re :penacillin and flora

["Greg Miles" <elbarec@bigfoot.com>]

Thank you for all the replies , they really came in handy. I apologize for
only answering now but it has been a bit hectic here lately.

In the beginning I did not quite explain myself clearly .
The foal was born 18 Sep 1998 and was obviously very strong at birth because
the poor fellow fell into a dipping tank with some dip in it , luckily the
dip was only about four inches deep. I only found him the next morning , and
that is why I say I am lucky he was strong because after the fall he must
have stood all night (poor chap)

His mother an old mare seemed to want him but was unsure of the dip she
smelt on him. The mare rejected him but let him drink is she was held. On
the second day she kicked him on the knee joint which swelled up quite a bit
.
The swelling went down , not completely but the poor little chap is limping
quite badly now , that is why I wanted to give him penicillin.

When I said a shot of penicillin I gave long acting .

After a week his mother milk was getting less and less so I weaned him to
the bottle and he also started eating and I added fresh horse manure to his
milk to help get his rumen going . I have often seen foals eating their
mother manure.

Could the dip have affected him ?????

He is coming on ok but a bit too slow for my liking .

Cheers
Greg Miles
El Barec Arabians
South Africa