MANAGEMENT OF THE FOAL 
85 
use of cow’s milk. But this, he says, should be sweetened for the first 
time in order that it would approximately correspond to the mare’s 
milk in composition: “A half pint is quite suffiicent for a colt two or 
three days old; but the ration should be repeated often—not less than 
six times a day. As the colt grows older the amount should be increased 
and grass, with oats, should be added as soon as the colt is old enough 
to eat. After the colt is two months old skimmed milk should be sub¬ 
stituted for fresh -cow’s milk. Should there be any trouble from con¬ 
stipation it will be well to add one pint of oil-meal per day to the ration; 
in fact, I would recommend the use of oil-meal in all cases. If oil-meal 
is not obtainable flaxseed may be used. A half-pint of flaxseed boiled 
with two quarts of bran will make two good feeds for a colt, and this 
ration may profitably be alternated with the other foods. Indeed, it will 
be well in all cases where, from lack of an abundance of milk of the dam, 
or from scanty nutrition of any kind, the foal is low in flesh, to early 
supply the deficiency with a good allowance of cow’s milk in addition to 
what it gets from the dam ... A quart of milk morning and eve¬ 
ning, in addition to the grain ration, will be sufficient, and if it be 
sweetened a little at first the colt will take to it all the more readily.” 
According to Harper, 95 “Cow’s milk, if modified with at least one-fourth 
its volume of water, together with some sugar, makes a fair substitute for 
mare’s milk, but should be given at about the same temperature as mare’s 
milk. Gruels made by boiling beans or peas, and removing the skins by 
pressing the pulp through a sieve, or oil-meal and shorts made into a 
jelly by boiling are excellent for the motherless colt.” 
Hughes 00 likewise considers milk which is low in butterfat and ob¬ 
tained from a fresh cow as being fitted to feed the orphan foal. His 
method of feeding follows: “To a dessert spoonful of granulated sugar 
should be added enough water to dissolve it. To this three tablespoonsful 
of lime water and enough fresh milk to make a pint should be added. A 
small amount, one-half pint, should be given each hour. In a short time 
the amount should be increased and feed should be given every two hours, 
more being given gradually and the time between feeding lengthened.” 
Kennedy 61 gives a lengthy discussion on the raising of the orphan foal, 
and writes: “Cow’s milk is the best substitute for that of the mare, al¬ 
though the latter has more sugar and less fat than the former . . . 
Milk low in butterfat is best for this purpose. One pint of cow’s milk 
diluted with one-fourth pint of lime water, and to which a teaspoonful 
of sugar is added, approximately approaches the consistency of mare’s 
milk. Lime water helps to prevent the milk from forming into hard 
curds. A nursing bottle with a rubber nipple is about the best means 
of giving the milk, but some prefer to use the spout of a teapot, with the 
finger of a kid glove on the end of the spout, with a hole punched in the 
same so that the milk can flow through it. The instruments should be 
thoroughly cleaned and sterilized with boiling water each time before 
they are used, and the milk should be warmed to a temperature of about 
100° F. before feeding. At first the colt should be fed every hour, giving 
it about one-half pint at each feeding. It is advisable at the start to 
feed the colt two or three times at night, but after a short time, he will 
be able to consume enough milk to carry him through the night. As the 
colt grows older, the quantity of milk should be gradually increased and 
the number of feeds decreased, until he is about a month old, when, if he 
is doing nicely, he may be fed only four or five times a day and the 
sugar and lime water omitted. He should also be taught to drink out of a 
pail by this time, and the feed gradually increased, although great care 
must be taken that too much milk is not given, as the result will be 
scours. Many orphan foals are fed more milk than they need rather 
than not enough. The orphan foal should be taught to eat grain as early 
as possible. If a little is added to the bucket with the milk, the colt will 
