THE AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE RACING JOURNAL

Transcription

1 THE AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE RACING JOURNAL Orphan Foal Care Horse owners have many options when faced with an orphaned foal. By Andrea Caudill From The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal library 1

2 IRIS BUCHANAN S MACAVERTY DID NOT HAVE AN EASY START in life. Born on the first day of 1997, the sorrel colt s 13-year-old mama, Space Teese, began bleeding internally shortly after his delivery. The valiant mare, surrounded by her human helpers, struggled to her feet, nickered and encouraged her newborn to nurse, passing on life-saving colostrum to him. He nursed for three or four minutes, a long time, Iris says. When he backed up and walked a little ways from her, she very carefully laid down, nickered to him, and that was it. She was a genuine mother. Macaverty, however, was left an only-minutes-old orphan. To feed the hungry baby, Iris fixed a lamb nipple onto a cleaned green 7UP bottle and fed him every few hours. A week or so later, friend and neighbor Dr. Tommy Bullard called. His 22-year-old Easy Jet mare, the graded stakes-winning producer Easy Worthy, had slipped her foal. Did Iris want to try putting them together, he asked? She did, and Dr. Bullard loaded Easy Worthy onto a trailer and headed over. As he pulled into the drive, I was coming out of the house with Macaverty s bottle, Iris says. I rounded the corner into the stalls, and Macaverty saw me and started whinnying for his bottle. The mare started hollering, and he s hollering. We had some afterbirth to see if that would help (the mare accept the foal) and were in the stall to protect the foal. But he walked up to her, and she just started licking him. We didn t have to do anything. I guess she was such a good mama, she just wanted a baby to care for and didn t care whose it was. Within three days, Iris was able to quit giving bottles, and the foal soon began eating milk pellets to supplement the milk he got from Easy Worthy. He was a tough cookie, Iris says. Macaverty, named for a character in the musical Cats, went on to a successful racing career. Racing for a partnership, he won five of 15 starts and earned $80,949. Throughout his life, he was quite a character, Iris says. He was absolutely elegant and gorgeous, and he drew people to him. He had charisma. But he could be a handful; he threw several jockeys in his time. He was pretty strong, and he was pretty bossy. (The only effect of his being orphaned was) I was always afraid there d be somebody standing at the racetrack with a green bottle that d distract him he never forgot that. Through the years, we d see if he still remembered, and he d drink the 7UP or Sprite from a green bottle; he liked the taste of it. First Things First THE APPROACH FOR CARING FOR AN ORPHAN FOAL DEPENDS largely on the circumstances surrounding it. Dr. Leslie Dykstra practices at Oklahoma City Equine at Oklahoma City and has handled a number of orphan cases. If they re just within a few days of life, it s actually better if you can get a nurse mare, Dr. Dykstra says. Not only are they getting important nutrients and antibodies from the mare s milk, but the mare has a lot to teach them as well when it comes to interacting with other horses and giving them the sense of how to be a horse. When you put them on a bucket or you try to feed them with a bottle, some of that can be lost if they haven t had C H R I S T I N E H A M I L T O N C H R I S T I N E H A M I L T O N There are a number of options when it comes to foal milk replacers. It is always a good idea to build a colostrum bank in case of need. time to just learn those important characteristics of interacting with other horses, she adds. If they re a few weeks old or older, it may be easier and more economical for the owners to go ahead and put them on a bucket. We usually have pretty good success with that. If a foal is orphaned immediately after foaling, the first concern is to make sure it has adequate colostrum intake. A mare s first milk, colostrum, is rich in nutrients and contains antibodies that will give the foal immunity for its first weeks of life. If a foal is unable to nurse colostrum directly from the mare, it might be a good idea to have a veterinarian administer it directly with a nasal-gastric tube to ensure none of the precious liquid is wasted. A foal needs at least a liter of colostrum. This can be obtained from the mare or from a colostrum bank. Check with your veterinarian to find stored colostrum, or you can create your own bank by milking a few cups from a mare, labeling it and putting it in the freezer. The colostrum is good for up to three years if properly frozen. When thawing colostrum, be sure to warm it slowly in a warm water bath to preserve its nutrients

3 Test a foal s immunity levels by having a veterinarian run an immunoglobulin G (IgG) blood test on the foal. Testing early 8-12 hours after birth will allow a second feeding of colostrum if the foal s levels are still low. A foal cannot absorb the colostrum after a window of about hours and will have to be supplemented with a plasma transfer. Bucket Feeding IF YOU RE BUCKET FEEDING A BABY, DR. DYKSTRA RECOMMENDS using a commercial milk replacer. There are a number of brands available on the market. A typical foal will consume about 400 milliliters per feeding. Dr. Dykstra s clinic typically feeds newborns on an hourly basis, feeding from a bucket. We actually hang a bucket and put the milk replacer in there, Dr. Dykstra says. We just introduce him to it, we stick his muzzle in and show him where it s at. We do that every hour, and typically after a period of time, the foals can go about drinking out of the bucket. If they re extremely small, we can either insert a feeding tube or use a bottle. If feeding from a bottle, the best option is to use a lamb nipple. As the foal gets older, feedings can be stretched out. A maximum time between feedings is about four hours. Whatever feeding schedule is chosen, though, make sure it s a regular one. We offer both (milk replacer and pellets) at first, Dr. Dykstra says. They seem to prefer the pelleted after we gradually switch them, and then they take to the pellets very well. When you want to go from the pelleted to creep feed, we just mix it in gradually and switch them over. If a foal is more than a few weeks old when it is orphaned, Dr. Dykstra says, it can be more difficult to graft it onto a nurse mare, so it s usually easiest to just feed the baby with a bucket. However, older foals do not have to be fed as long, and can be weaned onto a commercial pelleted feed with milk replacer and eventually allowed to eat creep feed. Thirty-year breeders Maynard and Jacolyn Alves of Redmond, Oregon, have registered more than 800 foals and, with those numbers, have had their share of orphans through the years. Jackie has developed her own system of dealing with them and often helps neighbors with theirs. I put the baby in a good stall with smooth walls, as sometimes they will work the walls, especially if they had their mother for a few days, she says. She sets up a special feeding station on the front wall. First goes a three-strand bale of alfalfa, with two shallow rubber tubs placed on top. The foal can eat at a better height, and the shallow tubs are not as frightening as sticking its head into a deep bucket might be. The tubs are filled with milk-replacer pellets and liquid milk replacer. I think all (the milk replacers) are good, she says. Here, I use Foal Lac or Land O Lakes powder. But our babies never see a bottle. Jackie keeps food out for the foals at all times. She washes the tubs out regularly to keep the milk from becoming rancid, and makes sure to always provide a foal with fresh water. The first few days, I pay him a lot of attention, she says. Test a foal s IgG levels to ensure it has acquired the proper immunity. I go into the stall, give the baby a good rub and coach him to the tub of milk. I get behind his ears and push his head down into the milk. He will come up smacking his lips it s surprising how fast they learn. When you watch a foal with his dam, he drives his mother crazy wanting to take a little sip all the time, not like making them suck on a bottle every two hours. With the milk in the tub, they can have a drink any time they wish. Fill it to the top before you go to bed, and you can have a good night s sleep. Trying the grain is the next process, Jackie says, and the foal will get into it after drinking the milk. When they take their little milky lips out of the milk tub, they will get into the grain tub, she says. The grain will stick to their lips, and before you know it, they will be eating it. She also makes alfalfa available, and says the foal will soon start on the bale. When weaning time comes around, she says, my orphans are the biggest and strongest. When feeding an orphan, be careful to teach it manners. A foal needs to learn to be a horse, not a person. Often a companion, such as an older gelding or a foal of a similar age, will help an orphan learn proper equine manners as it grows. Nurse Mares A system devised by Jacolyn Alves of Oregon has a buffet set up for an orphan foal. IF A MARE THAT HAS LOST A FOAL ISN T AVAILABLE, there is another option to get a naturally raised baby. Nurse mare services around the country provide nursing mares that can be leased and used to raise the orphan foals. Bill Moore of Stillwater, Oklahoma, fields calls per year from people looking for a mare, and provides nurse mares in a wide field from Arkansas to New Mexico, including Lazy E Ranch at Guthrie, Oklahoma. He has a herd of 20 mares, including drafts, Quarter Horses, Thoroughbreds and Haflingers. When an owner calls, he sends the mare to the owner s farm to raise the orphan, and he raises the mare s baby. The foals are later donated to local boys ranches, FFA or 4-H students or university programs for the disabled. If you re raising a racehorse baby and you keep him on a bucket, he becomes a pet, and it s hard to break him out of C O U R T E S Y O F J A C O L Y N A L V E S C H R I S T I N E H A M I L T O N

4 In this case, the Alves orphan Starlite N Kisses can drink milk and eat milk-replacer pellets free-choice at a comfortable height. of that into being a horse again, Bill says. That s one of the reasons (owners would) rather have them raised by a nurse mare rather than on a bucket. We raise (our foals) on a bucket, and they become like a little goat; they ll follow you everywhere you go. That kind of takes the enthusiasm of learning to be a racehorse away from them. The mares are leased for a period of six months for $2,500. The lessee pays all the expenses on the mare, including feeding, upkeep and medical care. The lessee also must breed the mare back as soon as possible so the mares will be available for the next year s breeding season. If the mares are bred back by May 15, Bill gives a discount on the lease fee. Seems like the farms are not interested in getting them bred back (promptly) they don t think about next year, Bill says. Sometimes, when we get them back in August, we can breed them, but it doesn t do any good to have a June-July baby, as no one needs a nurse mare then. So we actually lose them for two years. The most difficult part of using a nurse mare, Moore said, is grafting the foal onto the mare. It can typically take three to five days to get the mare to accept the foal and sometimes longer. If you have no experience getting a mare to accept a foal, Bill recommends finding the services of a professional, either a veterinarian or someone who specializes in working with mares and foals. Prime Talent, orphaned as a foal, became a stakes winner and earned more than $100,000. He is now a sire. C O U R T E S Y O F J A C O L Y N A L V E S S A M H O U S T O N R A C E P A R K (The best way to graft a foal) is really dependent on the mare, Dr. Dykstra says. Some are going to be more tolerant than others. It is as much restraint as it takes. Some people hobble; some people tie. There are different ways, and I think it s individual to the mare. Just remember to do as little as you can. Chemical Inducement IF A LACTATING NURSE MARE ISN T AVAILABLE, IT IS POSSIBLE TO use an open mare for the same purpose. If a mare has given birth and successfully nursed a foal at least once, but is currently open, it is possible to chemically induce lactation. In a paper presented at the 2007 American Association of Equine Practitioners convention, Dr. Peter F. Daels outlined the accepted procedural method. To qualify for the position, a mare must have a record of motherhood and being a good mother. She must also be in good body condition and be willing to cooperate with a series of shots and being restrained while grafting a foal onto her. Veterinarians can use one of two protocols for inducing the lactation. The first requires an intramuscular injection of estradiol-benzoate, a daily dosage of altrenogest, and twicedaily injections of sulpiride. When the udder fills, milking can begin. This generally happens after four to seven days of treatment. Oxytocin is administered immediately before milking for optimal letdown. After about three to four days of milking, when milk production reaches about three to five liters per day, the mare can adopt the foal. The second method requires a single administration of dinoprost, estradiol benzoate, altrenogest and domperidone. On days 2-15, the mares are given estradiol benzoate, altrenogest and domperidone. They are not milked until they adopt the foal. Mares that are not producing significant milk levels should not be used as adoptive mares. Treatments on mares that have successfully started milking were typically halted after about a week or several days after adoption. Extended treatments typically weren t effective. Once the mare has adequate milk production, she should be introduced to the foal. The authors of the paper recommend using a vaginal stimulation method. The mare is restrained, and the foal is held near her head while the mare receives vaginal-cervical stimulation. This involves vigorous massage of the external portion of the cervix and an attempt to dilate the cervix to simulate birth. This should be done for two minutes at 10-minute intervals. Adoption took significantly longer for the mares that did not receive vaginal-cervical stimulation, the authors wrote. Under experimental conditions, 14 of 16 mares that received vaginal-cervical stimulation adopted the foal immediately, and maternal behavior occurred immediately. In the mares that did not undergo vaginal-cervical stimulation, only two mares adopted immediately, and the remaining 14 mares displayed aggressive and potentially harmful actions toward the foal for four to 24 hours. It is interesting to note that all mares finally adopted the foals and that maternal behavior was complete and indistinguishable from that of mares that stayed with their own foal. The authors also noted that in their second week, foals that were grafted onto the mares were typically smaller than the controls (foals kept on their natural mother). However, at weaning age, adopted foals were indistinguishable from the controls

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