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Adoption of Orphan Foals
Our Mares - Why Adoption - How - Costs - Veterinarians - Publications

About Our Nurse Mares

 

The nurse (or adoption) mares that we use are all carefully selected from our ET program. To be selected as a nurse mare, the mare must have had one or preferable several foals in previous years. She must have been an excellent broodmare, gentle, easy to handle, with lots of milk and a good mother. In general, our nurse mares are selected among the older ET recipient mares for which we have a consistent history of client satisfaction. The mares are up-to-date on their vaccinations and deworming. They have been in our herd for more than one year and have a clean health status.

Our nurse mares have not foaled in the same year of the adoption. Lactation is induced using a hormonal treatment that was developed in 2000 and has since been further improved by several veterinary groups. There are multiple publications that confirm the advantages of this procedure and it has been confirmed multiple times that these mares make excellent mothers and produce enough milk to raise a foal until weaning age. The big advantadges of this method are that nurse mares are always available (in contrast to mares that have recently lost their foal) and that they do not display the agressive behavior that many foaling mares display when they are presented with a foal that is not theirs. View the list of publications on this subject.

Why Use Adoption Instead of Bottle Feeding?

  Excellent foal milk replacers are on the market making it possible to maintain an orphan foal in excellent health condition for days, weeks or months. However, the most important problem with hand-raised, orphan foals is their abnormal behavior. Young foals must have a real mother that protects them from other horses and at the same time teaches them how to behave and survive in a group. This is very important for the further development of the horse as a sporthorse. One of the most frequent complaints about hand-raised horses is their abnormal and inappropriate behavior with humans and other horses. This lack in social understanding can seriously impede normal training and handling of these horses and significantly reduce their potential value in later life.

The other (less important) reason why adoption is preferred over bottle-feeding, is that bottle feeding is expensive and very time-consuming. Young foals less than 3 weeks old should be fed every hour, night and day. Foals that are one month old will readily drink 15 liters of milk (about 25 liters for a 100 kg foal).

Adoption provides the foal with a real education, a companion and good nutrition. Adopted foals can be turned out immediately with other broodmares and their foals and the foal will enjoy a normal life in a normal herd.

The Adoption

 

The induction of lactation (milk production) takes 5 to 10 days. When the mare is producing sufficient amounts of milk, she is ready to adopt the foal. During the days before the actual adoption, the foal and mare are familiarized with each other by placing them in neighbouring stalls with plenty of opportunity/room to see and smell eachother. The most remarkable aspect with the use of this type of nurse mares is the adoption itself. Because the mare does not have a history of having lost their own foal recently, they usually accept the orphan foal almost immediately and without any agression. Ten years of experience and scientific research have demonstrated that these mares make excellent mothers and display complete maternal behavior.

The adoption usually takes less than one hour and mare and foal can safely live together thereafter. In some cases, the new nurse mare is still increasing her milk production and it may be necessary to supplement the foal with bottle milk for a few days. After one week, the foal can survive fine on the mare's milk. Research has shown that adopted foals raised by mares with induced lactation grow up in the same manner as normal foals.

Rates and Conditions
Leasing a nurse mare = 900 Euros (+21% VAT)
Mares are leased for the purpose of raising the foal and may not be used for any other purpose without the concent from Keros. Mares must remain up-do-date on vaccination and deworming and returned in good health to Keros before March 1, 2010. For complete details on the leasing contract contact, do not hesitate to contact Keros.

Information for Veterinarians
Veterinarians that would like to lease a nurse mare for adoption in their equine hospital or at a client's farm should contact Dr Peter Daels for more information. Throughout the foaling season, Keros tries to have one or two lactating nurse mares available for adoption. However, availability is not guaranteed and clients may have to wait for 7-10 days (normal period for induction of lactation). Keros can advice you on how best to feed the orphan foal during the waiting period. For more information on the procedure scroll down to the bottom of this page or click here.

Information on Adoption and Feeding Orphan Foals

Veterinary Publications

  • Induction de la lactation chez la jument et croissance des poulains élevés par des juments à lactation induite par Sabrina Massoni - Thesis, 2003
    Download the article

All procedures are performed by expert veterinarians.
Do not hesitate to contact us for rates and more info.
 
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