Flicka's mare stare thread

[JFNM miniatures]

BTW, I forgot to ask...

What activities do you do to stay awake while you mare stare? Any ideas ? I'm watching her from my tack room and I don't have wifi at the barn.

For now I've been waking up every 2 hours to check her. Do you think I should watch her more carefully ? Once she shows more obvious signs of impending foaling, I'll be watching her constantly, but I just want your thought on this...

 

[JFNM miniatures]

Ok, so here is this evening's report. Things have happened since this morning !

I was finally able to test Flicka's milk ! I got one first drop that made me so excited I ended up putting it on the bromine test (I'm using pool test strips). I got frustrated with myself because when I tried to take some more to put it on the pH, there was no more. So I waited a little and was able to get enough to put on both Calcium (Hardness) and on pH...

Calcium was at 500 ppm on the dot, pH was around 7.8 though, maybe 8.0.

What do you think ?

 

[elizabeth.conder]

So you have to dilute calcium to get a correct calcium reading. I believe the ratio is 6:1. But it can still be used to see change. As it increases you should start to see ph decrease. With that reading I would feel pretty good about sleeping. But you never know so I would pay attention anyway. Basically who knows lol. That’s the theme of foaling season. In theory you have time, but according to the mare you never know lol. I study during foal watch lol. I also like reading. Can you download a movie or show on like an iPad or something?

 

[JFNM miniatures]

Ok, so I did not dilute the milk. But I saw several people say that the reading did not change whether they diluted or not. Maybe they were talking about the pH ? Do you have to dilute for the pH to be right ?

Thanks for your help elisabeth.conder. You're right, the whole theme is about "who knows" and "going nuts", lol !

 

[Ryan Johnson]

Shes progressing perfectly I dont think you will have much longer to wait at all !!!

Shes got a great udder , if anything, Id watch for the center line to disappear. She hasn't dropped completely, but she is definitely not as wide as she was.

Best of luck for a safe foaling

 

[Taz]

It sounds like your foaling 'nightmare' will be the next one to end. YAY!!! maryann at miniv has a great way to make sure you wake up. Drink a glass of water before you go to 'bed', you'll be up in 2 hours to pee. Drink another etc. I find getting up is enough to wake me up enough to watch for a while then I sleep till I wake up again or my 2 hour alarm goes off. It's a gamble when you start watching closer. I'm using pH since my mare gives almost no physical signs, I'm hoping she'll at least do what she did last time but ??????. Mine's testing 8/9 and I'm on 2-2 1/2 hour checks but at 325 days. This will make you more crazy than anything else you will do

 

[JFNM miniatures]

It sounds like your foaling 'nightmare' will be the next one to end. YAY!!! maryann at miniv has a great way to make sure you wake up. Drink a glass of water before you go to 'bed', you'll be up in 2 hours to pee. Drink another etc. I find getting up is enough to wake me up enough to watch for a while then I sleep till I wake up again or my 2 hour alarm goes off. It's a gamble when you start watching closer. I'm using pH since my mare gives almost no physical signs, I'm hoping she'll at least do what she did last time but ??????. Mine's testing 8/9 and I'm on 2-2 1/2 hour checks but at 325 days. This will make you more crazy than anything else you will do

Very great trick, Taz ! I'll try tonight for sure ! So far, it wasn't really a nightmare. I think it's just starting... I hope it doesn't last too long!

Shes progressing perfectly I dont think you will have much longer to wait at all !!!

Shes got a great udder , if anything, Id watch for the center line to disappear. She hasn't dropped completely, but she is definitely not as wide as she was.

Best of luck for a safe foaling

I also think I won't have too much time to wait, but who knows... I'll just have to wait and see!

 

[Taz]

In that case welcome to the club! I did 4 months of foal watch on a little rescue that I had no idea on a due date and she looked close the whole time. That was a nightmare....

 

[Ryan Johnson]

If she starts to wax, general rule of thumb is 24-48 hours until foaling. Id also watch for changes to her behavior, restlessness, butt rubbing, biting at sides etc.

 

[elizabeth.conder]

Ok, so I did not dilute the milk. But I saw several people say that the reading did not change whether they diluted or not. Maybe they were talking about the pH ? Do you have to dilute for the pH to be right ?

Thanks for your help elisabeth.conder. You're right, the whole theme is about "who knows" and "going nuts", lol !

You are correct! No diluting for ph. Only for hardness. Hardness will read high undiluted. I don’t dilute it though, just use it as a guide for ph dropping because the rise in hardness will cause ph to drop. So if I see hardness increasing, a ph drop is sure to follow. My girls dropped ph nice and slow last year. But my friends dropped from 8.4+ to 6.2 in 10-12 hrs. That’s why we watch them closely which it seems is what you are doing. So great job! It’s exhausting but worth it for a healthy foal and mare!

 

[JFNM miniatures]

Picture I took this morning. I think she's dropping even more... But I may be imagining things. lol.
Lots of butt rubbing this morning against a tree. I did not test the pH this morning, but will do so tonight.

 

[JFNM miniatures]

In that case welcome to the club! I did 4 months of foal watch on a little rescue that I had no idea on a due date and she looked close the whole time. That was a nightmare....

Four months of mare watch ???? That's an awful long time !

 

[Taz]

I thought so, lol. After I brought her home the rescue told me the previous owner thought she was due in the next couple of weeks so i started then and just kept going till she had him.
Flicka looks like she's dropped to me but I'm not an expert. Can you get pictures of everything tonight?

 

[JFNM miniatures]

I thought so, lol. After I brought her home the rescue told me the previous owner thought she was due in the next couple of weeks so i started then and just kept going till she had him.
Flicka looks like she's dropped to me but I'm not an expert. Can you get pictures of everything tonight?

I'll try to get some and will get a full report out, if I'm able to.

 

[JFNM miniatures]

Tonight's report:
Were at day 321 today. 21 days (exactly 3 weeks) until her due date.
Tested milk tonight and found pH was pretty much the same (around 8.0). Hardness/calcium increased however. Yesterday it tested at 500 (please note this is not the correct value because I'm not diluting it... I'm just watching if the level is going up or not). Today was at ~ 600-650, maybe 700 or so. Hard to tell because of the big color gap between 500 and 1000.

Pictures are from this morning, I wasn't able to take any tonight. Udder was the same as this morning. It did not decrease. As you can see on the second picture, teats are starting to fill.

I posted the first side belly picture earlier this morning, but I included it for those of you who might not have seen it. Forgot to take one from behind.

What do you all think ?

 

[Ryan Johnson]

She is certainly starting to drop. Her udder staying the same means you really dont have much longer. I would be surprised if she makes you wait another 3 weeks

 

[JFNM miniatures]

She is certainly starting to drop. Her udder staying the same means you really dont have much longer. I would be surprised if she makes you wait another 3 weeks

That's what I though... about her belly starting to drop, I mean. This morning I wasn't sure if my eyes were tricking me or not. However, I find the pH still quite high. For now, I am more inclined to say we're 1.5 - 2 weeks before foaling, unless there is a drastic drop in pH and bag fills up faster. But we'll see...

 

[Ryan Johnson]

No perfectly normal towards the end of a horses pregnancy, that the owners eyes start to do funny things.

Was she only bred on the one cycle ?

 

[JFNM miniatures]

No perfectly normal towards the end of a horses pregnancy, that the owners eyes start to do funny things.

Was she only bred on the one cycle ?

All I know is that she was bred on May 21, 2020. Previous owners didn't tell me more then that, except that her last two foals were born at day 342. I'm lucky enough to have a date. She's had two foals while still with them and they did not make an effort to attend the birth. All they said was they came in the morning, and there was the foal. Vet confirmed that it seemed to be the right date according to the fetus size when she was ultrasounded in July.

 

[elizabeth.conder]

That udder is looking really good. I agree, I don’t see her making about her 3 weeks. I expect ph will start to drop soon!