Post by thystledown on Apr 16, 2024 11:44:02 GMT -5
I have a foal due the end of the month and the vet says they got no colostrum this year as all mares foaling there were maidens with no extra milk. All I have in the freezer is Jersey colostrum from September 2022. Vet did not know what might be available commercially becasue not generally an issue for them in the past (they are mainly a horse practice and have colostrum). Any advice what I should have on hand? I lost a foal when I was a teen because the mare did not have milk when the foal was born and it was born the same day my grandfather died and no one noticed since the foal was up and the mare was up and life was in termoil. So I like to be prepared.
Sure enough, we did have a problem delivery and the mare had so much edema the foal could not get much, if any, milk. He was born at 12:15 a.m. and was dehydrated by morning. BUT the vet said not to use cow colostrum because we could test him for IgG (immunoglobulins or such) at 12 hours. If he had any cow colostrum, the test would be invalid and I'd already read that cow colostrum does not protect a foal for as long as horse colostrum. It's half life in the body is about half of what a foal needs. In the mean time, he got foal formula. We used a syring to squirt it in his mouth. He kept nursing or trying to nurse. And he passed his IgG test just fine. Really greatful to our vet, who when I texted for advice, turned around, when back to the office, and showed up on my farm with the formula, syringes, etc. and checked the foal for dehydration (he was) and helped us get him started on formula. About 24 hours later he was off the formula. Mare still has edema 4 days later, but it is coming down. If we had given cow colostrum, the IgG tst would have been invalid. If his IgG had been low, he could have been given an IV of plasma. Nowadays, it comes frozen from high IgG mares and you don't have to draw the dam's blood and spin it down. So not so complicated and expensive as in the past. His name is Safari.
Sure enough, we did have a problem delivery and the mare had so much edema the foal could not get much, if any, milk. He was born at 12:15 a.m. and was dehydrated by morning. BUT the vet said not to use cow colostrum because we could test him for IgG (immunoglobulins or such) at 12 hours. If he had any cow colostrum, the test would be invalid and I'd already read that cow colostrum does not protect a foal for as long as horse colostrum. It's half life in the body is about half of what a foal needs. In the mean time, he got foal formula. We used a syring to squirt it in his mouth. He kept nursing or trying to nurse. And he passed his IgG test just fine. Really greatful to our vet, who when I texted for advice, turned around, when back to the office, and showed up on my farm with the formula, syringes, etc. and checked the foal for dehydration (he was) and helped us get him started on formula. About 24 hours later he was off the formula. Mare still has edema 4 days later, but it is coming down. If we had given cow colostrum, the IgG tst would have been invalid. If his IgG had been low, he could have been given an IV of plasma. Nowadays, it comes frozen from high IgG mares and you don't have to draw the dam's blood and spin it down. So not so complicated and expensive as in the past. His name is Safari.
