Colostrum, the first milk, is important. It contains all the antibodies your foal needs to protect him from infectious disease. A foal needs between one.5 - two litres of lovely quality colostrum. It is most important to make definite they gets .
Make definite that the foal sucks. A standard foal ought to stand & drink from the mare within hours. If the foal is having difficulty sucking, or is not interested, they may have serious issues. Call an experienced equine vet sooner than later.
If the foal won't suck you can collect some colostrum from the mare & give it by bottle. Or the vet can put it directly in to the foal's stomach using a tube. Colostrum substitutes are available if the mare doesn't have any milk.
The foal's intestines can only absorb colostrum for the first 24 hours or so. After that, the vet can give a plasma transfusion to boost the antibodies if necessary.
It is a lovely suggestion to have the vet to give the foal a check-up. The vet can give an injection to protect the foal from tetanus. This is important if the mare has not been vaccinated recently. A blood sample can be taken from the foal to check that adequate antibodies have been absorbed.
Check that the foal is passing meconium. Meconium is the firm dark feces that has built up in the work of the foal's time inside the mare. Colt foals, in particular, can have issues passing this because their pelvis is narrow. Your veterinarian may recommend giving an enema.
Carefully monitor the foal's progress. Even those foals that appear normal at birth can create issues later on. Foals ought to become brighter & more active over the first few days. of the first signs of serious infection is that the foal becomes dull or spends more time sleeping.
Probiotics may be useful in stopping "foal heat scours", which regularly occur about ten days of age. The diarrhea is probably due to the digestive method adapting to life outside the mare than anything to do with the mare's hormones.
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