80 MARE AND COLT. 



days old, as the colt will lie down and it may be killed by 

 the heat. 



A scouring foal should have careful treatment. Cover 

 closely with a warm blanket with two surcingles, that it may 

 keep his belly warm, and bandage the legs to arms and 

 thighs. Drench with sixteen to twenty ounces of castor oil 

 containing one-quarter ounce of laudanum. Give but little 

 drink, and make it tepid. Feed rice boiled to a pulp in new 

 milk, and one quart of new milk maybe given daily. When 

 the foal is stronger, give a few crushed oats and good old 

 hay. A slight looseness of the bowels may cause no anxiety, 

 as this is natural with young colts. If the little colt does 

 not get milk enough, feed it milk and oatmeal made into a 

 thin gruel. 



The greatest trouble with little colts, when young, is con- 

 stipation. This may be regulated by giving the mother 

 sloppy food, such as scalded bran. If the foal is bound up, 

 when born, give it an injection at once of starch, molasses 

 and warm water. Repeat every half hour until relief comes. 

 As he gets older, relieve constipation with linseed meal, po- 

 tatoes or carrots. ^ 



A great many farmers who raise colts don't seem to know 

 that it pays to feed colts well from the beginning, and to 

 make them grow as fast as possible. They should not feed 

 for spavins, ring bones, and other blemishes or defects in the 

 limbs, and yet they do. Some men's colts are always un- 

 sound in their limbs, and the reason is they do not have 

 food suitable to make a perfect development of the bones, ten- 

 dons, tissues and muscles. 



Do not imagine the colt is all right because it has all the 

 hay it can eat. This is not wisdom. Give it less hay and 

 two to four quarts of bran and oats mixed, according to its 

 size. This kind of food will make strong bone and joints. 



