72 
PURE BRED DRAFT HORSES 
milk two or three times a day to a foal ... is ample until the me¬ 
conium is all out of the alimentary canal and it is seen that the young 
animal is really well and in fit condition to digest food. 
“The young animal should not be allowed too much milk, since it will 
frequently overfeed. This is especially true of the foal, which sometimes 
shows an inordinate appetite and seems to consider it incumbent upon it 
to take all the milk which the udder of the mother contains, thereby 
seriously overfeeding, which may end in more or less severe indigestion. 
It is conseqeuntly advisable, in many instances, to milk out a portion of 
the milk for the first few days in order to prevent the overfeeding of the 
foal. 
“Some writers insist that it is highly essential for the young animal 
to receive from the mother the first milk, or colostrum, because, they 
say, this acts as a laxative and brings away the meconium which has 
become accumulated in the intestinal tract. Clinically this theory is ap¬ 
parently not so important as some persons would have us believe . . . 
In young animals which get all the colostrum, retention of the meconium 
is just as common as in those which get none of the colostrum . . . 
A good enema will clean out more meconium in fifteen minutes than 
colostrum will in a week. 
“The young animal should be placed and kept under comfortable and 
favorable conditions, free from extremes of temperature. Although it 
may withstand quite high and low temperatures without serious injury, 
if the temperature be extremely low the extremeties of the new-born, 
especially the ears and tail, very readily freeze, or its life may be quickly 
imperiled under such extreme conditions. In very hot weather flies may 
be exceedingly troublesome and annoying. They may carry putrid In¬ 
fection to the navel of the young animal, causing serious and fatal 
diseases. 
“Exercise is quite essential to the new-born animal as to the adult. But 
the young of the larger herbivora is ready for considerable degree of 
exercise within a few hours after birth, which should be promptly pro¬ 
vided in all cases. When the mare is allowed to run at pasture, the foal 
has plenty of exercise. With work animals it is not injurious, but rather 
beneficial, for the foal to follow the mother if she is engaged in slow, 
light work.” 
Kennedy 01 writes in regard to the care of the foal as follows: “The 
colt’s belly and cord should be cleaned immediately with some good dis 
infectant. A good way of doing this is to cut the umbilical cord about 
an inch and a half long, and completely immerse the same in an iodine 
solution, also washing the immediately surrounding parts of the belly 
with the solution. It is important that this gets on the inner parts, as 
well as on the external surface of the cord. The cord should later be 
treated with some drying powder. A suitable powder is made of two parts 
each of tannic acid, boracic acid, end zinc oxide, with one part of iodo¬ 
form. Formerly it was thought well to tie the cord, but it was found that 
this has a tendency to keep a jelly-like substance within the cord, 
forming a good medium for the action of bacteria. The proper treatment 
is to use some material that will tend to dry up the cord as quickly as 
possible, and at the same time keep out bacteria. The whole process is to 
prevent putrefactive germs from entering the raw navel, although it may 
happen that the germs entering through the mouth may cause the same 
effect. Scours is another disease that often comes from getting disease 
germs into the system. 
“Another trouble that often affects foals during the first 24 to 48 hours 
is constipation. If the colt does not receive the first milk, known as 
colostrum, which is nature’s laxative provided to start the passage of 
the bowels, he may have serious difficulty. Many breeders do not no¬ 
tice that there is anything wrong with the colt until he begins to weaken 
