breeder alert

[frostedpineminis]

Hi, I have a new breeder alert that I am having trouble with!!! I checked everything, took it out the the barn and tipped it and the pager went off. so I attached it to my mares halter, duct taped the crap out of it and tipped it, it sets the alarm off. So I have been watching my mare for the last couple of nights and watch her lay down....NOTHING.... silent pager. Pager still has light, everything has power.

Is there something that I am missing, tricks of the trade or something that I can try, I am getting pretty frustrated!!!

 

[Joanne]

The horse has to lay flat for about 30-40 seconds before the pager will go off.

I check every night and take the halter off the mare and turn the transmitter on its side to verify that the pager goes off in the correct amount of time. Easier to do that from the barn then from the house when you are watching them on camera.. This lets you know if the battery is good.

If the transmitter is in the pouch upside down it will not work right.

I hope this helps you.

It is a great unit that we have used for decades with excellent results.

 

[cretahillsgal]

When you are testing it are you standing in the stall? Maybe it is too far from the transmitter unit?

 

[frostedpineminis]

I will check the way it is in the pouch that is going to be removing a lot of duct tape lol

, but yes I am standing in the stall when I do it and the mare will lay flat for 15min to an hour at a time!

 

[ruffian]

I wonder if the duct tape is preventing it from alerting or it's too loose on the halter? I got one this year and have been able to attend every birth.

Good luck!

 

[JAX]

Was thinking the same as ruffian. Or maybe the halter is too loose.

 

[JAX]

Ahhhh I just re-read your original post. If you had it already taped to the halter and you tested it and the pager went off... then it sounds like the duct tape and/or placement in the pouch is probably not the problem. Did you test it laying it on each side or just one? The beeper did sound off right? All I can come up with then is that possibly the halter is just loose enough that when she lays down it is allowing it to stay somewhat level enough not to set off beeper??? IDK Just my guess...

 

[frostedpineminis]

lwt me try taking off some of the duct tape. It only had a little tape on it when I tried it and it worked, so I figured it was the halter moving to much so that is when I taped the crap out of it to immobilize it then tightened the halter as mich as possible so that it is still comfortable for her. She is on day 351 and I am running way too short on sleep to keep staying up all night!

She hasnt produced any milk yet but her bag is so tight that I dont think that it can stretch any more except a small area of flat on either side by her legs and as this is only my fourth baby I am not sure how often it happens that they foal without milk so cant test the milk either. I get frustrated when I have barn cameras, breeder alert and 2 different kinds of milk test strips (mother natures and foal time) and I still have to keep guessing lol

I guess it will be worth it when that baby comes

thanks for the help and I hope that I can figure this thing out soon

 

[JAX]

You say her bags are big and tight but she has no milk? Please excuse me if you have already tried this but here goes. I have two mares who require EXTRA cleansing of their nipples before I can express any milk. I used to just take a warm wet washcloth and rub their entire udder area and thought it was clean enough and if they didnt give me milk they just werent ready. Then out of desparation I grabbed ahold of the nipple and looked really close at the end of it. It had some old "dirt" or something in the holes in the end of it. So this time I really watched while I used my regular washcloth cleaning method... I found that the nipples were bending while I was rubbing and so I was never getting the tips cleaned off. So now this is what I do... Warm wet washcloth hold nipple with one hand and rub tip of the nipple with washcloth in other hand, and if really stubborn I help with finger nail!!. Those two girls of mine seem to have deeper "holes" in their nipples that get plugged up and will not express milk for me until I have done this. I only have to do it at their first milk test of the year. Good Luck! Let us know how all turns out with the alarm and also with the milk tests!!

 

[frostedpineminis]

no, i just did a quick wipe, mom is watching her while I am at work. I will take a really close look tonight! cant wait for sleep lol but more cant wait for baby!!! I will take a good look at everything mentioned so far and see what we can figure out and will definately keep you updated!!!

 

[Joanne]

We use vet wrap to hold the transmitter in place in case the mare gets creative about trying to get it off.

Also, we use non adjustable halters where the muzzle portion is fixed. On the adjustable ones the transmitter can move to the side when they are laying down and not go off.

 

[frostedpineminis]

vetrap!!! excellent, never even thought of that and of course would be easy to remove rather than duct tape haha. Excellent idea!! and I will try a new halter, the one I have has the ring around the nose band but I tried to immobilize it with the tape as well lol I thought I did pretty well

sooooo much tape lol.

I will try the new ideas and let you know. thanks for the ideas!