Copyright Margaret Evans
(Article first published in Pacific and Prairie Horse Journal)
COLOSTRUM
Margaret Evans
A mare dies giving birth; a dam new at mothering rejects her foal; another broodmare streams lifeprotecting milk from its udder days before going into labour. All scenarios are life threatening for a
newborn foal.
Late in her pregnancy, the mare will produce a special kind of milk that is rich in fat, vitamins, minerals
and protein. This milk is called colostrum, or first milk of the dam. It is high in vitamin A, which newborn
foals are deficient in. It has a laxative effect on the foal, helping to prevent meconium colic. Meconium is
the dark coloured substance that accumulated in the foal’s intestinal tract before birth. The foal’s first
bowel movements rid the system of meconium and within a few days the black substance is replaced by the
yellow faeces of a normal neonatal foal. Most important of all, though, colostrum contains the mare’s
antibodies that she passes on to the foal.
In many other species, including humans, antibodies and immunoglobulins pass across the placenta into the
fetus. This does not happen in horses. The quality of a horse’s lifetime immune system is determined in the
first critical 24 hours after birth. After that, colostrum production in the mare decreases and the foal’s
digestive tract changes so that the antibodies can no longer be absorbed.
If, for any reason, a foal cannot get colostrum from its dam, it must receive it from another source. Without
it a foal’s health may be seriously compromised. And that is where the horse breeding community has a
bigger responsibility – to stockpile colostrum. In recent years, there has been an alarming lack of stored
colostrum, or an absence of a means to communicate between those who need it and those who have it.
Milking your mare will in no way deny your foal its needs nor will it hurt the dam. A good plan is to wait at
least eight to ten hours after delivery. By that time, the foal will have bonded and settled with its dam and
nursed a number of times.
It’s a good idea to milk your mare when the foal is resting. After cleaning the udder, push the milk bag
upward to trigger the flow, simulating the way the foal would butt it with his nose. Then draw down in a
rhythm on the nipple for the flow to start. Since the milk can spray rather like a garden hose nozzle, use a
sterilized reasonably wide stainless steel mixing bowl or plastic container to catch the milk. Strain the milk
through cheesecloth into freezer containers and freeze immediately. Be sure to mark the container with the
mare’s name, date of collection, how much time had elapsed after birth and the volume stored. In two or
three sessions, you should be able to take several cups of milk. Be sure to do all the milking within 24
hours of the foal’s birth.
To meet the needs of B.C. breeders, the British Columbia Nurse Mare and Colostrum Registry exists as
a data bank of breeders who have colostrum in storage. Information and contacts are maintained by
geographical reference making it easy to link breeders who have an urgent need for mare’s milk with those
who have a supply in the same local area. If you would like to be listed in the registry please call me at
(604) 824-9394; fax (604) 824-9356 or email me through this website.
With each spring comes the exciting season of birthing and the arrival of healthy foals. But for those less
fortunate, please take an extra ten minutes to put up some milk for a baby that might not have had such an
easy start in its first few hours of life. During every foaling season there is always a call for colostrum
somewhere in the province. The demand is greater than the supply. If tragically you have lost a foal, your
mare may be a valued surrogate mother for another that has lost its dam. Collecting colostrum is a way for
breeders to help breeders and for all of us to give our foals the best start in life.