I have video cameras that feed to the web, but I want to make sure that I don’t miss the foaling, since having the experience of watching a foal being born at our farm with my family was the whole point of this exercise! Should I just buy a system, or do people rent them? My vet is not in favor of sewing an alarm into her cervix. I have found groups that rent them online, but they are all in other countries. TIA!
The product you’re looking for is called Foalert and no, it does not get “installed” in the cervix but rather the outside of the vagina. I’ve been using Foalert for going on 20 years and have only great things to say about it. I recommend looking it up on the internet in order to get a better idea of how it is installed and how it works.
Can you share where you found them for rent?
Sorry, I did not describe the foal alert well. My vet is familiar with it and thinks it’s unnecessary. She says that the milk tests are accurate enough and our care situation is such that she is completely confident. She said it I wanted to use something to use a halter alert type alarm, noting that they don’t work 100% of the time. I think I will rent a system from foal guard.com in Australia… Can’t find any in U.S.
If you are foaling just one mare, I think it would be unnecessarily expensive to purchase a Foalert system. You might be able to rent (or borrow) one from a local person if your mare is due later in the year. There is some setup involved, but sewing the little transponder to the mare’s vulva is pretty darn easy. It does indeed work great, especially in combination with cameras.
It’s really hard to predict whether or not renting and setting up a Foalert would be worthwhile for you. I think it is reasonable to foal a single mare at home without a Foalert if you have several reliable people who can take turns watching. Also, even a Foalert is no substitute for closely watching a mare. OTOH, even closely watching a mare isn’t enough sometimes. A mare can foal very quickly if she suspects she has a moment of privacy.
I found the milk test to be very accurate within 24 hrs, and seeing her the night before it was pretty clear she was getting ready (contractions, but that was really her only physical signal until the morning).
Just start regularly milk testing, and when you see that calcium level increasing and pH decreasing, you’ll know its time to sit out in the barn!
I found a baby monitor that has sound and picture that works great. I got it for less than $100 on eBay. Also, my vet says the pH strips for the milk are great for knowing when the baby is NOT coming (pH of 7 or more) so you can get some sleep, but as for guaranteeing that it WILL come that night (when it reaches 6.4 or so), not so much, but you know that it is time to start watching. That said, I am doing the monitor and strips.
