StardustandBreezysMom
Active Member
We recently rescued a very sweet bred and reg. mini mare from a meat buyer in Northern New England. The note she came with said she was due in August and after a first vet visit we now believe she is due in approximately 5-6 weeks (end of Dec. or early Jan.). She is starting to bag up and you can feel movement in her belly. I have found out thanks to this forum that she has foaled before so luckily she is an experienced Mama. My concern is that the foal is being born during our coldest winter weather. (Jan. and Feb. are the worst! Wind chills sometimes put our weather to 20 or 30 below!). Most people in our area plan foals for May - August. What advice can you share to help us with this little "winter gift"? What temp. should the barn be? Should a heat lamp be used maybe just on birthing day? I have ordered a foal blanket but what other cold weather items will we need? Thanks so much!