The presence of a microbiome/microbiota in the placenta is hotly debated. In previous studies, the presence of bacteria in equine amniotic fluid and umbilical blood was independent of foal health. The objective of the present study was to determine i...
Early and accurate detection of foaling is important for reducing perinatal mortality and labor demands in commercial breeding farms. This study evaluated a fully noninvasive foaling prediction system integrating thermal imaging with artificial intel...
It is known that a mare’s body temperature drops before parturition, but no research has yet applied this thermal change to the prediction of foaling. In this study, the ventral tail base surface temperature (VTB-ST) was recorded by a tail-atta...
Wildlife managers and the public have expressed considerable interest in the use of contraception to help manage the populations of wild horses and burros (Equus caballus and E. asinus). Field testing has shown that two preparations of the porcine zo...
This study aimed to evaluate the chemical composition of milk from Kazakh mares kept under free-grazing conditions on natural pasture without supplementary feeding. Fifty Kazakh mares were aged 3 to 13 years, kept in herds, and categorized by age, nu...
The consumption of maternal feces (coprophagy) is commonly observed in healthy foals and is a proposed contributor to microbial colonization of the foal’s gastrointestinal tract (GIT). This study investigated the role of coprophagy in the estab...
The period from late gestation to early lactation is characterized by changes in energy metabolism. The aim of the current study was to analyze the plasma total lipid fraction using gas chromatography (GC) analysis, in order to highlight metabolic ch...
Neonatal encephalopathy represents a broad neurological syndrome which encompasses newborn foals presenting a variety of non-infectious neurologic signs and/or abnormal behaviors in the immediate postpartum period. It is recognized as the most predom...
Assay of steroid hormones in hair has become an attractive alternative for studies focusing on the perinatal period in equine medicine. The aim of the present study was to evaluate mares’ and foals’ hair ALLO concentrations and their rati...
Foal nursing behavior is a crucial indicator of healthy growth. The mare being in a standing posture and the foal being in a suckling posture are important markers for foal suckling behavior. To enable the recognition of a mare’s standing postu...
Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is fragmented extracellular DNA that is released from cells into various body fluids. Previously published data from adult horses supports cfDNA as a potential disease biomarker, but also shows that direct measurement in plasma...
The increase in donkeys treated by practitioners in recent years has led to an increased interest in finding more information on basic biochemical preliminary reference values. The aims of this study were to measure Se and Vit E levels in plasma from...
This paper describes a case of partial lack of the mesocolon in a 7-month-old colt. The foal was referred to the hospital with clinical signs of severe abdominal distension of a few hours duration. Because analgesics did not relieve pain, the foal re...
Maternal supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids during late gestation has been shown to have a variety of benefits for neonates. The current study utilized 13 mares and their foals, assigned to one of three dietary treatments: an unsupplemented con...
Prompt pain management is crucial in horses; however, tools to assess pain are limited. This study aimed to develop and pilot a composite scale for pain estimation in foals. The “Foal Composite Pain Scale” (FCPS) was developed based on li...
Equine rotavirus group A (ERVA) is one of the most common causes of foal diarrhea. Starting in February 2021, there was an increase in the frequency of severe watery to hemorrhagic diarrhea cases in neonatal foals in Central Kentucky. Diagnostic inve...
Feed supplements supporting animal welfare and performance are becoming increasingly important. Immunomodulatory effects of such products have been observed in many species. The aim of this study was to analyze whether food supplementation with a Sac...
Our aim was to measure the concentrations of derived reactive oxygen metabolite (d-ROMs) and biological antioxidant potential (BAP) of donkey mares and foals at delivery and to verify the protective role of the placenta against fetal oxidative stress...
Despite a monovalent G3P[12] (‘G3’) vaccine being available for horses, equine rotavirus A (ERVA) is still the predominant infectious pathogen causing diarrhea in foals in the United States of America (U.S.). Previous research has shown t...
Six foals with interstitial pneumonia of undetermined etiology from Southern California were analyzed by viral metagenomics. Spleen, lung, and colon content samples obtained during necropsy from each animal were pooled, and nucleic acids from virus-l...
Cervical spine injuries that impact young horses and foals can result in mild to severe neurological signs or even result in sudden death. There are only a few reports on conservative treatment options for this condition in the scientific literature....
Umbilical remnant disorders are common in neonatal foals and may require surgical intervention when complicated by infection or urinary involvement. Abdominal surgery in this population is often considered high risk, particularly due to postoperative...
The Apgar score is commonly used to assess neonatal vitality in foals, although its clinical relevance remains unclear. This retrospective study evaluated 144 foals investigating associations between a four-parameter Apgar score assessed within 5 min...
Pain assessment is very important for monitoring welfare and quality of life in horses. To date, no studies have described pain scales for objective assessment of pain in foals. Studies in other species have shown that facial expression can be used i...
Lower survival has been reported in foals than adults with small intestinal strangulating obstruction (SISO), but age-dependent outcomes have not been examined directly. Hospital records were collected from five US academic referral hospitals. It was...
This pilot study characterised bacterial DNA profiles in 40 milk and 39 faecal samples from eight Kyrgyz mare–foal pairs collected at birth, 24 h, and days 7, 14, and 21 postpartum using V3–V4 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Permutation Friedma...
The purpose of this study was to correlate the anatomic features of the normal thorax of neonatal foals identified by CTA, with anatomical sections and gross dissections. Contrast-enhanced transverse CTA images were obtained in three neonatal foals u...
Background: Despite the availability of a killed whole-virus (KV) vaccine, diarrhea caused by equine rotavirus group A (ERVA) remains a significant health concern for foals in the United States. The vaccine is administered to pregnant mares, with foa...
Equid herpesvirus 2 (EHV-2) and 5 (EHV-5) are two γ-herpesviruses that are commonly detected from horses worldwide, based on several cross-sectional molecular surveys. Comparatively few studies examined the dynamics of γ-herpesvirus infec...
Neonatal assessment in donkey foals is essential for reducing perinatal mortality and improving early management, yet breed-specific data remain scarce, particularly for indigenous Chinese breeds such as the Luxi Black donkey—an economically an...
Adrenal hormones, ACTH plasma concentrations and the ultrasonographic evaluation of the adrenal glands are considered complementary in clinical evaluations of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis function in several species. In dogs, age, si...
No studies have evaluated the peripartum follicular dynamics resulting in foal heat under tropical environments. We aimed to assess retrospectively the peripartum follicular dynamics in Colombian Paso Fino mares that were inseminated at the foal heat...
Oxytetracycline (OTC) administration has become a frequent practice in equine neonatology for the treatment of flexural limb deformity. The cause of this condition remains unclear but clinical studies revealed that following IV administration of OTC...
The umbilicus is a potential access-point for pathogens in equine foal, causing umbilical infections and potentially life-threating illness. Early diagnosis based on ultrasonographic appearance and measurement is crucial to avoid severe complications...
Extended-spectrum β-lactamase Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-E) have been investigated in adult horses, but not in foals. We aimed to determine shedding and infection in neonatal foals and mares. Rectal swabs were sampled from mare and foal pairs on a...
Equine fetal hair starts to grow at around 270 days of pregnancy, and hair collected at birth reflects hormones of the last third of pregnancy. The study aimed to evaluate cortisol (CORT) and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S) concentrations and...
This study aimed to evaluate the use of microencapsulated oil mixtures as partial animal fat replacers and their effects on the physicochemical, nutritional and sensory qualities of foal pâtés. Three different batches were manufactured:...
The importance of trophic factors, such as nerve growth factor (NGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) during the perinatal period, is now emerging. Through their functional activities of neuroge...
Previous research on the impact of various heat treatment methods on meat has primarily focused on conventional meats from common livestock animals, with limited studies on the effects of different heat treatments on foal meat. The aim of this study...
Diarrhea in foals is a problem of significant clinical and economic consequence, and there are good reasons to believe microbiota manipulation can play an important role in its management. However, given the dynamic development of the foal microbiota...
An assessment of the natural ochratoxin A (OTA) exposure of seven Martina Franca jennies was carried out by analyzing blood and milk samples collected close to and after delivery. A total of 41 and 34 blood samples were collected from jennies and foa...
The aim of this study was to investigate the molecular mechanisms leading to the identification of pathogens by congenital immune receptors in foals up to 60 days of age. The study was conducted on 16 foal Polish Pony Horses (Polish Konik) divided in...
Gut microbiota play important roles in early host development and metabolic regulation, but stage-associated differences in the gut microbiota and fecal metabolome of donkey foals remain poorly understood. In this study, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and...
There is a wide array of evidence across species that exposure to antibiotics is associated with dysbiosis, and due to their widespread use, this also raises concerns also in medicine. The study aimed to determine the changes on the fecal microbiota...
Mare’s milk is recognized for its nutritional value, but information on the relationships of mare age and number of foalings with body conformation, udder morphology, milk yield, and milk composition in the indigenous Kushum breed remains limit...
Few studies have established the normal radiographic anatomical development of the donkey foal and, to date, no data are available for mules. Our aim was thus to evaluate the radiographic development of the fore digit and carpal joint in the mule foa...
Yeast hydrolysate (YH) has attracted increasing interest as a functional feed additive because of its potential benefits for maternal nutrition and offspring development. However, its effects on milk composition and the physiological responses of don...
Pneumonia caused by the facultative intracellular pathogen Rhodococcus equi stands out as one of the most significant infections associated with a notably high mortality rate in foals worldwide. Limited therapeutic options and inadequate control and...
Zn-CS chelate has shown beneficial effects on gut health and growth in piglets, but its impact on weaned foals remains largely unknown. This study evaluated the effects of dietary Zn-CS supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, p...
Umbilical disorders are common in equids, although scarce information is available in donkeys compared to horses. Foals with these disturbances have high morbidity and mortality rates. The conventional omphalectomy technique does not remove the whole...
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