Was hoping someone may be able to assist. I have an 18 year old Mini here that is heavy in foal. While I dont know her actual gestation dates Ive been told she is "due" on the 21st of Jan but foals usually a week or so early. This will be her 6th pregnancy.
She is bagged up to the point where the center crease in her udder at the back is completely gone and she has been somewhat waxy for a few days.
Last night at around 9pm I noticed sticky discharge from her Vulva. This again was noticed at around 1am and again 3am. At around 4am this morning she went down and certainly had contractions. Every few minutes she would tense up and was even streaming out of her udder.
5-5:30am this morning everything just kinda suddenly stopped.
Since then it seems in the last hour or two (Current time here is 12pm) the foal has moved considerably with the "v" in her belly moving right back. Foal seems fine and active however she isnt acting her usual self and is literally struggling to walk. She doesnt seem to be in pain but rather "laboured" with her walking. Huffing and Puffing have been noticed for the last day or so.
While this is my first pregnancy Im fairly certain that the discharge I seen was her Mucus plug and that foaling is likely going to be either tonight or tomorrow morning.
This could not be a worse time for her to foal.
Tomorrow here in Australia we are to suffer a major heat wave. Where I live we are expecting 45 °C+ (113 °F+) temperatures and we have very little shade here.
My concern is the foal tomorrow with the heat. Being so small and so young how can I tell when its just too hot for her? Is it too dangerous to hose her a little bit or bath her and how soon would it be safe to remove her from mum to do so?
If anyone could please give me some advise, especially in relation to dealing with the foal in this heatwave. I would really appreciate it. Thanks
First of all, breathe and try not to worry so much. I would make sure that Mum has access to as much water as she can possibly drink, as she will be hydrating the two of them. I would not separate the foal from the dam at any point - if you think it's hot enough to merit bathing the foal, I bet Mum would appreciate it too. Make sure they have access to somewhere shady with a cool breeze - if it's stuffy in their shelter, they won't want to be in there. Try to relax, and enjoy the experience without freaking out too much lol.
Hi Chiilaa and thanks for the quick response. Mia (Mare) has plenty of water available to her and I have water bottles freezing incase the water gets too hot tomorrow.
As far as shade and breeze goes we dont really get that here on hot days lol. Her only shade at the moment is a 2.5mx2.5m/8ftx8ft stable that we built for her. Unfortunately we rent here and the owner has let us down as far as shelters and shade are concerned. Have a gazebo that I may be able to relocate into Mia's yard if need be.
Will do my best to relax however as a first timer I am freaking out! I had a cow calf for me last year that I had spent 3 weeks watching. Went down the road for 15 minutes and missed the birth. Reluctant to watch Mia as closely as I dont want to disturb her too much but I dont want to miss anything incase something goes wrong.
Ive been showing more signs of imminent foaling than the bloody Mare! Off food, agitated, lack of sleep, stressed, bagging (under the eyes) and general crankiness!
A misting system will work. I bought an inexpensive one that just hooks up to your hose when my mare foaled during the summer here in AZ. I was told anything over 104°f and the foal would need help keeping cool. It worked great. I fastened it around the top of their stall with zipties, turned it on before noon and off before dark.
Ah, yeah, I didn't think of looking at the weather map. Western Queensland is also going to be hot tomorrow too, but they are still on water restrictions as well :S
Im located near The Oaks NSW. Its now forecast to be 43C (Woohoo!) there tomorrow and we are usually a few degrees hotter here than at The Oaks where the AWS (Weather station) is.
Water isnt really an issue. While we are on tank water, about 10km theres a public water access tap where you can fill up free of charge. No dramas to throw a 1000L water tank in the trailer to fill for horses.
Will check out a misting system now thanks! Recon if I put holes in a garden hose it might work?
Thanks for the advice guys. I got a misting system setup this morning and the mare is going well. Luckily she didnt foal last night so there is a little less to worry about now.
As far as the weather goes we are in the Catastrophic Danger zone so we are all organized and ready to go if a fire starts nearby.
1pm here and its really quite uncomfortable unless you are chilling in Mia's stable. In the last hour or so the wind has really started to pick up a bit so this afternoon should be interesting.
So another 40+c day and another day of waiting. Next two days are 41C and 43C but have decked out her stable with misting systems that make her room cooler than mine on a hot day!
Been told 21st or a week or so early so she should go sometime soon! Havent slept a full night in over a week!
Will upload some photos shortly and hopefully some of you might be able to suggest how far she has to go.
Oh, the sweet girl! So pregnant and enduring that heat! Your care of her is awesome, and I hope all will go well when the time comes! Horses continuously amaze me in what they can endure with the weather - best of luck, and looking forward to seeing that foal
She is miserable. She leaks every time she lays down and can only waddle now lol.
Liquid from Udders have been clear up until last night where its since turned into a cloudy colour. Was hoping to check again this morning but shes not a happy girl today.
Feel for you, in summer we hardly ever go above 18oC which now feels like a heat wave up here. Winter now so a lot cooler, we a stunning day and we went up to a huge 7oC.
well done, nice looking colt - of course we demand more pictures of him ;_-)
Hope you are getting some relief from your heatwave, it has hit us now and we are on high fire alert, VERY worrying, paddocks so dry I don't know how the sheep stay so fat!
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