RH Factor or Jaundice in Foals
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One of our foals this year had Jaundice. This is life threatening and is caused by the dam having antibodies that are set up against the foal. This usually happens when the dam has been breed to a sire that is RH positive while the dam is RH negative. The first foal should be fine and maybe the next but the dam usually builds up antibodies against the foal who is RH negative like the sire. The foal is born healthy but will soon seem lethargic and seem to sleep a lot. The mare's colostrum is the problem NOT her regular milk. We noticed the foal getting a yellow tint to his eye.(above) If the foal wasn't taken away from his dam the chances are good that he would have died. A vet told us to take him away and put him in front of a black light and bottle fed him. We did that for about ten days all the while milking the mother to make sure ALL colostrum was gone. If the foal hadn't consumed any colostrum from her we would not have had to take him for so long. If you notice something wrong right away or know by doing a simple test that the foal was Jaundice than you can take the foal and give it colostrum while milking the mare for 24-36 hrs then put the foal back with the mare. The simple test you can do immediately after the foal is born is to take a few drops of
blood from the umbilical cord off the placenta and add a few drops of the mare's colostrum. If
it separates (curdles), you need to find a different source of
colostrum.
below is a article with great information concerning RH Factor
