Milk Testing 101 (with pH ! )

[Fairview_Horse_Cente]

[QUOTE=TrueColours;4784262]
Aftre 3 days last year of them saying “she is going to foal any SECOND, dont even leave to go pee!!!” she finally foaled 4 days later, so I am not holding out much hope for them to be accurate this year either [/QUOTE]

Tests will tell you when the mare is physically ready to foal, but no test will tell you when the mare is willing to foal. Mares do usually follow a pattern though. Some mares just like to delay 2 or 3 days after their milk is ready.

IMO, narrowing it down to 1/2/3 or even occasionally 4 days, rather than 2/3 or 4 weeks is a great help.

[system]

i have a question for you all. this is my first year testing the milk with the pool strips…

i have my sterile (boiled) containers, i use only distilled water (as well as my containers), i measure precisely to the cc (1 milk to 6 h2o), i time 1 minute exactly to the clock… now my question is my mare has had hardness of 400 for over a week now. last week the ph was at 7.2 wed it dropped to 7.0 saturday it dropped to 6.8 and the last few days it has been at 6.6 so technically we should have had a foal last week… ???

i keep my testing stuff in my barn which is not heated but its been 40’s and 50’s here. i test everything in my barn but usually walk out side in true daylight to get an accurate color reading. well today after the minute was up i went outside and after reading it (6.6) i set it on the wheelbarrow and did a few things in the barn real quick. i came back out, maybe 5 minutes later and the hardness was still at 400 but the ph was bright fuchsia. which sure would make a heck of a lot more sense! so whats going on… do you have to let it “time” in true daylight? am i doing something wrong? is the turning fuchsia color just a fluke totally inaccurate thing because it was WAY past “time”?

thank you so much for taking the time to read this and help me understand whats going on. at this point i’m severely confused and very sleep deprived.

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[Signature]

Hmmmmm, sounds kind of weird - what kind of strips are they? On mine the hot pink is 8.4 and yellow is 6.2. They are 5 in 1 test strips for aquariums by “Jungle Labs”. I’ve been using them for 4 years and trust them implicitly now! Just curious.

Also, we’ve found that 6.2 is the magic pH number. We have a mare that will sit at 6.4-6.6 for 5-7 days and then finally drop to 6.2 and foal within 36 hours. But, of course, some mares don’t follow the book and it’s not an exact science (although it’s been reliable as rain for us, we have only had it happen once where one foaled without warning and it was due to placentitis).

I do my tests in the barn tack room with natural light by the window to compare with color chart - and once the reading is obtained it doesn’t usually change (the strip will dry whatever color it was, pink, yellow, etc). Hope this helps!

[system]

hth 6 way pool testing strips from walmart… hmmm… so maybe i am doing it right and the high ph reading was because it had been sitting there for a while…

http://www.crayonboxminiatures.com/sitebuilder/images/Teststrips2-353x536.jpg
http://www.crayonboxminiatures.com/sitebuilder/images/Teststrips1-455x481.jpg

[ArabianBreeder]

I know this is an old thread. But I wanted to thank the OP for this information. I have used it several times. And even though, I have altered it a bit, it has worked without fail every time. I have never tested for calcium. Only the PH. I can tell when I draw the milk by sight that things are changing. Once I get that sticky lemonade like milk with the white flakes, I start testing. I used to use the pool/spa strips, but those left me feeling like I was guessing. I found a relatively inexpensive digital PH tester on-line that works great and removes all the guess work. Once that milk gets to 6.2 or lower, I know I’m going to have a baby in the next 12-24 hours. Plus, I don’t bother to add any water. It test the same with or without. This has been a life saver. Now rather than the mare going in the foaling stall a week or 10 days ahead of time, it’s a day or two. And I lose ONE night of sleep. Unless they foal during the day, I lose NO sleep. Anyway, thanks again for unlocking this mystery!!!

[winter]

@ArabianBreeder

I know this is an old thread. But I wanted to thank the OP for this information. I have used it several times. And even though, I have altered it a bit, it has worked without fail every time. I have never tested for calcium. Only the PH. I can tell when I draw the milk by sight that things are changing. Once I get that sticky lemonade like milk with the white flakes, I start testing. I used to use the pool/spa strips, but those left me feeling like I was guessing. I found a relatively inexpensive digital PH tester on-line that works great and removes all the guess work. Once that milk gets to 6.2 or lower, I know I’m going to have a baby in the next 12-24 hours. Plus, I don’t bother to add any water. It test the same with or without. This has been a life saver. Now rather than the mare going in the foaling stall a week or 10 days ahead of time, it’s a day or two. And I lose ONE night of sleep. Unless they foal during the day, I lose NO sleep. Anyway, thanks again for unlocking this mystery!!!

This is what I do too. I still put them in the stall a bit early out of habit, and what if I do miss that one time…
I use the lab PH strips that I got off amazon with a small range (7.5 - 5.5 I think), pool strips aren’t accurate enough I find. It has worked perfectly for me every mare I’ve tried. Once she hits 6.4 I know I’m 1-2 days away, at 6.2 it will be that day.

[winter]

I will add that you can just hold the strip against the one drop of milk hanging from a teat and that’s enough. No milking required, works great on one that doesn’t want to be touched there.

[Gypsy_My_Girl]

So… Did not know the horse I purchased back in September 2019 was pregnant. Did this strip test to see if she might be getting close. Previous owner said he didn’t know she was in foal, and as she was pasture bred, have no idea an ETA on the little one.
My situation is this: When I tested her milk (cloudy, and doesn’t appear to separate), the pH is low, the yellow “butter” color you talked about, but the calcium (hardness, as I am using strips testing for hot tubs) is ALSO low… Testing at 50.
Where does this leave me?!?!

[Gypsy_My_Girl]

I know this is an old thread…
just hoping someone could answer my questions lol

[Laurierace]

@Gypsy My Girl

So… Did not know the horse I purchased back in September 2019 was pregnant. Did this strip test to see if she might be getting close. Previous owner said he didn’t know she was in foal, and as she was pasture bred, have no idea an ETA on the little one.
My situation is this: When I tested her milk (cloudy, and doesn’t appear to separate), the pH is low, the yellow “butter” color you talked about, but the calcium (hardness, as I am using strips testing for hot tubs) is ALSO low… Testing at 50.
Where does this leave me?!?!

What exactly does low mean? They vary by strips. Calcium can only be tested if you dilute the sample with distilled water.

[Gypsy_My_Girl]

@Laurierace

What exactly does low mean? They vary by strips. Calcium can only be tested if you dilute the sample with distilled water.

The pH tested at the lowest point… 6.2.
The calcium (hardness) tested at 50…
Both of them are at the lowest point. From what I read, the pH is supposed to be low and the calcium supposed to go high.
I bought my TWH and was not aware she was pregnant. I’ve never had a pregnant horse and was trying to figure when she will foal.

[Gypsy_My_Girl]

@Laurierace

What exactly does low mean? They vary by strips. Calcium can only be tested if you dilute the sample with distilled water.

I also did dilute it 6:1

[Laurierace]

My guess is it means your strips are old or something went wrong. I have never heard pH being anywhere near that with calcium being that low. What does the mare tell you? What does her croup and vulva look like?

[Gypsy_My_Girl]

@Laurierace

My guess is it means your strips are old or something went wrong. I have never heard pH being anywhere near that with calcium being that low. What does the mare tell you? What does her croup and vulva look like?

She’s definitely uncomfortable. She’s rubbing her hind end a lot. Kicking and biting at her belly and flanks. Tail head is softening. Vulva is in the beginning stages of elongating.

[Gypsy_My_Girl]

@Laurierace

My guess is it means your strips are old or something went wrong. I have never heard pH being anywhere near that with calcium being that low. What does the mare tell you? What does her croup and vulva look like?

I’m going to retest today. The strips are fairly new… Bought last summer and expiration of 6/21

[Laurierace]

If they were opened last year they are no good anymore

[Gypsy_My_Girl]

@Laurierace

If they were opened last year they are no good anymore

Oh. I was not aware of that. So they are only good for one season. Good to know. I will go buy some new ones in the morning. I’m glad I hadn’t been able to get to retesting today. Thank you so much for your help. I googled my problem and was not able to find any answer.
I will post on here after I buy new strips and test 2morrow.