Raising the orphan foal.

Orphan foals are best reared by fostering them onto a brood mare of appropriate size. If no foster mother is available, they can be reared on 2 per cent fat skimmed cow's milk fortified with dextrose at the rate of 20 gm per L. This should be slowly increased from 10 per cent of body weight at 1 day of age to 25 per cent of body weight at 10 days of age. The amount should then be held constant until weaning. Alternatively, foals can be reared on milk replacers. Manufacturers' feeding instructions rarely mimic the milk intake obtained by a foal nursing her dam, and problems have been observed in milk replacer fed foals. It may be better to feed milk replacers at 1- to 2-hour intervals as a 12.5 per cent solution. The volume fed can be slowly increased from 5 per cent of body weight at day 1 to 20 per cent of body weight at day 10. Fresh water, hay, and good-quality creep feed with at least an 18 per cent crude protein should be offered from 2 weeks of age. Foals can be weaned at 8 to 12 weeks of age.