Is my Miniture Shetland about to foal??????

[MaddieBlack]

Help-I have had my little Miniature Shetland Filly for a few weeks now, when I bought her I was told she was in foal but owner unsure of exact due date however they thought it was about July.

As you can imagine I was shocked to find her bagging up last Saturday (I am unsure how long exactly she had benn bagged up as she was not due so I did not check daily!) The following Tuesday she appeared to be leaking milk from teats as she had a white thin liquid running on her leg as she was lay down. From Tuesday evening she appeared to be waxing up and had drips down her legs-this wax got bigger as time passed and by Thursday was a very noticeable yellow wax on the end of her teats. By Friday morning the wax had fallen off and it has not reappeared and now the only liquid from her teats is currently clear in colour.

I am a novice to foaling and confused as to what is happening as I was told she should have foaled within 24hrs-48hrs of being waxed up (and cant understand why wax dropped off to not reappear) I am also tired as been up for five nights on foal watch.

Any advice would be gratefully received!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MaddieBlack]

Help-I have had my little Miniature Shetland Filly for a few weeks now, when I bought her I was told she was in foal but owner unsure of exact due date however they thought it was about July.

As you can imagine I was shocked to find her bagging up last Saturday (I am unsure how long exactly she had benn bagged up as she was not due so I did not check daily!) The following Tuesday she appeared to be leaking milk from teats as she had a white thin liquid running on her leg as she was lay down. From Tuesday evening she appeared to be waxing up and had drips down her legs-this wax got bigger as time passed and by Thursday was a very noticeable yellow wax on the end of her teats. By Friday morning the wax had fallen off and it has not reappeared and now the only liquid from her teats is currently clear in colour.

I am a novice to foaling and confused as to what is happening as I was told she should have foaled within 24hrs-48hrs of being waxed up (and cant understand why wax dropped off to not reappear) I am also tired as been up for five nights on foal watch.

Any advice would be gratefully received!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Nayds]

I wouldn't worry too much we had a mare do all that like 3 months prior to foaling. I was weird but we did have to clean her back legs because the milk was burning them from constant leaking.

I would be worrying tough if her pelvis has "given way". You know when their pelvis loosens up and when they walk it looks like their hide end is going to fall over.

If she is walking like that and her vulva is really loose then I would say she is probably going to foal. But because it is so early I would get the vet out to check everything is alright.

Hope this helps :p

[Nayds]

Yer I don't think she is going to foal just yet. Has her pelvis gone all wobbly like when she walks does it look like her rear end has had sedatives?

[**jet**]

usually once they wax they go within 48 hours but then again they dont all read the book my mare foaled on tuesday with no warning , she didnt wax or anything!!i would keep close eye on her if she leaking milk badlyand she is in foal then she could lose some of her colostrum

[MaddieBlack]

The previous owner forgot to tell me that my filly was RUNNING with the stallion all last year so the due date of July was basically just wrong as she had no idea when she was covered!!! It is the waxing up then the wax dropping off and NOT reappearing that I dont get. The liquid from her teats is actually a pale white NOT clear as I thought

[**jet**]

did breeder tell you earliest she was out with stallion? is she maiden mare?sometimes if they are a maiden mare then i thinktheir bodies are bit unsure and give off odd signs we had a mare once that Bagged,Waxed and sagged behind for 8 weeks before she foaled!!! and the vet had confirmed it was definatly waxed up!! i think if you are unsure have vet look at her

[Lgd]

Don't worry about her running milk. Now actually a bit of an old wives tale, research has shown that they actually don't lose colostrum as it is not actually produced properly until they start getting very close to labour.

One way of checking is to test the milk with foalwatch tests. The detect calcium levels in the milk and are a fairly accurate predictor of when they are going to go. As long as the mare is producing milk you can test. I used them with Peri last year and they were spot on, despite her going 2 weeks over dates. Roughly the pattern she followed was calcium levels less than 50 on the Thursday, 60 Friday, 75 Saturday, 100 Sunday, 175 Monday morning, 280 Monday teatime - waxing up by now, vet alerted to be on standby in case of problems (in surgery hours, which they really appreciate!), Belle arrived 3.30am.

[puzzles]

what does your vet think?

[MaddieBlack]

Yes she is a maiden mare. The owner had no idea when covered as running together all last year I therefore am in the dark a bit!

When I described her symptoms to the vet on Friday Bagging, Waxing) he was sure she would foal over the weekend.

I am now on my 6th night of 2 hourly checks!! I will look into the foalwatch tests-where can I get them from?

[puzzles]

oooh, exciting or what?!
i hope it goes ok, if it is indeed a foal
x