Pregnancy Care

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MCS Miniatures

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Hi,

I was wondering if all you experienced breeders could share a bit of your knowledge on pregnant mare care. Most everything I have read is on foaling. When do you start feeding Mare & Foal feed? I read 8 months, would you agree with that? Are there any vaccines you need to give? Please share everything you think is essential
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Thank you so much.
 
We start bringing our mares in at about 8 months. They are fed in a stall. If makes sure they are getting plenty of feed and also gets them settled in their stall. Since this year we are where there is fescue, we will feed them alfalfa pellets to counteract the fescue. We will give grain after evaluation (most of our mares are on the chubby side). During the day they will be turned out in a area close to the house, so we can keep an eye on them.

Since we are in a closed herd we dont vaccinate. We worm on a regular schedule. We also worm the day the mare foals. Supposed to help the foal from getting scours on the mares foal heat. We also trim no less than 30 days before due date.

Miniature mares gestation length is around 330 days, so keeping a close eye on them starting at 300 days is best. They can foal a viable foal as early as 300 days.

Once mare foals, increase grain. Turn mama and baby in a safe place for exercise. And enjoy!
 
The most important time for "extra" care is in the last trimester, IMO....as long as your mare is already in good health and weight. We don't feed the Mare & Foal feed, but I know others do. We just use a quality 14 percent pelleted grain that is manufactured here in our area, so it has a little extra selenium, which we need here, and of course supplement. Starting at 8 months is fine. We are also picky about hay quality. We feed locally grown pasture/orchard grass mix. (We also give the newborn a selenium shot immediately after birth...AND worm the mom with ivermectin.)

Vaccines are a sticky subject.... For us, we just make sure the mare is up to date with the basic 5-way, which is what is necessary for our area. And we make sure NOT to vaccinate in the last trimester, so we do it prior. We also no longer give the pneumabort shot. Our practice is not accepted by some people, but since we slowly changed our method we've had NO late term abortions.

The reason behind us not giving the pneumabort anymore is -- It seemed that when ever we did that last of a series of 3, the mare would abort about a day or two later over 50 percent of the time. So, we stopped doing the last shot. Our odds improved, but we still had a few throughout the pregnancies. And when we decided to totally stop, the abortions basically did too. Over these last 10 years now, we've had about 3 abortions......one was a still born which happened this year. (That one we suspect was a Red Bag birth, which we missed,) I can't tell you why, am just passing on our experience.....which spans over 25 years. Others can share their own.
 
Welcome to the forum!!!

Tell us a little about your mare ? How far along is she? How long have you owned her for ?

The best piece of advice I can give you is "be prepared" as you possibly can. Do as much research as you can and make sure you have your foaling kit ready to go. Let your vet know when she is roughly due so they are aware.

No question is a silly one , so ask away
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Welcome to the forum!!!

Tell us a little about your mare ? How far along is she? How long have you owned her for ?

The best piece of advice I can give you is "be prepared" as you possibly can. Do as much research as you can and make sure you have your foaling kit ready to go. Let your vet know when she is roughly due so they are aware.

No question is a silly one , so ask away
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Thank you! I'm sure you will see me a lot on here in the next few months, lol. I am trying to be as prepared as possible!
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I've owned her for almost 3 years, she's my heart horse! She's at about 120 days. Pretty little chestnut tobiano, bred to an overo, hoping for some color :p.
 
Good for you! The more you do your "homework" the less stress when she FINALLY goes into labor. How OLD is she? Has she ever foaled before? If so, it's nice to find out how it went with the previous owner. If this is her first foal, it's even extra important to watch her like a hawk during those last few weeks.

Magic Marker mentioned above about Fescue hay.....Please avoid Fescue for your mare. Some hay growers claim theirs is "endophyte free", but I'd still not feed it. It's always good to know exactly where your hay is coming from and what's in it.
 
Magic Marker mentioned above about Fescue hay.....Please avoid Fescue for your mare. Some hay growers claim theirs is "endophyte free", but I'd still not feed it. It's always good to know exactly where your hay is coming from and what's in it.
Even the endophyte free can become infected within a few years of planting a new stand.
 
Even the endophyte free can become infected within a few years of planting a new stand.
Good for you! The more you do your "homework" the less stress when she FINALLY goes into labor. How OLD is she? Has she ever foaled before? If so, it's nice to find out how it went with the previous owner. If this is her first foal, it's even extra important to watch her like a hawk during those last few weeks.

Magic Marker mentioned above about Fescue hay.....Please avoid Fescue for your mare. Some hay growers claim theirs is "endophyte free", but I'd still not feed it. It's always good to know exactly where your hay is coming from and what's in it.
Our hay doesn't have any fescue! It is her first foal, she's 13. She's in very good shape, though.
 
Would it be normal for her to bite at her sides this early? Can´t find anything on it. Thanks
 
Beautiful girl ! Thank you for for posting her picture
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Hope she has a healthy and pretty baby for you !
 
Hi all! New question. She's got a lot of swelling around her udders, but the udders themselves aren't swollen. She doesn't mind when you touch it. Is this just edema? Is there any way I can make the swelling go down? I will grab some pictures tomorrow.
 
Most mares get edema. The edema eventually moves back to the actual bag.

Exercise works the best. Just make sure she moves around during turn out.

I have several mares with edema around the bag, theirs is due to being a little puggy during their pregnancy.
 
Yeah, Im thinking its just edema. Shes taken to just standing around in the pasture, so Im going to start taking her on some hand walks. Here are the pictures! Yes, shes at nine months . About 275 days. C559637E-4516-4C25-AC77-146ECBCC4E28.jpeg post-46245-0-31248700-1518790987.jpeg
 
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