Your foal’s first weeks

What to expect in the first six weeks of a foal's life

Early days

Newborn foals should spend around a third of their time lying down. They have their first sleep between 1.5 and four hours old, and their first ‘play’ by two hours of age. They normally drink frequently, at least once and up to seven times in an hour, so their life is spent sleeping, drinking, urinating and playing!  They typically spend 94-99% of their time within 5m of their dam; a young foal who is spending a lot of time away from the mare is cause for concern.

As your foal’s first weeks pass, he or she still needs monitoring closely and a close eye should be kept on the mare too. Is she bright and moving freely? Sometimes mastitis can initially look like lameness. If the mare is dripping milk or has a very full udder, it often is a sign that the foal is not getting enough milk and the foal then needs to be examined very carefully.

If you are at all concerned about your foal, ring your veterinarian for advice sooner rather than later. Foals can go downhill fast if they have an infection and/or are not drinking enough. Once they are really sick, the cost of treating goes up – and prognosis for survival goes down. 

Look out for: 

  • a foal not drinking enough (check if the foal’s urine is clear and they are urinating often)
  • a foal who is lethargic 
  • swollen joints 
  • crooked legs and/or lameness
  • the colour of the gums – they should be a healthy pink (not white, yellow or red)
  • signs of colic
  • abnormal swellings eg. hernias 
  • diarrhoea
  • the foal being ‘not quite right’

Below are some important conditions that can affect foals in the first six weeks of life.

Prematurity

A foal is premature if it is born at less than 320 days of gestation, although foals can still be immature after a normal length pregnancy. Prematurity can bring with it a whole range of problems, so it is important to get any premature foal examined promptly by your vet.

Meconium retention

Meconium is the first lot of manure your foal will pass. It is dark brown/black and very thick and sticky. If this isn’t passed, then the foal will start to become uncomfortable anywhere between six-24 hours after birth. You will see your foal becoming restless and straining often, and this will progress to colic signs; lying down and rolling. Call your vet, as the sooner this is treated the better. It may also be worth checking that the foal has drunk adequate amounts of colostrum. 

Ruptured bladder 

This can occur during the birth process. Signs develop gradually; the foal becomes quiet and lethargic and the abdomen starts to swell. Often, they can still urinate – but they produce less than normal and they may just dribble. Your vet should be called urgently.

Dummy foal 

You may have heard the term ‘dummy foal’, aka neonatal maladjustment syndrome. The signs develop within three days of birth; the foal starts to behave very abnormally. It may not recognise its mother, or may not be able to suck. It may wander aimlessly, have seizures, appear blind and may breathe erratically. Your vet will perform tests to check for infection and metabolic causes, then will treat as required. Fortunately, 80% of these foals will survive and go on to be normal, as long as there isn’t another underlying problem.

Infections

Infection in the blood (septicaemia) is the most common cause of death in foals admitted for intensive care. Early signs are the foal being lethargic and not drinking, which is why it is very important to notice this and call your vet if you are at all concerned. If the infection can be treated early, the chance for survival is much greater. Ensuring your foals gets adequate amounts of colostrum helps reduce the risk of developing septicaemia.

Neonatal Isoerythrolysis

NI is a similar condition to that involving the rhesus factor in humans. In this case, the foal’s red blood cells are destroyed by antibodies in the colostrum. The foal will become lethargic and the gums will become very pale. If the problem is detected early the foal may just need to be given colostrum from another (tested) mare and stopped from drinking the colostrum off its dam, but in some cases the foal needs a blood transfusion. 

Diarrhoea

Many foals will have a degree of diarrhoea at some time within the first six weeks of life. In most cases, the diarrhoea is only mild, doesn’t last long and is not life-threatening.

Between one and two weeks old, a non-infectious diarrhoea commonly occurs. This is known as the ‘foal heat diarrhoea’ because it occurs at approximately the same time as the mare has her first season after foaling. It was thought that the foal heat diarrhoea was associated with the hormonal changes in the mare, but this has been shown to not be the case. Foals with this condition are bright, alert, continue to drink well and behave normally. They do not have a fever. The diarrhoea is not contagious, and it will improve without any treatment. 

However, there are some infectious causes of diarrhoea in foals that can be life threatening without treatment. These include rotavirus, clostridium infection, salmonella, cryptosporidia and rhodococcus. The worm strongyloides westeri can also cause diarrhoea in young foals (ideally, you will have wormed your mare a few weeks before the foal was born). The infectious causes need to be treated rapidly, and measures taken to make sure the infection doesn’t spread to other foals (or to humans in some cases). If your foal is off-colour and has diarrhoea, contact your veterinarian urgently, as they can go downhill rapidly.

Crooked legs

It is very important to look carefully at your foal’s legs to see if they are straight. Ask someone to walk your mare so the foal walks beside her, to see how your foal moves. Several types of deformities can occur: 

Flexural deformitities are seen when you look at the foal from the side. There are two forms. In one it looks that the tendons are too contracted, resulting in the foal being very upright in mild cases, to knuckling over in more severe cases. In the other form, the tendons appear to be very lax and flaccid so the fetlocks are low down very close to the ground, and sometimes resulting in the foal’s heel bulbs becoming scraped (this type is more common in premature foals).

The foal can be born with the problem, or it can develop over time. Initially, it is very important that you make sure the foal can stand and suck, as it is extremely important that the foal gets a good amount of the colostrum (first milk) in the first 12-24 hours of life. Call your vet to examine and treat your foal if it has a flexural deformity. There are several different treatments including controlled exercise, bandaging, splinting, medication, hoof trimming and glue-on hoof extensions; your veterinarian will work with you and your foal to determine the appropriate plan. 

Angular limb deformities are seen when you look at the foal from the front or behind. The legs are bent inwards, outwards or can be rotated. Again, it is important to involve your vet early on (by two weeks of age) as we can correct deformities more easily while the bones are growing rapidly. If your foal has an angular limb deformity, don’t allow it to gallop around a huge paddock as this will put strain on the legs, and as the muscles tire the deformity may become worse. Sometimes we can treat mild deformities with corrective hoof trimming and confinement with controlled exercise. The most important thing is to get treatment started before the foal is too old. 

Hernias and swellings

Look carefully for any abnormal swellings. Hernias can be in the groin area or in the navel/umbilical area. Any swelling of the navel should be examined to assess whether it is an infection or a hernia, and treatment given, which may involve surgery.

In Summary

Usually, if a foal has received an adequate amount of colostrum (the important first milk, containing antibodies) then this gives it a great start in life, but it still needs a close eye kept on it to detect any problems early. Just by being aware of what to look out for and when to call for veterinary attention can mean the difference between life and death for your foal. Talk to your vet if you need more information. Don’t hesitate to ask for advice, and hopefully any serious or long-term problems will be avoided. Above all, enjoy your beautiful new foal!

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