What options do I have if my broodmare is unable to provide colostrum for her newborn foal?
A broodmare may be unable to provide colostrum, for a variety of reasons, such as premature leakage, fescue toxicity, sudden death or mastitis. If the broodmare owner can anticipate this need, the best option is to find equine colostrum from a donor mare or farm, and administer it to the newborn foal in the first 2 hours of life. Ideally colostrum feeding should continue for at least the first 48 hours. Colostrum contains concentrated antibodies against important infectious diseases. Good quality colostrum is thick, yellow to gray in color, and very sticky. Colostrum can be collected from either healthy mares that bear a stillborn foal, or from healthy mares that have an abundance, and can be frozen in ice cube trays and stored for future need. This is a common practice, and carries only a slight risk of complications. The U of M offer the National Colostrum network that maintains a list of horse owners willing to give or sell colostrum to other horse owners in need. This 24 hour hotli
