These pictures are from that day a week or so ago when they were feeling so spunky
I am getting paranoid about foaling problems. They vaccinated her with West Nile and Strangles vaccine, not to mention all the other vaccines and the wormer, in what would have been the beginning to middle of her pregnancy. That's not really recommended... But then I know there are a lot of mustangs who have healthy babies once they're in captivity.
I also worry about tall fescue. If it's infected with an endophyte and they eat enough of it, it can cause all kinds of problems. The general defense against this is to keep them away from the stuff for the last 3 months of pregnancy. Which I have done. She's had only timothy and alfalfa. BUT... I was going to bed her stall with the crappy hay we have that was harvested off our property. I bedded the stall with it a few nights ago and locked her in for 2 nights. She ate a lot of it. The first morning after that, her bag was almost gone. Lack of milk is one of the things fescue causes. I had thought this hay was pretty clean of weeds and weed grasses. But I looked through it and there's a seed head (lots of it) that could be fescue. Or could be canary grass. I don't know... Could it affect her that fast? Either way, I'm going to have to buy some straw and forget about using that as bedding.
Another new thing... Again I thought Willow was going to come back to us. I even started to get excited about it. I did love that mare. But we don't need another, and I'd just have to sell her again. But still, I'd get to spend time with her again. There was a girl who might be interested in her though, and she'd use her, so I'm waiting to find out if she wants her or not. Ho Hum. Waiting...
You need to quit worring, Bella will be fine and so will her baby. lol.Watch for wax on the end of her teats. That usually occurs about a day before foaling. My mares usually carry a colt a little longer than a filly.But each mare is different. She will pick the worst weather if she can .lol good luck..it will be ok. Doris
ReplyDeleteThanks Doris! You're the third person today who's told me to mellow out. :) I guess I'll give it a try. I know most pregnancies end in a successful birth... I just can't help but worry.
ReplyDeleteHi-I was bopping around the blogsphere and popped in from Mikey's site.
ReplyDeleteI had a mare that I never could tell when she was going to foal. She never waxed up. But, if you stroke from the point of the hip toward the tail, across the fatty part of the hip, you will almost always feel that muscle get mushy when they are within 24 hours of foaling. Use some pressure so you can really feel the muscle.
It is hard to relax when there is a new baby due and especially when you are not sure of the due date.
PS-Just make sure to keep her seperate from other horses if you even suspect she is going to foal. Mares can hurt their own foals protecting them from other horses and geldings have been known to try to steal babies. Not trying to scare you-just something to be aware of. Best of luck.
Thanks Browneyedcowgirl, for the advice and for visiting my blog!
ReplyDeleteThat's what I worry about... They don't always show signs... We had 3 pregnant mustangs where I used to board, they watched them until it drove them crazy, finally decided they weren't going to foal anytime soon, they just didn't look ready, then they foaled. Of course the babies were fine.
Bella's hiney is jiggly. Not totally slack and unable to tense though.
She's in her own area with secure fencing for the baby, and at night I've been locking her in the stall. It's 16x24 so she still has lots of room to move and I don't have to worry that I'll find a baby in the mud outside.