How early do they normally bag up?

[europa]

I have a small E II mare that I bred to Westporte and I am noticing that she is really big. Like I can’t believe she has a month to go big. She is due April 3-17 according to the calcuations.

Just alittle nervous about my girl. She started to develop a minor bag with the small little white spots around the nipples and now she has progressed to alittle fuller bag. It seems alittle early. I remember there is a golden day to get to for viability but I can’t remember the number. Thought you guys could help me stay calm and talk me off the ledge.

Birthing and Trailering…my two biggest fears with horses. GEESH

signed
~nervous nelly

[NoDQhere]

I always count the actual days from the last breeding and start watching very closely at 310 days or so. Many mares don’t make it to the 340 day “average”.

We have had foals as early as 307 days and as long as 370 days with “normal” foals. 320 is what I consider the “probably won’t be any issues” day.

[HorseKrazy]

Take deep breaths! Exciting/scary! It sounds like we are both ‘due’ in the same window. This is my first time so I don’t have any words of wisdom that would be helpful. On April fifth we will be at 330 days. She doesn’t have any signs of bagging up and I think my mare has yet to fully reach her ‘finished’ baby belly size. As far as guesstimating your mares due date, did you actually count the days from insemination? Or are you counting the months? I went on website that counted days to calculate my mares due date, if you haven’t done that I works suggest starting there. You could be closer than you think.

Also, is she a maiden? That could make things more difficult…

[europa]

BTW I should have included that today is 300 for her so she has a bit to go before we hit the comfort zone. And this is her second foal.

[khall]

They can bag as early as 4-6 weeks. My maiden started bagging up at 300 days, she held on until 341. Ended up with full bag and dripping milk by the evening she foaled. She kept me on pins and needles for 3 weeks!

Good luck,it is a scary and exciting time. I probably would not have a live foal if I had not been there. Took both my husband and I to get the filly on the ground. It was a tight squeeze and the mare decided to foal standing up, so I played catcher. But I have a beautiful filly and a mare that loves her very much on the ground so the 3 weeks at the barn was worth it!

[half_pass1]

I’ll be having my first foal this year and as such have been doing a tonne of reading! It seems that we have to consider any time from 300 days onwards as ‘fair game’ for the foal to arrive and should be making detailed observations from then onwards. Basically, the words ‘normal’ and ‘average’ don’t exist when it comes to foaling!!

My mare is a maiden, and is currently at 316 days, has been bagged up for the past three weeks. The size of the udders fluctuates though.

[Personal_Champ]

I have a maiden that developed a super tiny bag on one side on Sunday, at 289 days. My vet felt it was normal and was surprised I even noticed something so small, lol. She will be at 320 April 2nd, 343 April 25th. Fingers crossed we make it through the next 29 days.

[Edgewood]

[QUOTE=half*pass;7460124]
I’ll be having my first foal this year and as such have been doing a tonne of reading! It seems that we have to consider any time from 300 days onwards as ‘fair game’ for the foal to arrive and should be making detailed observations from then onwards. Basically, the words ‘normal’ and ‘average’ don’t exist when it comes to foaling!!

My mare is a maiden, and is currently at 316 days, has been bagged up for the past three weeks. The size of the udders fluctuates though.[/QUOTE]

Most of my mares get an udder (at least a start of one) about 300 days and it goes up and down. The mare this year went from nothing to a decent amount of edema overnight, but now has just held steady. She’s at day 318 now. Udder is full, but nothing in teats. I also look at her vulva and it is still really tight and not relaxed.

[NaniLio]

Since this is her second foal she may develop her bag earlier than when she was a maiden. Is it just getting large or is there actual milk (which would be cause for concern)? Are you planning on milk testing? It helps me for two reasons; 1) it gives me something to do and 2) I can track the changes in pH and see if we are actually getting close. At 300 you should still have a bit to go and unless you’re seeing other signs at this stage, I would say she’s just getting ready! Good luck!

[europa]

Yes, I do the milk testing to try and keep the late nights to a minimum. I think she is bagging up alittle earlier this time. I don’t remember her getting a bag until a couple of weeks before. She is just so big this time (Or at least I think she is bigger) than the first foal. Of course he is a bit bigger stallion as well.

The bag was alittle less last night. I am keeping a close watch on the other signs
as well.

[europa]

Yes, I do the milk testing to try and keep the late nights to a minimum. I think she is bagging up alittle earlier this time. I don’t remember her getting a bag until a couple of weeks before. She is just so big this time (Or at least I think she is bigger) than the first foal. Of course he is a bit bigger stallion as well.

The bag was alittle less last night. I am keeping a close watch on the other signs
as well.

[NaniLio]

Her stomach muscles aren’t as toned as when she was a maiden. Might have something to do with how big she looks.

[whitney159]

Sounds like there are several of us at the same stage. I’m at day 315 here, she started getting a little development on one side on day 286, but since then we’ve just had fluctuations. She’ll have more one day, then drop to very little the next, and the very little fluid I can sometimes get out is clear thin and yellow. It’s a relief for now, as I was worried about how early I was seeing something, but the vet saw her last week and felt like we were right where we should be.
Can’t wait to meet this baby, but thank you very much, I will gladly wait a few more weeks until the weather is warmer!

[OneMoreTime]

I’m at day 310 right now, also with a 2nd foal (though MY first with her). Aren’t first-borns usually a bit smaller? That may explain why she looks larger.

[rodawn]

In breeding, the only guarantee is the unexpected.

Some maidens foal out smaller foals. Some most definitely do NOT. I have personally had to help a few maidens get out extremely large foals.

Some mares bag up 4-6 weeks early. Some wait until the last possible second. Some leak out all their colostrum and some barely dribble enough to make a wax droplet.

Some mares foal out at day 320. Others wait until over 400 days just to give us heart attacks.

Europa, sounds like she is right on target for a birthing beyond day 320. Start getting your foaling kit together and all your phone numbers programmed on speed dial.

Abdominal size does not predict the size of a foal. At this stage, the foal is putting on very rapid growth so you can expect her abdomen to get big, but it is not a predictor of foal size. Some maidens get enormous too and out pops an average foal. Some mares you have to do a double-take and wonder if there is even a foal in there and out pops a big foal (just where was she hiding it???).

Some mares stay close to their usual foaling history. Anywhere between 320 days to over 400 days is normal for mares. If she has tended to foal out at 320 she may very well repeat that. Some mares like to keep us guessing and are a bit erratic with their foaling dates. I have a couple mares I can set a clock to - day 330 around noon and day 340 in the middle of the night. Other mares give me grief and extreme sleep deprivation while they fuss and carry on with their false alarms.

[HorseKrazy]

Thanks, one more time, that post was helpful for me. My mare is just at 300 right now with no sign of bagging up. Although she has had a few foals before I got her. She has quite the set of udders already so I will have to keep a close watch off signs of bagging.

[half_pass1]

[QUOTE=rodawn;7464660]
In breeding, the only guarantee is the unexpected.

Some mares you have to do a double-take and wonder if there is even a foal in there and out pops a big foal (just where was she hiding it???). [/QUOTE]

We bought our mare in foal, she is a maiden, and our first foal. Until she started bagging up a few weeks ago, I was getting a bit paranoid that we had been ripped off and she wasn’t even in foal! And even with the bagging up, she still didn’t look at all pregnant. It wasn’t until 2 days ago that I actually saw the kidlet moving around that I was convinced!!