The time of onset of survival of ciliate protozoa in the equine hindgut in new born foals was investigated. Daily faecal samples were collected from 6 new-born foals and studied under a microscope for examples of ciliates within the samples. The results of this study show that ciliates are first seen in faecal samples from the foal on day 5 post partum although these appeared to be voided and were assumed to be non-viable. However, by the following day the ciliates collected seen in the faecal samples appeared to be intact and were assumed to be viable. This observation is 5 days earlier than ciliates have previously been observed in faeces collected from the digestive tract of newborn foals.
