Can we talk about full term mares w/ stillborn foals? Signs?

[Daventry]

@Brunhilde;3189824

I had this happen to me this year, sadly. There were absolutely NO signs whatsoever. The mare acted perfectly normal in every way, we have no fescue, she had all the appropriate vaccinations and so on, it was her second foal and there had been no problem the first time around, the baby had been seen kicking recently, etc. etc. She started bagging up at about 300 days, perfectly normal. The evening she foaled, her udder was noticeably fuller, but not super huge like some mares get, and no waxing up at all yet. I really thought she would go another 1-3 days, but I was watching her anyway. The birth was normal in every way, right up till the part where the foal takes that first breath… and it just didn’t.

The vet said it was placentitis. Out in the light of day the next morning, the placenta did not look very good, it was darker red than usual, with brownish splotches. We did have the foal autopsied and nothing abnormal was found there. The vet figures that the placenta was just not healthy, it started separating too soon, which stressed the foal, which caused the mare to go into labor before she looked quite ready. I thought that when mares get placentitis, they show some symptoms, i.e. bagging up too early, or acting a little sick, maybe off feed, something like that… but he said, not always. Sometimes there is no sign whatsoever. There was nothing I could have done, but my heart still aches.

We too had a full term stillborn foal this year that was absolutely gorgeous. Mare is 16 years old and has been bred to our stallion 7+ times (I’ve lost count) and everything was going according to plan. I was shocked that the foal was dead…hence, there were absolutely no signs and nothing was out of the ordinary. Like many others have said, every mare is different and all you can really do is keep an eye on them.

A mare we’ve leased out the last two years has ALWAYS, always foaled two or three days early. Our first foal with us, she was over a week late! Nothing is a shoe in when it involves pregnancies! :no:

Kathy was only trying to help so don’t think it was fair to give her a full out attack. You may be well educated on the subject of breeding and gestation but comparing a maiden mare to your mare that were bred one day a part with the same frozen semen and worried that the other mare foaled 2 1/2 weeks ago is pointless! Every mare is different, every year can be different, every gestation can be different. If mare is doing sign and her bag is starting to fill, etc., I’d leave her alone, keep an eye on her and let nature take it’s course.

[system]

we lost our first foal

We are very sad here. Tried for our first foal, did everything by the book and woke up to a stillborn foal the other morning. I could tell because she never kicked out of the back of the sac. She looked very small. Maybe 90 lbs. Isn’t 150 lbs. closer to normal? Someone said Strategy feed has a mortality problem and that AB took all their breeding mares off of Strategy. Only other thing I can think, I got some new hay in mid-April. Seemed like great hay,no fescue. I am searching for answers and trying to help my teen-age daughter with her grief. She is REALLY suffering from our loss. Any feedback is appreciatated ! It’s been a sad, sad weekend for us.

[wehrlegirl]

DEBQ, Im so sorry about your loss (actually, all the very sad stories) My very first mare that I bred when I was 17 yrs died with her foal after a long horrible attempt to deliver. The vet there took me aside and gave me such encouraging advice that I kept my dream to be a breeder my whole life. Tell your daughter to not be discouraged.

[Dressage-ryder]

We had a stillborn foal this year although the mare wasn’t full term… she was 308 days. She bagged up at 287 overnight. No fever, no discharge and no milk just a HUGE bag. We had two vets check her out , ran all the blood work and nothing was abnormal. After about a week bag had gone down again. We had thought red clover might be part of the problem. She made it to 306 days and then started bagging up again. Her milk tested at 60 on the first night she had bagged up again. By morning of 307 she had a little milk on the end of her teats and her milk tested at 150. I knew the foal would be coming quickly. That afternoon she tested at 250 and her milk was spraying everywhere. She delivered a dead foal the morning of 308.
Most everyone was sure we missed twins or she had placentitis but infact there was NOTHING wrong with the placenta ( cord was normal also) and there was just one perfectly formed foal. It was truly one of the most heartbreaking things I have been through.

So, I do think so far your mare sounds ok- even it it’s not her regular routine… I would say to trust your gut feeling and have the vet check her if that will put you at ease.

[Edgewood]

@Brunhilde;3189824

I had this happen to me this year, sadly. There were absolutely NO signs whatsoever. The mare acted perfectly normal in every way, we have no fescue, she had all the appropriate vaccinations and so on, it was her second foal and there had been no problem the first time around, the baby had been seen kicking recently, etc. etc. She started bagging up at about 300 days, perfectly normal. The evening she foaled, her udder was noticeably fuller, but not super huge like some mares get, and no waxing up at all yet. I really thought she would go another 1-3 days, but I was watching her anyway. The birth was normal in every way, right up till the part where the foal takes that first breath… and it just didn’t.

The vet said it was placentitis. Out in the light of day the next morning, the placenta did not look very good, it was darker red than usual, with brownish splotches. We did have the foal autopsied and nothing abnormal was found there. The vet figures that the placenta was just not healthy, it started separating too soon, which stressed the foal, which caused the mare to go into labor before she looked quite ready. I thought that when mares get placentitis, they show some symptoms, i.e. bagging up too early, or acting a little sick, maybe off feed, something like that… but he said, not always. Sometimes there is no sign whatsoever. There was nothing I could have done, but my heart still aches.

I had the same thing happen this year, very closely mirroring this quote above. My mare aborted at 314 d with no signs (only a slight udder filling)). But in my case the foal never turned and came out upside down, both legs back and poll first (with assistance from the vet). No signs at all. The foal had been kicking the day before. Nothing on autopsy. Normal looking 115 lb foal.

[VirginiaBred]

@Thomas_1

For a kick off you need to appreciate that different breeds tend to have slightly different gestation.

That sentence jumped out at me and I completely agree here.

I just had a TB mare that has had pony foals in the past within 24 hours of her expected date go seven days past her expected foaling date this year with a warmblood foal - so I figured they cook longer.

[Iron_Horse_Farm]

[QUOTE=DEBQ;4065911]
Someone said Strategy feed has a mortality problem and that AB took all their breeding mares off of Strategy. [/QUOTE]

WHAT???:eek::eek::eek:
Let’s not slam a product because one mare on it had a stillborn foal. I have had an entire broodmare herd on Strategy for about 10 years.

[SGray]

@DEBQ;4065911

We are very sad here. Tried for our first foal, did everything by the book and woke up to a stillborn foal the other morning. I could tell because she never kicked out of the back of the sac. She looked very small. Maybe 90 lbs. Isn’t 150 lbs. closer to normal? Someone said Strategy feed has a mortality problem and that AB took all their breeding mares off of Strategy. Only other thing I can think, I got some new hay in mid-April. Seemed like great hay,no fescue. I am searching for answers and trying to help my teen-age daughter with her grief. She is REALLY suffering from our loss. Any feedback is appreciatated ! It’s been a sad, sad weekend for us.

“Someone” is an idiot

[Sugarbrook]

I guess I usually have a “due” date in my mind for my ponies. Its the date (332 days) when they USUALLY foal (or plus, minus a few days). Puts me on alert when they are getting close to SUGARBROOK’s due date for them.
I have had one mare that foals at 318 days for 6 foals (2 weeks earlier than 332 for those counting). This year she went over 342 days. The other two mares were late. One going 364 days. So, yes, this year has been different.

I have had two stillborns in all my years of foaling. No signs or symptoms what so ever. Just a dead foal in the pasture. One was a maiden and she was standing at her bucket ready to eat. Oblivious.

Your mare is probably just fine. I know we get anxious, but it will happen when it happens and nothing we can do (other than inducing which is NOT what you almost ever want to do) to make it quicker. Funny how we wait and wait (I do Chemetrics test) and when BAMB…in a few minutes its all over.

[Mardi]

[QUOTE=DEBQ;4065911]
Someone said Strategy feed has a mortality problem and that AB took all their breeding mares off of Strategy. [/QUOTE]

Who’s “AB” ?

[Mardi]

bump…

still want to know who “AB” is…

[bornfreenowexpensive]

My mare lost hers at 332 last year. No signs. She was just starting to bag up but no signs that she was close and everything had looked normal. The foal was stillborn and never took a breath. Nothing was found wrong…and as is often the case…they didn’t find out the cause.

[fillies_and_colts]

Don’t Understand ?

Hi,
Im not answering your question, but wanted to give my story to see if anyone knows why it happened.

The first riding school i worked at closed down and only a few horses were left on the property, one being an mare (who has racehorse bloodlines). The owner decided to have a foal from her. After 3 months, she was sent back to the riding school expecting a foal. She was very well cared for, being feed the right foods and looked amazing, she was in the best condition.

The other riding school i work at, was just starting up and bought a mare from the Camden Sales and didn’t know she was expecting a foal until 3 months ago. She was still being ridden and wasn’t being feed the right foods and was also in a paddock with 10 other horses. When we found out she was expecting a foal, we put her in her own paddock, close to the other horses. We gave her more and proper feed and got the vet out. We had no idea when she was going to deliver the foal. She had some discharge with some blood it in. Her bum had just started to drop and her milk bag was dropping. Only felt the foal move once or twice. She had the foal a week ago today, a bay filly. The only birth defect was that the foal was walking on her back fetlocks and has just righted itself within the week. The mum had major tearing and required stitches, we think it was her first foal. No idea the breeding or bloodlines.

The other mare at the first riding school had her foal today and it was stillborn. This mare, was extremely well looked after and monitored everyday. Foal moved normally, milk-bags filled normally and no unusual discharge. This mare was in better condition and her foal was stillborn. The girls i work with are young and we aren’t really understanding why the healthier mare had a stillborn foal and the not as healthy mare had a gorgeous foal.

It’s hard to be so excited about the new foal and upset about the one that died.

**** Don’t know correct terminology

[camohn]

I have had 2 redbag foals (lost the first/not the second as I was watching her like a hawk the second time…same mare) but both times she showed signs of placentitis. She did not foal out here the first time and sadly she was not being watched like a hawk that time. The person on foalwatch fell asleep and missed the foaling. The other stillborn foal many years ago was with no signs of any problems. The foal was autopsied and found to have encephalitis of the brain…so no signs of placentitis because there was none. It was a freaky thing that thankfully has only happened once in 13 years of breeding.

[Daventry]

@fillies and colts;6572313

The girls i work with are young and we aren’t really understanding why the healthier mare had a stillborn foal and the not as healthy mare had a gorgeous foal.

There are hundreds of reasons why a mare may have aborted. Maybe the healthier mare was on fescue, got into a noxious weed, maybe the umbilical cord was wrapped around the foals neck, maybe she had a virus, maybe the foal had an undetected problem and natures way is often to expel the foal, not enough oxygen for the foal during birth…and on and on. Does that make more sense? No different than wondering why a human mother ends up with a stillborn. You can do everything right, sometimes nature has other plans. Unless a full autopsy is performed on the foal, one can only guess…and even with a full autopsy, the answers are not always clear.