I noticed that there had been a thread like this before, but as my situation differs from hers, I am hoping for different opinions.
I am at home. I don’t work so watching my mare can be my #1 job.
She will be on a foal cam, and it will be registered on marestare.
I have several friends who are less than 30 min away who can be here if I need them.
My vet, however, is 45 min away at best.
This is not my first, but the first one doesn’t really count IMO since that mare foaled in the field while we were eating dinner. :eek: Needless to say, it was a complete surprise to look out the window and see a foal on the ground. I didn’t think she was going to go that day. And it was daylight! All went smoothly.
That foal is now 4 yrs old and she is the mare I’m breeding. It will be her first.
I would prefer to have her at home, but what do you guys think?
I don’t see why not.
What is the alternative? What would it give you that being at home wouldn’t? In other words, are you talking about boarding her AT your vet? Would you be able to attend whatever place you sent her, or would you be likely to miss the birth?
I’ve only had foals at home, with vet about 45-60 minutes away. Presuming all goes well, it has many more pros than cons… but I’ve never had anything go wrong that constituted an emergency. (This year’s filly had trouble getting up and latching on, but the vet’s commute didn’t make a big difference.)
It worries me but not enough to change it – just enough to give me more grey hairs and increase my chocolate consumption…
lol! Or in my case, wine consumption!
Oh, I meant to add that there is an alternative. There is a woman who does foalings who is a bit closer to town than I am. She has a wonderful reputation and she is also very reasonable.
I would send her to Laurierace!
I’m retired remember?!? Here is my foal blanket as further proof.
Tee hee! I love that goat!
As long as you have the right facility for it: a big enough foaling stall, appropriate turnout for mare and foal, suitable fencing for a foal…might as well.
Since I do not work from home my mares have gone to two different breeding farms to foal out. The mares (mother and daughter) were “stealth” foalers…foaled with no apparent signs that foaling was imminent.
Every foaling was missed. I told them that the mares will not show any signs of foaling and that they basically have to start foal watch on the “due date” Each said “oh, we’ve never missed a foaling”. Well, they can’t claim that now!
Last foal even came home with rhodococcus.
I have now decided that I won’t be breeding anymore unless I can have the mares foal out at home; this means I won’t be breeding any for a while but heck…I can miss a foaling as well as anyone else. :no:
99% of foaling go just fine. But could you live with the 1% going terribly wrong? Given the amount of money and emotion that has gone into the foal, I personally couldn’t. I would move her two weeks before her due date and bring her back 2 weeks after birth.
It can be a tough call, but I’d rather blame myself than someone else, wondering if it would have been better at my place.
This year will be my third foal at home, all from the same mare (who was a maiden the first time). She has turned out to be amazing, thankfully.
I got so much good advice here, watched foalings on youtube, read a lot. Got a camera in the stall (HIGHLY recommended).
I know I have to live with the possibility of the worst case scenario, but it’s also me hearing them take their first breath when it goes well, and that has been pretty incredible. :yes:
We are a breeding farm that has been asked repeatedly if we will foal out mares for others. I have done it in the past for friends, but not just anyone who calls. After talking to my vet and several other local vets, I determined there was a real need for foaling services so this year we will begin taking in client mares for foaling services. I know there are plenty of people who would rather not or cannot foal out their mares at home or at a regular boarding facility.
Personally I enjoy foal watch time and seeing/helping the mares with bringing their foals into the world. It is a comfort for me though, that in case of an emergency I do have a well trained/experienced farm staff here 24/7 to assist and a specialized repro vet closer than 45 minutes away.
If you do not have the proper facilities and someone available to assist you if necessary, it will probably be safer to take the mare to the woman with the foaling facility. In case of an emergency, you would definitely benefit from having an extra set of hands to call the vet or get something you need without you having to stop and leave the mare to do it yourself.
If you do have proper facilities and you feel comfortable doing it yourself (or with help from a friend) and your vet has not indicated any concerns or issues with your mare, I would keep her home. Good luck!
If I was in your situation I would foal at home, no question. I also would lose the foaling stall and make a foaling paddock so she can walk a foal out and you can hang a camera as well there as for a stall. Safe fencing is fencing she can’t squirt a foal out of or it can’t stagger out of or dogs can’t get into. I would have it right out a bedroom window and bring her in when I would ordinarily put her in a stall. I have had 2 septic(one joint ill) foals out of 3(2 different foaling facilities and one missed a mastitis too) and the foal born in pasture has been healthier. There are things I do love like all the handling they got being led in and out with two people as opposed to just me at home. Any problems are easier to deal with because they are two and I am one but in the future I will take the mare there IF there is a problem like needing close care of a sick mare or foal. It is MUCH cleaner at home, your mare will be more relaxed and less stressed. It is true that if there are problems expert help is there but it is more likely to have problems. I have a friend who had a nightmare foaling at home with presentation and lost both the mare and foal and this would have happened anyway unless she was commited to throw money at the mare to possibly lose her anyway and they could not afford it. I will opt for green grass and a woven wire fence if I could sit at home and monitor. PatO
Thanks for your input. Normally I would probably agree with you, but we have a mountain lion issue :eek: here in our drainage- I think I’ll be covered with a webcam and her nice fluffy 12x20 stall- and a few experienced friends on call!!!
Eeek Mountain Lions. Scared enough about coyotes in Minnesota…count a lot on Irish Draughts to preserve and protect…and they probably would…but…just in case they can’t be bothered to get up from their sand pit nap to chase the kitty I guess I would think stall too. PatO
Have you foaled out mares before? Do you know what to do in the event of a dystocia? Can you recognize a red bag delivery? If not, I’d be inclined to send her out to someone experienced to foal out, unless you have an experienced friend you can count on to come out QUICK in the event of a problem.
If you are planning to have the mare foal somewhere else - you should make sure you move her there at least 30 to 60 days prior to foaling so she can build up antibodies to THAT environment. If you have a Foal Cam and can follow her and be able to get home or have someone get to your barn - I’d opt to keep her at home.
I foaled out my first foal at home. And it was a red bag delivery, partial red bag but the first thing I saw was red velvet. I never thought I’d go running into my mares stall with kitchen shears, scissors, and a steak knife all at once but I did. And then I pulled and pulled and pulled. So definitely BE PREPARED! I even had oxygen and a foaling mask outside the stall ready to go. Luckily the foal didn’t need O2, but if needed, which very well could have been a possibility had the red bag been worse, it would have been there.
You can do it. Read up, watch every single video, if you get oxygen, practice drills on your dog or husband until you can get it going in your sleep. When the foal needs it is not the time to be reading instructions. With mine, there’s suction and a mask so it’s not simply stick on the mask and turn on. You can use it to clear the airway as well with the suction feature.
*Note: Not many foaling facilities have oxygen. So ask. That was a requirement for me and nobody had it. (I had a feelign the delivery was going to have a complication or two)
Also ask if anyone will be there during the day. How a ‘foaling facility’ can call themselves a ‘foaling facility’ and then be gone 8 hours during the day… but yes, I found some of these. So that was a no-go especially since my mare has a history of foaing out daylight. (and she did the last time to) Having grandma who can call the owner if soemthing goes wrong isn’t good enough. You need someone who knows what they’re doing home with the mare and watching all of the time.
I also used marestare and had people calling from ALL over the place when she started to deliver. even though I was watching it was good to know people were watchign my back. I did get some criticism after the foal was up and trying to nurse on the boards… (sayign I was helping too much) but i could tell somethign was wrong and sure enough she ended up at the university for a week because she had a slight case of dummy foal syndrome and couldn’t swallow. So next time the camera will go off after I’m there and the mare starts foaling. 
keep the “turn off” option in your mind if you do online video.
Oxygen is a good idea if you can get it easily but doesn’t help if they aren’t breathing. I did 8 minutes of CPR on my foal and she did well without supplemental oxygen.
My neighbor has her mares foal out at home. She uses a camera for monitoring and has her husband and several neighbors who are willing to help as needed. One foal had a minor malpresentation (legs presented sideways) that we corrected with the help of the vet by phone.
If my neighbor has a mare who she thinks will have problems, she plans to send her to the vet school for foaling, in case a c-section is needed. Most of us can’t get to a vet hospital with surgical capability within 20 minutes of the beginning of a problem. If the baby isn’t out pretty quickly, the chance of a live foal is pretty low. Unfortunately, it is hard to know in advance when there will be a malpresentation. Also, many of us cannot afford the heroic surgical efforts that it takes to turn a really bad situation into a live foal and live mare.
Breeders are brave people. A lot of bad things happen to mares and foals.
