as a result of the mother’s estrus and in this case The diarrhea is normal and not accompanied by lethargy, weakness, or high temperature.
And also the presence of symptoms or swelling in one of the joints of the foal with the presence of swelling or pain with urine coming from the navel, and the presence of coughing or milk coming out of the nose of the foal during breastfeeding. A crack in the roof of the upper throat “palate” should be noted, since this leads to the occurrence of pneumonia.
Care for a newborn foal
Among the most important things needed for newborn foals: cleansing the navel with betadine, and not interfering with the doctor or cutting the umbilical cord and leaving this matter to happen naturally, as it is cut when the foal begins to move and tries to stand or when the mother stands immediately after birth, so the umbilical cord is cut naturally and quickly interfered with Cutting the umbilical cord may deprive the foal of a large amount of blood from the mother to the foal.
After cutting, the umbilical cord begins to be disinfected with betadine two to three times daily. A recent study has shown that the best disinfectant for the navel is “chlorhexadine”, with a concentration of%, meaning that one part of chloroxadine with 3 parts of water and avoiding the use of high concentration iodine because it may cause cauterization of the navel. .
It is not recommended to use antibiotics at birth, as bacteria are formed that are resistant to the effects of antibiotics “affect the effectiveness of the antibiotic in the future”, with the exception of the emergence of epidemic diseases on the farm. In this case, the antibiotic is used for 3 consecutive days.
Immunity test
It is a measure of the level of immune bodies, and this test is necessary for the foal after feeding the colostrum, which contains a large amount of immune bodies (aminoglobin), which protect the foal from diseases during the first three or four months of its life because it transmits to it a type of acquired immunity through breastfeeding. For sediment milk, which in some villages is called nail milk
Aminoglobin: A type of protein that the foal’s intestine is able to absorb during the first hours of birth only “24 to 48 hours” after that it is not absorbed.
A sample of the foal’s blood is drawn 12 hours after birth to detect the percentage of immune bodies and determine their percentage, as their stomach ranges between “40 to 80 milligrams”. If it is less than 40 milligrams, there is a deficiency in immunity and must be compensated by giving an adequate amount of colostrum Or give an amount of plasma ranging from “3-4 liters” to the foal.
The foal vaccination begins before birth, by giving the mother mare all the necessary vaccinations for the diseases recorded within the country during the last three months of the taxon, as the mare creates antibodies to all the diseases that have been vaccinated and all these antibodies are transmitted through the sediment milk that is fed The foal must be given during the first 24 hours of its life and these immune bodies give it acquired protection for a period of not less than three months, and this requires immunization of the foal starting from the third month.
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