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The chilly nights of late winter and early spring mark the height of foaling season on thoroughbred farms across the Bluegrass.
Soon after they're born, healthy foals stand upright on long shaky legs and nurse successfully.
Sometimes, though, the colt is premature or has a congenital problem that makes it too weak to nurse, or a filly is unable to produce milk.
In those cases, the newborn misses out on colostrum, the precursor to its mother's milk. Rich in immunoglobulins — antibodies that bolster the immune system — colostrum is critically important for a foal's development.
To help foals that miss out, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers Club has sponsored a colostrum bank for 15 years.
Mares produce colostrum for only the first 24 to 36 hours after giving birth. To benefit from colostrum, foals must ingest it within 24 hours after they are born.
Thanks to the efforts of foaling-barn managers and their crews, that much-needed colostrum, collected and tested for potency, is kept frozen at three equine veterinary clinics: Woodford Veterinary Clinic, Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital and Hagyard Equine Medical Institute.
Foals that can't get colostrum from their dams can drink bottled colostrum collected from other mares. If they're too weak to drink, they can receive it through a tube.
”A lot of good is done through the colostrum program,“ said David Mullins, an equine insurer and a member of the farm mangers club.
The good extends beyond the foals that receive the colostrum. A pint of colostrum costs $125, and all proceeds are donated to Central Kentucky Riding for Hope, a non-profit organization that provides equine therapy to disabled children and adults.
Riding for Hope is raising money to complete an indoor facility to allow its programs to be available all year.
”The colostrum bank continues to be a good fund-raiser for us,“ director Pat Kline said.
In return for the proceeds, Riding for Hope volunteers assist the bank.
Kline said that when supplies are low, a volunteer calls farm managers to let them know there is a need. Volunteers also attach labels and syringes for testing the colostrum to collection bottles.
”We are regular donors to the colostrum bank at Rood and Riddle, and it is a great program,“ said Suzi Shoemaker, owner of Lantern Hill Farm.
Large and small farms collect and donate colostrum to the bank.
”Close to 100 farms participate,“ said Nancy Stephens of Pin Oak Stud. She serves on a committee that oversees the colostrum bank. Stephens said farms can withdraw as much colostrum as they donate, pint for pint, for free, within the same year.
Colostrum can be kept frozen for a year, but ”almost as fast as it comes in, it gets used,“ Mullins said.
The bank supplies colostrum for any breed of foal, but it is in highest demand during thoroughbred foaling season.
Kaye Kincaid, co-manager of the e_SDHpcolostrum bank at Rood and Riddle, ships frozen colostrum to farms in California and other states. Because colostrum is so rich, ”typically, the foals need just one pint,“ Kincaid said.
Callan Strouss, farm manager at the Oak Tree division of Lane's End, encourages his foaling crew to collect colostrum to donate to the bank.
”I remember the first time I ever needed colostrum for a weak foal,“ he said. ”The bank didn't exist then.“
Luckily, Strouss was able to obtain the much-needed colostrum from a neighboring farm. He paid the farm back from his next mare that foaled and then started collecting and keeping some colostrum on his farm. Strouss began donating to the bank soon after it was organized.
Taking one pint of colostrum from a mare plus a little more for testing leaves more than enough colostrum for the mare's own healthy foal.
”We let the foal nurse on one side of the mare and collect from her other side,“ Strouss said. ”We test colostrum here first and just collect from mares that have high IgG (immunoglobulin G).“
The foaling-crew members use a milking machine.
”Most mares don't mind the suction,“ Strouss said.
The colostrum is collected into a larger container, then strained through gauze into the clinic's pint container, and the attached syringe is filled. It's just a few more minutes of work, but it gives foals a better chance at good health.
