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Her teets are full. how much longer till birth?

A

appyfan1

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The mare is pregnant, and her teets, bag, udder which ever is full and hanging down really far. She's acting weird 2 she'll only poop in one corner of her stall, and she's tossing her hay all over the stall and not eating it. She'll get a mouthful of grain, and then pace around her stall. She's also banging her feed and water buckets against the stall wall. She'll bite her belly, and then she'll stand there licking it, mostly on the off side. My vet told me to start sleepin in the barn with her and give her a call when either the water breaks or I think somethins up and she'll be right over. How much longer should it take before she'll foal. I thought for sure it'd be last night because she was getting really sweaty, and didn't want to eat, and everything else I told you she was doing. I hope its a colt.
 
Is she forming a wax on her nipples? Most mares will wax up. (some will surprise you though) My big concern is that the symptoms sound more like colic than labor. keep an eye on her one wayor the other. If she goes down gets up goes do gets up evertyhing is going well but if she looks about to roll.....CALL THE VET ASAP. Unfortunately I cant see what she is doing, just what you are describing...Can be too much help
 
Why do you have her penned up and watching her.? Horses have their colts at night most of the time and don't like to be watched. You could be delaying her by all the attention. Horses do better turned out, unless it is a weather problem like a snow storm. Don't baby her and let mother nature do the trick.
 
ranch hand said:
Why do you have her penned up and watching her.? Horses have their colts at night most of the time and don't like to be watched. You could be delaying her by all the attention. Horses do better turned out, unless it is a weather problem like a snow storm. Don't baby her and let mother nature do the trick.
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Exactly :!: I tried explaining that in another thread...horses HATE attention when foaling,your more likely to lose a foal by watching too closly then letting her do it alone.

The waxing is a pretty big thing,but like Judith said doesn't always happen.
 
appyfan1:

Here are some resources that might help you out. I wish I could find one with some pictures to help further, but I haven't yet. If I do I'll add it on. As we foal this year, maybe I should try and take some pictures. We'll see how the timing plays out!

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pdf/ec/ec1476.pdf

http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-2094/F-3985web.pdf

http://www.bayerequineconnection.com/Main/Conditions_Diseases/foaling_mare.cfm

Good luck and be sure to post some pics of the little one.

Cheers---

TTB :wink:
 
I've been thinking about your thread alot this morn,have some questions.
1. Is your vet a large animal vet?
2. Did your vet see your mare doing the things your saying shes doing?
3. Your vet DID say the mare was in foal?If so how long before foaling ?

I'm thinking Judith has a valid point about the colic,maybe the vet needs to take another trip out. BTW,if your vet isn't a large animal vet I'd suggest you maybe get an opinion from one.
 
Pics of her right now and pics of her bag would be much helpful.
She doesn't seem like she's happy to be in a stall. If you have access to a small pasture or a paddock all her own she might be happier. Weather pending of course.
Without physically seeing what she's doing, its hard to judge whats going on.
Its common for close to foaling mares to look at/bite at and kick at their bellies, (also common in colic), they'll also do a lot of tail swishing, stomping their hind feet hard on the ground. Sweating is a good indication as well, but she also could be sweating from stress of being confined to a stall if she's not happy there.

I don't think sleeping in the barn is a real good idea. Most mares like their privacy for foaling (except mine, they wait till I'm there with them to foal :roll: ). Its best just to quietly check on her every couple of hours.
If you can stay out of her sight the better.
 
I had the vet come out and she said its normal for them to act weird when their close to delivery. The vet said to stay in the barn with her, and to keep her penned up at night, and then in the barn for 2 weeks after she gives birth. She said its the best way to make sure there aren't any complications with foaling. This guy in a differen't county lost a colt last night b/c he wasn't there to break the sak, a $4000 baby that was sold if it was a colt, dead. Yes she's a large animal vet. Her family use to breed/ raise/show QH. We put the "senior citizens" as we call em out during the day 1. b/c its colder at night 2. my 10 y/o gelding thinks he has a right to bully any new horses, and he can be really mean until they settle in. My vet said if she gets kicked in the belly she could go into premature labor. I wish I could get pics, but the only ones I have are on my cell phone. No her teets aren't waxed yet. my vet said that only happens in 30% of mares, and not to rely on it, especially with her being an older broodmare. I think my vets going a lil overboard though. She wants us to ship her to Cornell University to have her foal since we've never been through it before.
 
Mrs.Greg said:
Personally I think your Vets going WAY overboard,but who am I to give you advice we've only foaled 28 years. :)
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:o :o :o I agree, more problems are caused by trying to help and not letting mother nature do its trick. I have foaled a couple of mares with geldings and have had no problems. I strongly disagree with the vet on keeping her penned for 2 weeks afterwards. You are just asking for infections and ect. The colt needs room to run and streak the tendons and muscles to get the legs to grow straight. I would call another vet and get a second opinion. You are asking for colic by keeping the mare penned up, they like to walk during labor the same as a heifer does. What like Mrs. Greg says, who are we to give advice. :roll: :roll: :roll:
 
I've always owned geldings, but have had quite a few jennys foal. I'm convinced they can hold off until you leave. :shock: Over the years we've had quite a few donkey foals, and other than one, the closest I've been able to get to seeing a birth was having a jenny "not quite look right". :???:

We've only ever had one foal in the afternoon, and sure enough, the bag needed to be broken. Luckily my husband was driving by in the tractor doing chores and spotted her. Maybe she knew something??? :? That same jenny has had four babies since then, and we have yet to see her do it.

I agree that the mare should be let out for exercise. She'll be a lot happier if she can walk. Also, keeping a baby confined can lead to a navel infection if you don't keep the stall spotless, so keep her clean.

Post some pictures when it gets here! :D
 
So do we have a colt yet? Hope you still don't have the poor mare locked in a stall and you sleeping with it all this time. Good luck and let us know how things are progressing for you.
 
ranch hand said:
Why do you have her penned up and watching her.? Horses have their colts at night most of the time and don't like to be watched. You could be delaying her by all the attention. Horses do better turned out, unless it is a weather problem like a snow storm. Don't baby her and let mother nature do the trick.
Click to expand...

Huh I thought they only foaled in pens on TV. You`re right on about babying them.
 
I think you need to get a different vet.

Horses have been having foals by themselves for years.
Talk about micro-managing something. That poor mare.
That poor baby. Geez. I never heard of penning a mare
and colt up for 2 weeks after foaling.

And I'd advise you NOT to imprint that foal either, just
in case you were thinking of it.

But then again, what do I know?
 
I think you get east of a certain place in this country and folks start treating the horses with kid gloves big time.. I saw a lot of it growing up in, lol, Illinois Horse country which means Warmbloods and TB's, Walking horses and Arabians that cost more than they are worth, lol... I remember taking care of a place when I was 16 or 17 and the set up they had for their horses was rediculous to say the least... Sometimes people forget that you have to let people be people, horses be horses and dogs be dogs...
 
Horses do best foaling where they feel comfortable. No pens, no people, no stress. For your vet to want to ship her to a university for foaling would make me question what the alterior motive is. Trust what breeders have to say. They've been there done that and never read it out of a book. Experience counts, but also trust your instincts.
I'm sorry, but this vet just seems a little off the wall for my taste. I'm sure other horse owners/ breeders agree. Be careful what kind of free advise you take from this "professional"...
 

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