The Bossier banner., 1893-08-31
AUTUMN FoAts.
They Remove an Objection Raised Av.,...
Spring Foals

AAOJ AA0nio'O an ODJectAOn RAISED Avatn.A
Spring Foals.
At this season of the year MANY "a
mers are wondering whether or NJ.
it will be profitable to try and ra;so
foals from the mares that must ass;ss
In doing the work on the farm. Wbero
mares are depended on to do a groa.
share of the farm work there Is ~
doubt but what their being in foal
from service of the previous snr;nn.
greatly retards the work, for no eare,
ful man wishes to run the r;sl
of producing prem6 ture birth of the
foals by overworkiug his mares. Not
only must mares be used in moderation
for several weeks previous to foaling
time, but they are not in condition to
stand real hard work for quite a little
time after foaling, so that to m,n
who depends mostly on his mares to ao
his work the question of raising sprinp
foals is one of considerable impor.
tance. The objections that annlv
in the case of spring foais
however, do not apply with equal force
regarding equal foals. To be sure the
trotting-horse breeders have strong
objection to breeding their mares 50
that they will drop foals in autumn.
but as their objection is based almost
solely on the ground that autumn foaIs
are not of the requisite size and age 20
trot in yearling stakes the following
season, it has no bearing in the case Of
farmers who are not raising trotters
for turf purposes alone.
AS a general thing and speaking from
experience it may be taken as almost
certain that the foal that is dropped IN
autumn, after the flies cease to be
troublesome, and the scorching hot
weather is over, will in its yearlino
form surpass the one that was foaled
any time between the middle of Julv
and the first of September Indeed
for some reasons it is preferable to
have the autumn foal dropped nearer
the first of October than the first of
September.
A very large number of foals dropped
in the two months of July and August
die before they are a week old from
the troublesome bowel complaints that
are always much more fatal in the ex-
tremely hot seasons than at any other
time, and even when they live, the eff
fects of the weather, the flies and the
short pasturage on which their ms
are oftentimes forced to get their liv-
ing give them a setback that the we'll
cared for autumn foal never gets
Farm mares that are bred so as to
produce foals in the fall are in no way
incapacitated from doing their full
share of the spring work, and as the
farm work after that time is not hard
they need not be thrown out of use at
all excepting for the first ten days after
the birth of the foal. Then with lit
tie extra attention the foal will begin
hearty growth that need never be
checked.
In the early fall ration of green
forage will be found an excellent as
well as convenient way of keeping up
the mares flow of milk. Sowed corn
isa frst-class article for this purpose
and where it is grown alfrlfa may
also be used. AS the cooler weather
comes box stall should be provided
for mare and foal and the ration for
the mare should be of food calculated
to keep up the milk supply. The usual
feed of oats should give way to ground
oats, bran, middlings and even ground
rye mixed in proper proportions The
feed should be fed in box in which
the foal can also get to it and he will
| begin to partake of it in a surprisingly
short time, in fact the writer has
known of some foals that commenced
to eat such feed at five weeks of age.
When spring comes, autumn foals
that have been treated in this manner
| will be found to be not much behind
the spring foals in point of size. and
ahead of those foaled in July and Au.
gust. They will also be eating grain
nicely and may be weaned without
stopping their growth. Then, too, the
| pastures will be all ready to turn them
into and the dams will again be ready
to take part in the spring farm work.
| National Stockman and Farmer.