608 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



ings on the farm for no other purpose than to take the hard places off from 

 the brood mares and I have found it very profitable. Give her her box 

 stall intended for foaling at least a month before she is due. This allows 

 her to get accustomed to the change in temperature that sometimes exists 

 between the farm stable and the box used for foaling mares. There is 

 often great risk of both mother and offspring taking a cold when the 

 mare is kept in a warm stable up to foaling and then turned into a 

 draughty box stall where it is much colder. Foals will usually stand as 

 much exposure as the mare has been accustomed to. For instance, a 

 foal from a mare that has been wintered outside will bear an amount of 

 exposure that would soon kill one from a mare that has been accustomed 

 to a warm stable. 



After the mare has foaled it is best to leave her and the foal to them- 

 selves. If the foal is strong he will get on his legs and nurse without 

 help. Too much interference often makes the mare restless and prevents 

 her from letting the foal nurse. Foals during the first few days require 

 a good deal of attention. One great evil is when foals get costive, and de- 

 ranged internally. This may be avoided in a great measure by a laxative 

 food, such as a warm bran mash which will have the effect of keeping the 

 foal laxative also. But where mares can get green fresh grass or have 

 been fed laxative food little doctoring is required. More harm than good 

 is often done by treating the foals. It is best to treat the mare and not 

 the offspring. It sometimes happens that the flow of milk is greater than 

 the foal can take. In such cases it is well to draw from the udder two or 

 three times a day until the foal is able to take care of it all. If it is al- 

 lowed to remain in the udder it becomes unwholesome and liable to de- 

 range the foal internally. But as soon as the foal is well under way and 

 able to take all the milk the mare gives, means should be taken to increase 

 the quantity as well as the quality of the milk. Oats with bran or alfalfa 

 meal and other green feeds will produce the desired result. If the weather 

 is warm in April and the fore part of May turn the mare out on grass 

 after the cold dew is off and the sun is shining. Young animals derive 

 great strength and benefit from sunshine. Of course in the extreme heat 

 of the last days of June and July this treatment must be reversed. Keep 

 the very young foal in from the extreme heat of the day. Pardon me 

 for saying so much about colt management and feeding in early stages but 

 I have learned from experience that the most critical period in all the 

 colt's life that the feeder has to contend with in rearing the colt, is from 

 birth to four weeks old. 



Mares should have at least fourteen days rest from work after foaling 

 and if farm operations will admit, longer. When the mares are put to 

 work they should be used only a few hours at first, and the time gradually 

 increased. Anyone who has watched a mare and foal will know what a 

 great number of times the latter will nurse in an hour. It is therefore 

 very unreasonable to take a mare away from a very young foal and work 

 her a half day without allowing it to nurse. When they get older and 

 can take some nourishment it is different. I do not work my mares after 

 foaling if I can possibly avoid it for I know that the mare that is being 

 worked cannot possibly have the amount of nutrition to spare for the 



