Gracie's Mini Mommas' To Be Page- All done foaling! Five Healthy Foals!!

[Eagle]

I am crossing my fingers that the girls are busy making udders

 

[Sandy B]

I am crossing my fingers that the girls are busy making udders

No, their udders have the spickets shut off or something. They were way fuller a week ago then they are now, and Fancy hoochie was more relaxed & elongated last week then this week. It is so weird to have them regress. This is a first time for me to have them go backwards or stay so idle for so long in the make up department. I am stumped

I think they are so loving all the attention and spoiling that they have decided to milk the system and enjoy it while they can. Lexi kept me up almost all night as she decided she was going to lay flat for long periods of time and get in some good snoozing. So I had to keep myself up and wait until she would go sternal or get up to turn the Equipage back on, cause for some reason I can not figure out how to stop the alarm when they stay flat so I have to turn the pager off.

 

[targetsmom]

Sandy - you should be able to just push the on-off switch IN (not left or right) to get it to stop buzzing.You may have to hold it a few seconds. Gosh I would be getting NO sleep if I couldn't shut it off! Now, I did accidentally shut the pager off the other night after one of them set it off, so I got a lot more sleep that night. I am being more careful now.

 

[AnnaC]

I'm sorry that they are being such 'naughty' girls for you Sandy, bless them!!

This sitting up waiting for them to make their minds up always makes me wonder why we do it - until I see that gorgeous little new miracle that is the end product. Then suddenly it all becomes worth while and the exhaustion and triedness is forgotten.

Hang in there Sandy - it wont be long now!

 

[Sandy B]

Sandy - you should be able to just push the on-off switch IN (not left or right) to get it to stop buzzing.You may have to hold it a few seconds. Gosh I would be getting NO sleep if I couldn't shut it off! Now, I did accidentally shut the pager off the other night after one of them set it off, so I got a lot more sleep that night. I am being more careful now.

That is what I thought too. I have tried hitting the re-set button all different ways to stop the alarm but as long as they are laying in that flat position it keeps going off. Yet, if they are scratching and it alarms and say they stop scratching, after 30-40 seconds of alarm I can hit the re-set button and it stops. Again, the problem is when they are sleeping flat out, it will not stop alarming no matter what I do unless I turn it off and wait for them to go sternal or get up. I also did what you did the other night and accidentally fell asleep while waiting for Fancy to wake up. Totally panicked when I woke up with the alarm still in my hand.

 

[Sandy B]

I'm sorry that they are being such 'naughty' girls for you Sandy, bless them!!

This sitting up waiting for them to make their minds up always makes me wonder why we do it - until I see that gorgeous little new miracle that is the end product. Then suddenly it all becomes worth while and the exhaustion and triedness is forgotten.

Hang in there Sandy - it wont be long now!

I know! I am doing this for my daughter and thats what matters. Since she has school, she can not be on foal patrol at night. At least she home schools and I can have a nap during the day if I need it while she works on school and keeps an eye on her girls. We are just so anxious to have out first mini baby. I love my big foals but the mini babies are a whole new deal for us and we are suffering big anticipation. Like waiting for Santa Claus to come

 

[targetsmom]

Some more things for you to try: I assume everything is new, including your batteries ?? And I found out if the batteries are low the pager emits a beep every minute or so. But if you try new batteries and you still have trouble, you might try disconnecting the battery in the "black box". Turn the box off, turn it over and remove the 2 tiny screws on each side down in the holes. Turn the box back over, lift the top off carefully and disconnect the wires to the battery. Put everything back and try again. Of course if you now have a power failure your system won't work, but many of us are operating that way!

If that still doesn't help, push in and hold the button on the pager while you slide it ON. When it beeps once, LET GO. That should reset it.

Of course I got this from another person on the forum - Reo I think. Good luck!!!!

 

[Sandy B]

Some more things for you to try: I assume everything is new, including your batteries ?? And I found out if the batteries are low the pager emits a beep every minute or so. But if you try new batteries and you still have trouble, you might try disconnecting the battery in the "black box". Turn the box off, turn it over and remove the 2 tiny screws on each side down in the holes. Turn the box back over, lift the top off carefully and disconnect the wires to the battery. Put everything back and try again. Of course if you now have a power failure your system won't work, but many of us are operating that way!

If that still doesn't help, push in and hold the button on the pager while you slide it ON. When it beeps once, LET GO. That should reset it.

Of course I got this from another person on the forum - Reo I think. Good luck!!!!

Yup its a brand new system but we heard the intermittent beep and changed all the batteries to be safe. We only got two weeks out of the batteries that came with the new system. I sent an email to Keeport/Equipage asking them but never got a reply. I will re-send it again just in case. We will try the disconnecting the main battery. Thank you for the tip!!

 

[Sandy B]

So I was out staring at both girls just now since they are turned out grazing away. Both girls are getting the "V" but I have to say Fancy's is much more prominent looking to me and farther forward. It looks more pointy if that makes sense. You can once again see both girls flank and stifle area, it almost looks flat in front of their udder, which still are very lacking in my opinion and have not changed in a good 5 days.

 

[Sandy B]

So today it was pretty comical when both the girls were in their paddock side by side holding up the pipe railing.

Both have a more con caved look to their flanks and Fancy is really being a grump towards Lexi.

It could be several more weeks?

:arg!

 

[AnnaC]

It doesn't sound as though you will have to wait that long for these precious babies Sandy - both girls sound as though they are getting pretty close!

Will be saying special prayers for you, Gracie and for them.

 

[griggsmel]

Sandy, I understand your sleepless nights, it's tough! Just remember that those udders can change in an hour. So when you bring them in for the night and check them and see no progress, that doesn't mean it won't happen in an hour or two. I checked my first girl's udders with no change at all and 5 hours later we were watching the filly nurse. Things can change so fast without a single hint from the mare. Two of my other mamas both had their udders go down, too, but came back in a couple days. Hope you get your babies soon!

 

[Becky]

I agree with Melissa! Udders can go from loose and floppy to firm, tight and ready to foal in just a few hours. All we can do is keep watching and waiting.

As to your Equipage, I would certainly talk to KeePort about it. If you've changed the batteries in both the transmitters and the pagers and it's still not responding correctly, something is wrong. Do you have the antennas attached to the Repeater correctly? The tall antenna needs to be at least 6' above the floor. The short antenna needs to be attached properly before using the system.

 

[Sandy B]

I agree with Melissa! Udders can go from loose and floppy to firm, tight and ready to foal in just a few hours. All we can do is keep watching and waiting.

As to your Equipage, I would certainly talk to KeePort about it. If you've changed the batteries in both the transmitters and the pagers and it's still not responding correctly, something is wrong. Do you have the antennas attached to the Repeater correctly? The tall antenna needs to be at least 6' above the floor. The short antenna needs to be attached properly before using the system.

The Equipage works fantastic until one of them lays flat out and then the alarm does its job and goes off and I wait the 30-40 seconds it says and push the re-set button and it just keeps alarming unless the mare goes up on sternum or gets up which at that point when I hit the re-set button it stops the alarm. I have tried holding the button for 30+ seconds, etc.... The antenna is about 10' off the ground on top of the stall divider wall.

 

[Sandy B]

OK, Fancy is 320 days today and Lexi is 319. So I will take pictures today of bellies. buns, and udders. Last night the girls were actually quiet and I managed to get some sleep

which is good cause I have a bunch of 4-H girls coming here this afternoon to work on showmanship and trail courses and I will need all the energy I can get

 

[Becky]

Sandy, does your pager go through a series of beeps? Like beep, beep, beep, pause and then beep, beep, beep, pause and continues beeping and pausing? If it does that, it has to go through the series of beeps 3 times before it will reset. I lay in bed and count the beeps and pauses 3 times before I press the reset button. Mine resets when I do and doesn't go off again unless the mare moves to start the process again. If I don't let it do 3 'sets' of beeps, it won't reset and just keeps going. I bet you'll get it figured out!

 

[Sandy B]

Sandy, does your pager go through a series of beeps? Like beep, beep, beep, pause and then beep, beep, beep, pause and continues beeping and pausing? If it does that, it has to go through the series of beeps 3 times before it will reset. I lay in bed and count the beeps and pauses 3 times before I press the reset button. Mine resets when I do and doesn't go off again unless the mare moves to start the process again. If I don't let it do 3 'sets' of beeps, it won't reset and just keeps going. I bet you'll get it figured out!

Yes, but mine has to do a series of "4 sets" before I can re-set it. But again, if the mare stays flat, it will not re-set at that time, just keeps alarming with the series of beeps.

 

[Sandy B]

Fancy 320 days today. Excuse their un-groomed appearance.

 

[Sandy B]

Lexi at 319 days

 

[Sandy B]

The girls udders - Fancy's first and Lexi's second