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Prior to weaning the foal, there is usually a creep feeder set up to allow the foal to begin consuming feed that the mare cannot access. [31] There are two main approaches to weaning foals, abrupt and gradual weaning. [30] Abrupt weaning is when the mare and foal are separated, [30] usually without contact.
Neonatal maladjustment syndrome (NMS) is a syndrome where newborn foals exhibit uncommon behaviors, occurring in three to five percent of live births. These behaviors can include aimless wandering, hypersensitivity to loud sounds and brightness, weakness or coordination issues, and the incapability to nurse.
A weanling horse is a foal that has been weaned, usually between four and six months old. Once it is a year old, the horse is referred to as a yearling. Weanlings are separated from their dam and often grouped with other weanlings to keep each other company. Weaning is a very stressful time for a foal. [4] [5]: 231
Foals appear normal immediately after birth. JEB affects tissues including mucous membranes, so one of the first signs is blistering of the gingiva and tongue after the first attempt at nursing. Within the next few days, the foal develops lesions all over the body, especially over pressure points. [2]
Editor's note: This is an updated version of the original story. Three young foals showed signs of injury prior to the removal last week of seven horses from a Cumberland County horse farm ...
The umbilical cords were thick, dull, yellowish, and inflamed. The weak foals were often incapable of breathing on their own and required resuscitation. These foals were also observed to be dehydrated and hypothermic, with irregular heartbeat and respiration. The majority of these foals did not survive past four days. [4]
During the final month of gestation, alloantibodies concentrate into the colostrum. Horses, unlike humans, have an epitheliochorial placenta which prevents the transfer of antibodies to the foal in-utero. Foals are only exposed when they first nurse and ingest colostrum, so therefore are born without the disease and acquire it soon after birth.
The word cow is easy to use when a singular is needed and the sex is unknown or irrelevant—when "there is a cow in the road", for example. Further, any herd of fully mature cattle in or near a pasture is statistically likely to consist mostly of cows, so the term is probably accurate even in the restrictive sense.