I got two mares that were in-foal two months ago that were pretty skinny. We had the vet out and both were in-foal at that time. The first mare was said to have been bred in the middle of March and the second was several weeks later. The mare that was bred in March started to get a big bag, but over the past few days, it has become smaller and smaller. Tonight, she had no bag at all. We do not believe she slipped the foal, as there is no blood on her tail and she is in a small pasture. We have watched her like a hawk. She is almost up-to-weight and eats an excellent diet. I’m at a loss. Tomorrow I will call the vet, but I am worried out of my mind.
Well, either she never was in foal or it is still in there. It isn’t unusual for the udder to change size tremendously from one day to the next. I remember a time when my mare did the same thing and scared the crap out of me but the bag came back the next morning.
If the mare was bred in mid March, you should have a foal on the ground by now. She could go a year + but she’d be around day 380 or so at this point so I’d wonder about the breeding date.
With respect to her bag… Is your mare becoming more active as she’s starting to feel better with her increased feed and energy? The change in a mare’s bag as it builds all those days prior to foaling can be significant depending on the amount of activity. The more sedentary the mare, the larger the bag appears.
Have there been any other dietary changes, either in terms of grain or forage?
Good luck!
Do you have the mare’s breeding dates? Bags do go and up and down, but it be helpful to know how many days pregnant they should be.
No, no change in feed recently or hay. We had both mares palped about 2 months ago (right when we brought them home) and both were in-foal. The mare’s bag was BIG last week (I thought she might foal), but today, there is very little bag. Her tail has no blood on it at all and we did not find anything to make us think we missed her foaling. The farm they came from did not give us exact breeding dates. They “thought” it was about March 15, but most mares don’t cycle that early and catch. I’m guessing she was bred at the beginning of April.
Well without their breeding dates, I think your best course of action at this point, would be to get the vet out to check her. She may be just fine and just have some time to go. It certainly makes it harder on you not having all the information. Good luck.
Fescue in the hay can make this happen. Make sure there’s not any. The mare can foal and have no milk.
Vet came out. Baby is ready to go any time. We started her on domperidon today. Fingers crossed!!
Good luck!
Thank goodness!!
Great news. Hope everything goes well
Yay!! Hope all goes smoothly for you!
Any updates this morning at all?
Crossing my fingers that all is progressing well … and her bag has come back! 
No foal. No bag. One very tired breeder. 
I am sure your vet told you that the domperidone may cause her to not have any colostrum? I have only used it once years ago. It took the mare several days to get a bag. Hoping all goes well for you and your mare. Keep us posted. :yes:
Definitely have some tested colostrum on hand. I think it’s a 100% for sure that the Dom will diminish the quality of the colostrum, depending of course how long she’s on it. My mare was on it for…15? days and hers tested to be borderline good.
Question?
If the mare was exposed to fescue at the other farm over 2 months ago, why is she on domperidone now?
I thought the mare just had to be fescue free for 30 days prior to foaling.
Is there fescue on the OP’s place?
I have never had this happen and I’ve had 34 foals. I used to own this mare, but just got her back two months ago. When the vet palped her yesterday, she thought she would foal in the next 48 hours. There is still very little bag.
Hopefully, the domperidone will kick in quickly and she will get a nice udder going soon. As I understand it, the worry with domperidone is when a mare is on it a long time before she foals and the colostrum leaks before she foals. With luck, you may hit it just right and baby will arrive when the colostrum does.
This link has some good information:
AFAIK is has nothing to do with the milk streaming/leaking
"Failure of passive transfer of immunoglobulins (IgG) may occur when using EQUIDONE Gel even in the absence of leakage of colostrum or milk. "
I had read somewhere else that it was all/nearly 100% true that colostrum tested relatively poorly, compared to “very good” when on dom, but I can’t find where I read that, so…
