mare w/milk, not pregnant!

[gabby.gator]

I need some advice… I found my mare had a full bag of milk about a couple of months ago… completely freaked out and had the vet out twice to make sure she was not preggers… she’s not. Vet believed that after her last foal (2010?) they didn’t replace her casslick and she was getting lots of air in her, and was convincing her body that she was pregnant. So they sewed her up, after taking swabs for infection. Had a little bit of infection going on, treated.

Here’s my thing :: she’s still streaming milk!! her bag is full every day, and many mornings/evenings, it’s all over her legs, so I wash them off. HOWEVER, right now she’s in RAGING heat and trying her best to get to the gelding on the other side of the fence… but if she’s got milk because her body thinks it is pregnant, why would she come into heat???

has anyone else ever had to figure this one out?? should I call the vet and get something to dry up her milk? would Regumate work??

[Simkie]

Is she on any clover or soy?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytoestrogens

[gabby.gator]

no clover, well, just bits and pieces out in the pasture, but it’s not over much clover… she’s on this grain:

http://www.sentinelfeed.com/pdfs/blueseal_sellsheet_SR.pdf

[Laurierace]

Soybean hulls is the main ingredient. Good chance that is your culprit. It is virtually impossible to find a commercial grain that doesn’t contain some kind of soy, you will probably have to make your own mix of beet pulp and alfalfa pellets or something similar.

[gabby.gator]

that’s what I thought, after reading the label… guess I’ll send the article to my vet and start looking into a different feeding regiment… she’s not an easy keeper either, have been trying and trying to get weight on her

[Laurierace]

I would go with beet pulp, alfalfa pellets and either rice bran or black oil sunflower seeds for extra fat.

[ThisMagicMoment]

Is she paddocked with or near pregnant mares?

Same thing happened here with one of my horses.
What happens is some of the lower-on-the-rank horses will bag up and produce milk if other horses in the herd are pregnant. They do this because in the wild, if the broodmare dies, the foal will still be able to survive as it will move on to another lactating mare.
It was a huge relief, so we took the mare out of the herd and she dried up within a few weeks.

Good Luck!

[ticofuzzy]

There is a mare at my barn who has NEVER been bred and has one teat that is FULL of “milk” at all times (has been for years). The other teat is normal and tiny. The owner has had it looked at by vets but nobody has ever offered an explanation. I am wondering if soy could be a culprit in this case?? Would it make just one teat fill up in a mare who has never had a foal???

[gabby.gator]

[QUOTE=Laurierace;6335615]
I would go with beet pulp, alfalfa pellets and either rice bran or black oil sunflower seeds for extra fat.[/QUOTE]

so… off to the feed store I go:lol: what amounts of each would you start her on??

no other pregnant mares here… she was going to be my broodmare, we also have a gelding and a 2yr old filly, they’re all pastured separately…

@ticofuzzy::: something to look into?? I’ve had plenty of mares here, always feed the same, this is the first time I’ve ever seen such a thing!! From the looks of what drips out, I’m thinking she could nurse a foal, no problems

[Laurierace]

How much depends upon her current weight and her caloric needs. That is hard to determine over the net without at least pictures. Beet pulp can be fed in virtually unlimited quantities once the horse is accustomed to it. If you rinse the molasses off it is almost a hay substitute. Alfalfa has been known to make some horses a little nutty so start out with a cup or two until you know how your horse reacts. My horses won’t eat rice bran so I use black oil sunflower seeds. For the ones who don’t need weight I give a handful or two. The ones that do get a half a scoop twice per day. You will probably need a multi-vitamin to add to the mix. I don’t have any recommendations for that because I use a ration balancer but those are high in soy so you can’t use that. Good luck!

[gabby.gator]

… and the very first store I call about beet pulp says "w/ or w/out soy oil?? LOL, this is going to be a hunt up here!!

I’m going to Tractor Supply and spend some time in the feed aisle

@Laurie thanks for all your advice, it’s much appreciated!!

[rodawn]

It’s REALLY hard finding feed without soy in it now. :sigh: Hate the stuff. Some horses are really sensitive to it. But a lot of manufacturers seem to love using it because it’s cheap.

[gabby.gator]

well!! that was a fun trip, LOL

I picked up a bag of beet pulp, a bag of alfalfa cubes and this:: for rice bran ::http://www.mannapro.com/products/equine/max-e-glo-rice-bran/ cuz it’s all they had…

I have 3/4 bag of her grain left, so I’ll switch her over with the next feedings…

my big score, tho, is they had bags of Empower Balancer @ only $20 a bag, so I grabbed a few, I’ve been wanting to switch the filly and the gelding over, perfect timing!!

[gabby.gator]

any thoughts on how long it would take her milk to dry up, if in fact the soy in her diet was the culprit?? she’s been completely off soy for only a week, I’m just wondering …