222 BREEDING 



the foal should be thoroughly scalded, drained, and dried in the oven each 

 time after being used. Before the mare is milked, the teats and udder must 

 be cleansed, and sponged over with a solution of carbolic acid. 



Unless these precautions are strictly observed, and the milk conveyed 

 fresh to the foal directly it leaves the dam, it will be impossible to guard 

 against diarrhoea, and when this disease is once established in these imper- 

 fectly developed youngsters, a fatal termination is mostly the result. 



Hand-feeding will require to be continued night and day until the foal 

 is strong enough to feed itself, but after the first thirty-six hours the period 

 between meals may be gradually extended. 



When it has acquired sufficient strength to support itself, it may be 

 returned to the dam. How it will be received by her is a question which 

 must not be overlooked, and the attendant should stand by until the mare 

 has settled down to her offspring and shows a desire to nurse it. 



If, as is most likely to be the case, the dam is short of milk, the 

 deficiency must be made up by milk from the cow, prepared as directed 

 below. 



HAND-REARING OF FOALS 



It sometimes happens that the udder of the dam is functionally de- 

 stroyed, or so far damaged as to be incapable of producing a supply of 

 wholesome milk, or the dam may die and leave the offspring to be reared 

 by foster-mothers or by hand. 



To procure a foster-mother is always a difficult task, and sometimes a 

 most costly one. It does, however, now and again occur that a mare will 

 lose her foal, and a foal will lose its mother, about the same time in the 

 same district, and in these cases it is a mutual, if unequal, advantage to the 

 persons concerned to bring the survivors together. When this can be done, 

 the trouble is in a large measure removed, although it must be admitted 

 that the transference of a newly-born foal to a strange mare is not unlikely 

 to be attended with digestive disorder and diarrhoea at first, and especially 

 if the former has not received the first laxative milk of its dam, and the 

 latter should have foaled several days prior to entering upon her fostering 

 duties. 



As to whether hand-rearing is a desirable course to pursue, this will 

 very much depend on the age, character, and breeding of the offspring. 

 The more youthful it is when deprived of its parent the greater amount of 

 trouble it will give, whether its other properties be good, bad, or indifferent ; 

 and those who undertake the task of ministering to the wants of these 

 unfortunate youngsters must be prepared for no inconsiderable sacrifice of 

 time, to say nothing of comfort, as well as for inconvenience and expense. 



