How Do You Care For A Premature Foal?
A lot of planning and expense goes into breeding a mare and producing a foal. Unfortunately sometimes things go wrong and foals are born prematurely. While you cannot prevent many premature births, avoid breeding mares who have a history of foaling prematurely. To give your foal the best chance of survive, make sure your mare is healthy when bred and while pregnant. Discuss an appropriate vaccination schedule and de-worming schedule with your veterinarian and stick with it. If your mare goes into labor before 300 days of gestation, realize the foal’s chances of survival are almost non-existent. If your mare delivers a premature foal, call your veterinarian immediately for an examination. While waiting on the veterinarian, observe the foal. Can he stand? If so, does he try to nurse? Does he urinate and defecate? Let your veterinarian know about any abnormalities. Have your veterinarian test your foals to make sure he got immunoglobulins (IGs) from the mare’s colostrum. These IGs are cri
