Foals born early

[Walbon Acres]

I have read where several people have had early foals. Are alot of you having foals early? We had a black & white filly born Sat. morning (March 18, 2006). The mare was due April 5, 2006. The foal is fine but she does not have a "full foal coat of hair".

 

[tagalong]

I have read where several people have had early foals. Are alot of you having foals early? We had a black & white filly born Sat. morning (March 18, 2006). The mare was due April 5, 2006. The foal is fine but she does not have a "full foal coat of hair".

April 5 was based on... how many days of gestation?

March 18 would not necessarily be early - as even if you are figuring on the 340ish day gestation for big horses, two weeks either side of that is within the normal range. Thus the filly would not be all that "early" going by the calendar.

If the filly's coat was silky and flat, she may have been a bit early for her own little self.

I have foaled out two fillies born at 296 days (knowing the exact breeding date) who were full term and fuzzy and bouncy!

I cannot emphasize enough that people keep an eye on their mares from day 300 on... or even earlier depending on what signs you see....

 

[Walbon Acres]

The foaling date was based on 2 factors. 1. We pasture breed and we saw the stallion breed her on 5/1. 2. She had her foal last year on 4/15 therefore we know that she was probably bred on her "9" day heat. We have always used the 340 day chart and our minis have been very close to the dates according to that chart even when we knew for sure when they were bred. I wasn't refering to a premie foal but an early foal due to our past experience with our minis always being closer to the 340 day chart. We have had one premie foal I know what they look and act like. I know alot of people go by a different chart for their minis. Also usually mares will go about the same amount of days each year with each foal if there are no problems. A friend of mine has a mare thet only goes 305 days, almost to the day. Of course there is always the old "addage" early - filly, late - colt!!!

 

[Beccy]

I know people who have mares that foal perfectly healthy, apparently term foals much earlier than the "norm". I have also heard of mares going over the 342 days, and last year several of ours went over. I think how mature the foal appears is an indicator, but other than that am not sure how we can know for sure if a foal is "term" or not, as there seems to be such a variation in the gestation of these little horses. Some that we think are early are probably not, and some that we think should be here now, are not ready.

 

[Minimor]

The first Mini foals we raised were out of mares that we bought already bred. We had the due dates the sellers gave us, but I was never sure just how many days they were figuring on to get those due dates. The one mare foaled a month early (for the seller) with her first foal, & 3 weeks early for her first foal for us. But, I don't know how many days gestation they were actually at when they foaled. The filly that came 3 weeks early did look a little premature, but not too bad. Another mare foaled "2 weeks early" but again I don't honestly know if she was early or not, based on days.

I personally figure our due dates at 325 days gestation. There are exceptions. We have one mare that seems to always go 335-340 days; another mare last year (1st foal for us) went at 340 days. One mare went right on time. Two others went early--Kathy was 3 weeks early, putting her at 304 days when she foaled. Timie went a full month earlier than the 325 days I had figured for her--so that foal was only 296 days gestation. Both these foals were healthy colts that looked to be full term.

As for early = filly & late = colt, that just isn't accurate. The two foals we had born at 296 & 304 days last year were colts. The 3 fillies we had last year came at 325, 335 & 340 days. Of the two "early" foals Sherry had in previous years, the month early one was a colt, the 3 weeks early one was a filly. Flame's '03 foal that we figured was 2 weeks early was a colt. Technically, here the rule is more like early=colt & later=filly!

The first Mini foals we raised were out of mares that we bought already bred. We had the due dates the sellers gave us, but I was never sure just how many days they were figuring on to get those due dates. The one mare foaled a month early (for the seller) with her first foal, & 3 weeks early for her first foal for us. But, I don't know how many days gestation they were actually at when they foaled. The filly that came 3 weeks early did look a little premature, but not too bad. Another mare foaled "2 weeks early" but again I don't honestly know if she was early or not, based on days.

I personally figure our due dates at 325 days gestation. There are exceptions. We have one mare that seems to always go 335-340 days; another mare last year (1st foal for us) went at 340 days. One mare went right on time. Two others went early--Kathy was 3 weeks early, putting her at 304 days when she foaled. Timie went a full month earlier than the 325 days I had figured for her--so that foal was only 296 days gestation. Both these foals were healthy colts that looked to be full term.

As for early = filly & late = colt, that just isn't accurate. The two foals we had born at 296 & 304 days last year were colts. The 3 fillies we had last year came at 325, 335 & 340 days. Of the two "early" foals Sherry had in previous years, the month early one was a colt, the 3 weeks early one was a filly. Flame's '03 foal that we figured was 2 weeks early was a colt. Technically, here the rule is more like early=colt & later=filly!