blood testing for pregnancy

[eagles ring farm]

we have had 100% results in 4 years only for 12 pregnancies/foals with

doing blood tests for pregnancy instead of US the only mare we ultra sounded

the first breeding for us was confirmed in foal and ended up open

does anyone else do a blood test???

I feel we are the only ones who do with the discussions on the board

 

[Keri]

No, I've never done it. My vet can ultrasound them and give me a yeah or neah. But it sounds like a good idea for vets who won't ultrasound.

I was blood tested to find out if I was pregnant. Does that count?????

Haha!

 

[eagles ring farm]

I'll count that

 

[Birchcrestminis]

I also think blood tests are the way to go, sent to

a reputable lab. Not sure about some of these

do at home blood tests I've seen advertized on line.

Had my mare blood tested, results were - pregnant.

Now months later she is big and I can feel the baby

kicking up a storm. Worked for me.

 

[Relic]

We used to scan all the mares we thought were bred but half usually got a wrong reading and weren't in foal when usually they were and vise versa. Waste of a farm call scan fee and no one was any smarter. We did do my daughters mare twice last fall and both times she was read not in foal. A month later my daughter being the l have to know for sure is she or isn't she we had a blood test done which came back marked in foal.

Now just under 2 months from her due date l could have saved myself 279 bucks and told her she's gonna have a baby just by watching and waiting which is what l do with my others...

 

[White Socks Miniature]

does anyone know the reference range for the lab they send it to? (should say on the BW sheet if you have it)

I just ask as some labs dont know alot about mini hormone levels compared to large horses, if there even is a difference!

Or if you posted what the level was for your mare so maybe we could get an idea?

 

[Becky]

I bought a mare last winter that was supposed to be open. She was blood tested 3 times by a veterinarian and the results were negative. Well, little miss negative is 10 months old and standing in my barn.

I much prefer ultrasound or palpation for reliability, but I do realize that not all have that option.

 

[minih]

I can usually tell by the time they are 5 months along if they are pregnant or not, so don't usually test. If they are with my stallions hopefully they take but if not, there is always next year. But there have been a few times I have wanted to know, ex- if I had paid for a stud fee and needed to know if mare took or not so I could schedule a rebreeding. One time used an ultrasound, the other time used a blood test. Both times each was accurate.

This year I have one mare who I can usually tell if she is bred or not, she looks pregnant, is making a fairly good size bag, but I do not feel a baby. This week I am going to set up an ultrasound appointment for her when I take everyone in for their show shots. If there is something wrong, it would be better to know earlier than later.

 

[Birchcrestminis]

My mare's blood sample was sent to Cornell Univ.

She was around 130 days pregnant at the time.

The tested for estrone sulfate hormone, she was >80 ng/ml.

Appears the only fool proof pregnacy test is the birth of the foal!

 

[targetsmom]

Well, we are so new to breeding that we have yet to have a foal, but we have some experience with pregnancy testing! Last year we had one false pregnancy and one mare that never settled, and this year we have 2 in foal. Our regular vet does not ultrasound minis, but we do have another vet that does it and we have used 2 different types of home testing kits. The home testing kits are so much cheaper than a vet visit and easy to do.

For the two mares this year, one was blood tested with a Pregnamare kit before we bought her, then she was ultrasounded with the rest of the seller's mares before she was delivered, and then I did a Wee Foal urine test about a month ago to confirm she is still in foal. The Wee Foal test will not give a (false) positive if she is having a false pregnancy - something I wish I had known last year! All 3 tests came out positive.

The maiden mare was ultrasounded by my alternate vet at about 25 days and confirmed in foal. She was also re-confirmed with the Wee Foal urine test. (And last year she was tested with the Pregnamare kit and came up open, which she was).

Yes, I know I must sound a bit paranoid about the testing, but a false pregnancy can tend to do that to you!

The two mares are due 9 days apart and have become best buddies since Sox arrived.

 

[normajeanbaker]

Our current vet doesn't Ultrasound Mini's, so she does the blood test and we've had good luck with it. The vet we used when we first got Mini's ultrasounded them and we also had 100% accuracy with that as well.

~Jen~

 

[Tami]

I asked my vet yesterday how accurate blood tests were and she said 90%. We tested a mare a week ago and it came back negative. My husband is just sure she is bred, I don't think she looks bred but she is a maiden. She would be due with in a month. My vet said the levels should be 1000 or more and her level was 2.

 

[RobinRTrueJoy]

Hi Lori,

Lately I have been having the vet run blood tests, its quicker( at that momenet) and easier on the mare. Of course I have to wait a week or so for the reulits, but I have had ultrasounds that were wrong. and always good results ( correct results) with the blood tests. Plus, no risks to the mare.

Robin

 

[lotsofspots]

I have used the Equi-Check Equine Rapid Pregnancy Test for 10 years. It tests the eCG in the serum from the blood. I have my vet collect a blood sample in a test tube, let the serum rise to the top (takes anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour), and then the test uses 2-3 drops of serum to determine pregnancy between 38-120 days. The test kit is similar to that of a human pregnancy test where there are two lines that may appear--one for control (so you know the test is working) and one for test--if a second line appears, the mare is pregnant (it takes about 5-10 minutes for the results to appear). I have had 100% accurate results with this test, even when I was SURE whether a mare was open or not. The best time to test is when the mare is between 60-75 days (at least I have had the best results then) as there is more eCG in the blood. The kits come 5 to a package and cost $65. I did not use them in 2007 because I am getting better at knowing my mares and I am not breeding as much. I don't pull the blood myself, so it didnt' make sense to pay a vet charge just for the vet to come out and pull blood last year on a few mares. You can get the kits from Endocrine Technologies in California. Their website is www.endocrinetech.com .

 

[Sue_C.]

We have ours blood-tested after 90 days, and it has been 100% correct so far.