Pre- and postnatal care for your foal and donkey

In the early months of pregnancy, a mare requires only routine care. During the late stages of pregnancy, however, certain procedures should be followed

Care of the Mare During Pregnancy

During the last month of pregnancy, the following considerations are important:

- Mares confined to a stall or another small area should be regularly given the opportunity for moderate exercise.

- Feed the mare a complete, balanced ration. Additional nutrition is necessary in the last several months (third trimester) of pregnancy. Feed Select MareTM and Bone Wise/Foal Care pellets and Select II mineral powder to help balance your mares ration to ensure the best possible fetal skeletal growth during the last 2-3 months of pregnancy.  Your mare should be in a positive energy balance and should be fed to allow for foal growth but not be obese.  Weight tape your mare weekly if you have questions regarding her rate of weight gain.  Increased calories are required in the third trimester which corresponds to the time of rapid fetal growth. Avoiding obesity will help avoid the chances your mare develops serious metabolic problems during the later stages of pregnancy.

- Be sure your mare is up to date on immunizations recommended for your area. All mares should receive rhinopneumonitis vaccine ( Pneumobort K1) at 5, 7 and 9 months of gestation. Booster Flu-EWT WNV Rabies immunizations during pregnancy also increase the level of antibodies in the mare's colostrum.

- If your mare has had foals previously and had foal health issues with respect to serum sickness we suggest a blood sample to test the mare's blood for the factor causing neonatal isoerythrolysis (foal icterus).  If your mare has had these issues in the past and your mare tests positive, the foal should not be allowed to nurse the mare for approximately the first 24 hours of life. Plannign ahead is paramount in these situations.  That foal should receive colostrum from another source, while the mare is milked out for the first 24 hours.  As stated, at 10 months pregnancy, we also will booster your mare for all relevant vaccines to ensure the highest level of antibodies be present in the colostrum as these antibodies are your foal's initial line of defense for the first months of life.  These vaccinations will include EEE, WEE, Tetanus, Influenza, West Nile Virus, Rabies +/- Strangles depending on the prevalence of this disease in your area.

- In conjunction with the regular deworming program, pregnant mares should be dewormed at 10 months of pregnancy.  Moxidectin dewormer gel should be given approximately 30 days before their due date.

Foaling:

. The future foaling area should be quiet, with only 1 or 2 people and no other animals inattendance.

. Signs of parturition (foaling) vary greatly. Watch for a tight udder, "wax" on the teats, dripping of milk, a relaxed vulva and pelvic ligaments (softening and hollowing of the area around the tailhead), extreme nervousness and sweating.  See our recent volume 1 blog post last week.

. When the first stage of labor begins (indicated by nervousness, sweating, getting up and down, etc), you can apply a tail bandage. Second-stage labor is indicated by rupture of the placental membranes ("breaking water"). Once the water breaks and the amnion (whitish translucent foal sac) appears, foaling usually proceeds reasonably fast.

. Protrusion through the vulva of one front foot, then the other front foot and the nose indicates that the foal is in the proper position and should have little trouble being born. Delivery can take a few minutes to half an hour. Any other presentation of the foal could indicate problems.

Call immediately if you suspect any problems before or during delivery.

Immediately After Foaling

As soon as the foal is passed, clean the foal's mouth-and nostrils of any mucus and/ or foreign material, and observe for normal breathing.

After delivery, encourage the mare to lie quietly for a few minutes so that all the remaining blood in the placenta has been transferred to the foal. The umbilical cord normally ruptures spontaneously when the mare gets up or when the foal struggles to get up.

After the umbilical cord ruptures, string can be used to tie up the amnion (foal sac) at the mare's vulva, to keep the mare from stepping on it, and to add weight to aid expulsion of the placenta. The placenta is usually expelled within a few minutes to a few hours after delivery of the foal. After it is passed, the placenta should be collected and kept away from dogs and direct sunlight until it can be examined thoroughly.

Dip the stump of the foal's umbilical cord into dilute betadine or chlorhex solution disinfectant in a small dixie cup or apply it to the stump with a swab. Disinfectant should be applied several times in the first 72 hours.

Care of Newborn Foals

The foal should stand within 1 hour after birth. During this time, the mare's licking  and the foal's struggling to rise stimulate the foal's neuromuscular system.

Observe the foal for a proper sucking reflex. If the foal has not nursed after 2 hours, you should call for veterinary assistance. Maiden mares may need to be held so that they will not move away or kick the foal during its attempts to nurse. Keep all human intervention to the absolute minimum to facilitate bonding of the mare and foal.

. The foal should have passed the initial meconium (green-colored first manure) soon after nursing. If you observe the foal straining, an enema may be required.   We suggest a blood sample should be collected 10-12 hours after nursing has started to check the foal's colostral antibody levels. Depending on the results, supplemental colostrum or a  plasma transfusion may be necessary if the foal's antibody levels  are abnormally low.  IgG levels beloe 800 g/dl are a risk factor for infection in the first months of life.

Later Foal Care

Antibodies in the mare's colostrum (first milk) provide immunity for the foal during the first 3 months of life. After this time, immunization should discussed with your veterinarian  using the  vaccines recommended for our area.  The timeline when this starts will be in part influenced by the level of colosral antibodies of the foal.  

Begin a regular deworming program early in the foal's life.

After 2-8 weeks of nursing, the foal will require solid food depending on the strength of the mare's lactation curve and its nutrient quality. Begin a supplemental creep feeding program at that time. Separate mare feed bins and creep feeders and can be used to keep mare and foal rations separate, as ration formulation is optimally designed for each life stage.   By weaning time, the foal should be healthy and eating well, and should be ready for independence.

Please call our Office if You have any questions concerning care of foals or pregnant mares or would like additional reading material or in summary if:

. You observe any abnormalities during your mare's pregnancy.

. You observe any abnormalities in the mare during or after foaling.

. Your foal is not on its feet within 1 hour after birth and/or is not nursing within 2 hours.

 You can read all of our blogs at https://alpineequine.net/blog          

Happy foaling

Chuck Maker DVM

Justine Stalnaker DVM

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Alpine Equine Hospital

970-379-7100 office

970-366-1320 emergency