My Support Forums - View Single Post

eskielover · Feb 09, 2022 at 12:37 PM

Last night was one of those nights. Within my first 1 1/2 hours at the barn, 2 mares went into labor & were delivered. The next one went into labor at midnight (lol, just after the delivery team went home from the first 2. Two fillys & a colt. Then just when the one lady foaling manager was ready to head home a 4th mare didn't eat dinner (when I served it....lol) I knew something was up. We checked her out & no signs of water breaking. She said she was going to go home & take her shoes off & that would definitely make labor happen

well, 2 hours later when it was time for me to go home, she still hadn't gone into labor. Maybe the foal was just moving around inside cause she was so uncomfortable & groaning & making horsey faces. I ended up going home & know she was left in the best hands cause the other night watch guy whose shift I overlap with is one of the best too. Some of the foals are more difficult to get up & get nursing after the delivery group make sure everything has been initially accomplished (foal standing on it's own & nursing with some guided help) The straw bedding is slick & the foals struggle to get up so we do help them until they get it figured out & a little stronger. The foals also try to suck on anything close to their mouth & think mom's chest, under her front legs, her stomach, or even the stall wall will produce the milk they are hungry for, so we help guide them to learn where the milk REALLY comes from (lol) some are harder to teach than others so holding the mare & guiding the foal to the food service location is critical the first few hours because they get the colostrum that is their initial immune system. Interesting also to watch (& learn) as the intern & the foaling manager goes over the placenta to make sure it all came out (no part retained) & to make sure it is healthy. There is an infection that shows up inside the placenta that does not come from external. They are doing studies on this at the university of Ky equine diagnostic lab because they are trying to figure it out. First foal born this year had signs of it & it tested positive in the lab. Foal is fine but worse cases can cause problems. Learning so much from this job besides the initial signs of labor which I have definitely caught onto after observing the first couple of mares.

What a thrill to see those adorable foals & they are always curious & come up to sniff & get pets when I water & feed in the stalls.

After nights like last night, my adrenalin is still flowing when I get home at 5am. Even having one foal a night does that to me cause the excitement of the birth never ends