Collecting Colostrum for your Foal

1. Wash your hands and then gently wash the mare’s udder with warm water. Have a clean, reasonably wide plastic container or stainless steel mixing bowl on hand to collect the milk.
2. Calmly approach the mare, holding the container in your left hand (or right hand if you are left-handed). Put the container under her udder and gently put your right thumb and forefinger on her teat.
3. Push the milk bag upward to trigger the flow, the way the foal would, then gently squeeze and pull down on the teat, causing the milk to spray into the container.
4. Stop collecting when the pressure on the mare’s udder is relieved, or when you have collected between eight to ten ounces, whichever comes first. Two collections are usually enough. If the mare is also nursing a foal, do not collect more than a pint of milk or you risk depleting the mare’s colostrum supply for her own newborn.
5. Filter the colostrum prior to freezing with a kitchen filter or cheesecloth. Place the colostrum in a clean plastic screw-top container or sealable plastic bag, and label it with the name of the mare, the date, and the amount of time since foaling.

Freeze the supply immediately to keep as many antibodies intact as possible, and it can remain frozen at minus 20 degrees C for a year or more. Alert your local equine veterinarians and breeders that you have colostrum available in case of emergency.

To use the colostrum, defrost it at room temperature or by running cold water over it. Thawing in a microwave or in hot water will kill the antibodies.