When is it too cold for foaling?

[SandyWI]

At what temperature do you consider it too cold for foals to be born? I would love to move my foaling dates up to at least the middle of April, instead of late May, June, and early July, but our nighttime temps are often in the low 40's in mid April, and we don't have a heated barn.

Is 40 degrees too chilly for foals? Or, is it OK as long as they are dried off well and then blanketed?

I'm also thinking about myself, LOL. I just don't know if I'd want to spend a lot of nights in a 40 degree barn!

sandyWI

 

[Rachel]

I'm interested to see what the more experienced breeders have to say about this too. I have a mare due the middle of April and I've been a little worried about what the weather will be like then. I sure hope it's warmer than it is right now - we have an overnight low of -4 tonight! :no:

 

[Minimor]

Well, we're in Manitoba, no heated barn, and our foals are due mid to late April this year. If the temps are in the 40's I don't worry about the foals, once they're dried off they do fine in the 40's. At that we don't even blanket. Last year our May 1st baby was born into a cold snap, snow & all. As I recall a couple of nights it was down to around 14F or so, & we did blanket those nights--that's pretty chilly for a foal that's only a day or two old. Once it's back up above freezing, with the sun shining, the blanket comes off.

We had one foal born March 25th last year & that was a real nice warm day--baby was born in mid afternoon & got dried off quickly & never did need blanketing.

Feb. 6th, with -35 temps....now THAT is too cold! Did that with one last year & while it worked out okay we were glad not to be repeating the experience this year. Mind you, this year we had milder weather on Feb. 6th than we do tonight. Brrr.

I should add--two years ago we had a foal born on May 10th or 14th, I forget the exact date, & we were having a horrible snowstorm that day/night--we got well over a foot of wet, wet snow, roads were closed--if the mare had trouble we'd have had a major problem because the vet couldn't have got here & we surely couldn't have got to the vet. People here tend to think that if we breed for May foals they'll come in nice weather, but that's not a sure thing either--in this climate it's a crapshoot whatever date we breed for!

 

[Mona]

I live in Northwestern Ontario, directly across the border from Baudette, Minnesota. We have no heated barn, and I have had foals born here in early April.

The foals are born inside, are toweled as dry as possible after birth, and then I put a quilted foal blanket on them for the first day or two. After that, I remove the blanket during the day and put it back on at night. I have never blanketed a new foal for more than a week, and have never had any problems doing it this way. My biggest concern is with them being wet right after they are born, so to me, that is the most important time, as it is harder for newborns to regulate their body temps.

All of my horses are due in April this year. I used to foal in May, but it is always so wet here, that one year my husbancd said I should try having them a little earlier. We have snow still, but it not as wet out as in May, so actually might even be better for the foals that way.

 

[RJRMINIS]

I had a donkey foal, born in December, it was not planned that way, but the jenny didn't take like I had thought(she was suppose to be due in Oct) It was very cold, snow on the ground, Freezing temps.

I had two heat lamps on in the stall, dried that baby off as soon as it came out, and blanketed her.

I learned a very valuable lesson, and wil no longer leave my jack in with the herd. This jenny is one that will not take until her baby is weaned for some reason.

Now for my horses, I have had them born in 25-30 degree weather....The main thing is to get them dried as soon as they come out, with towels, or a blow dryer if it is really cold. HEAT LAMPS if you don't have a heated barn are a must. As long as they get dried and kept warm in a nice stall full of straw to keep warm, they have done well for me.

 

[Miniv]

I feel like Mona does. The first 24 to 48 hours are the most important time to keep a foal warm. It's during that time that they don't know how to regulate their own body temperature.

MA

 

[kristina]

Well-my 1st foal was born here in NH on March 3rd

Check her out http://www.aldamirfarm.com/dfilly.html ..... !!

The temps had been down into the single digits at times, and will be again down into the teens next week. So far, my foal is just fine. I was there at the time of foaling and dried her off immediately (I actually had a towel over her back before she was even fully delivered as it was about 10 degrees at the time). I also had two little foal blankets ready to go once she was as dry as I could get with the towel. After I blanketed her, I stayed back so that she could bond with mom and just kept an eye on her. I had to vet wrap around the blanket at first as mom kept trying to take it off, but now she leaves it alone. After she was completely dry, I put on fresh blankets just in case the first ones had absorbed a little moisture. (I also had a blow dryer handy in case she started to shiver before she was totally dry, but did not need it.

I had LOTS of straw in the stall so that she could snuggle down into it- and for the 1st 3 nights I hung an infrared heat strip over one corner of the stall. The filly is now a week old. I did have her out briefly without her blanket when it was about 40 one day, but she did start to shiver, so I keep the blanket on all the time still (she is about 1 1/2 weeks now).

I was definitely worried the 1st couple of nights when she was brand-new as it was so cold and newborns can have difficulty regulating their temp, but other than the one day outside without a blanket, she has not seemed cold at all (she was born with a pretty good coat!).

The biggest problem that I had was that mom was so hairy, I had to keep pulling furr-balls out of her eyes from rubbing on mom. My vet also cautioned about her ingesting too much hair and possibly colic-ing, so I have shaved mom from above the knee/hock all the way around her udder, up her belly as high as mid-flank and no more furry eye-balls! I am expecting three more foals any day now and am not at all worried. Worst case scenario- I have a heated tack-room and heated garage!!

Good luck!

 

[horsehug]

I agree with most of these replies.

I breed for foals to come from April through August usually. And my preferred time for them to be born is July since our days are so nice and warm in July more than any other month, and I have about as many daytime births as nighttime. Out on the grass is my favorite place also for them to be born.

My little foaling barn is usually about 5 to 10 degrees warmer than outside and I have had them born in April with about 8 degrees outside and in the teens in the barn but I also dry them off and blanket them and have a heat lamp for the first few nights.

I only have three stalls in my little barn so I need to space my foaling, and like I said my favorite time is July. Even in July our nights usually are in the 40's here at 7500 feet on the high plains of Wyoming.

I love having a long foaling season as it is like Christmas for months

Susan O.

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

Hi Sandy, I live in northern Wisconsin too, and have been in minis almost 10 yrs now. I breed for May-June foals, because I just dont trust our weather. I have had foals born (which were out of mares I bought bred) born as early as January, but we also have a barn that stays above 32,at least the water never freezes!! :bgrin but for that foal we wrapped the complete stall and made kind of like a tent in her stall, to keep extra body heat in it, I wont use a heat lamp in our barn, I also had my straw knee deep, and she made it thru the cold, but I sure wouldnt advise it to anyone living up our way. I have had some others that were born in the beginning of April, and everything was fine, but they also were born in the barn, and stayed in till I felt it was nice enough for them outside. You just have to remember to dry them down quickly, as they dont know how to regulate there body temps, and I also keep mine blanketed. Oh gosh--give me a nice sunny warm day for foaling anytime over cold temps. I also have cameras, hooked up to a TV,so I can watch the foals and the equipage to let me know, when she is foaling so I can be there. IMO its just not worth it to foal them early in Wisc. Corinne

 

[bitsy]

We live in PA. I've got a real thing about babies being born with green grass to lay in and to help moms milk production. Don't like having babies when there is nothing but mud out there. Had a foal born on April 17 a few years back, it was 15 degrees out and snowing. Had a terrible time stopping the shivering. Was there when the colt was born and was toweling him off immediately. We set up the turbo heaters in the barn aisle way and warmed the barn up to about 40. That did the trick.

: I try to plan all my foals for May and June.

 

[bitsy]

We live in PA. I try to have all our foals born in May and June. I feel strongly that new babies should have green grass to lay in and mares should have the grass to graze on to help with their milk production. I don't like to see the foals out with nothing but mud and I believe strongly that they need to be out, I usually try to have them out within 24 hours. Their little legs need to run and strenthen. We had a colt born on April 17 a few years back, it was 15 degrees out and snowing. I was there when he was born and toweled him off immediately but couldn't get rid of the shivers. We set up turbo heaters in the barn aisle way and warmed the whole barn up to just over 40 degrees. That did the trick.

:

 

[KenBen]

Hi Sandy. Up here in Northern Ontario we have had a number of foals born in April with no problem. I use straw for bedding for the foals so they can snuggle down in for warmth. Foals born at this time have a much heavier coat than foals born in the summer. Also in April the snow is pretty much gone and the mares and foals can get outside. I believe in getting my foals out as much as possible so that they can exercize and strenghen there legs.

Ken

 

[Dona]

I've had foals born as early as the end of January.....and as low as 20 degrees, with no problems. Of course, it depends on your setup. If you don't stall your horses, and they just have run-ins...I wouldn't want them foaling in frigid weather. But I stall all of my horses at night....and during the day in inclimate weather. I know my mares will be foaling in warm bedded stalls. And, as soon as the baby comes, I put a foal blanket on it for the first couple of days. They always do just fine, no matter how cold it's been. And as others have said....foals born early in the year seem to come with an extra thick coat!

:

 

[SandyWI]

Thanks for all the answers. After reading them I think I would be comfortable moving my foaling dates up to the beginning of May.

Last year our first foal came on Mar. 4 and was still born. It was also very cold that day. Our second foal came May 13, and it was around 40 degrees that night, but we toweled her off really well and also had heat lamps hanging. *I* was the one who was frozen!

We do have the camera and the equipage foaling alert, so I can be there to dry off the earlier babies.

Corinne, you mentioned you wouldn't use heat lamps. Are you concerned they would break and drop dangerous glass into the stall?

SandyWI

 

[Beccy]

We are in what they call "near north" Ontario (not as far north as Mona) and our barn is not heated either.

Our foals usually begin arriving in April, but we have had a few in March, and even in April it is still often below freezing some days. We have lots of warm towels to help dry off the baby, and as soon as mum has licked and bonded with it, we put a blanket or sweater on the foal. We definitely use heat lamps if the baby is shivering, we make sure they are securely fastened and not so low mum can bother it.