In conclusion, withholding colostrum to mature foals for 24 hours after birth and feeding milk replacer instead did not alter receptor mRNA expression for IGF1, IGF2, and TGFß in the duodenum and had no influence on cell proliferation assessed by Ki-67 abundance and on mucosallectin binding. Neonatal foals can be raised on milk replacer for 24 hours instead of colostrum without apparent detrimental effects on duodenal development on day 3 after birth as evaluated in this study.