# Expecting mare has stopped producing milk!?!



## becca1998 (9 September 2016)

My mare has been producing clear fluid for about 5 weeks and tonight went up there to feed and test the milk and it was gone. I mean nothing I couldn't get a drop the vet palpated just over a month ago and said yep definitely a foal in there and about a month to go. Now this has happened help? Btw I didn't put her in foal i brought her not knowing she was in foal so I have no idea when she was bred. Has anyone else had this happen?


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## Magicmadge (9 September 2016)

Yes, a few years ago I was milk testing a mare I didn't have dates for so started testing when she had a decentish bag,  then nothing, couldn't get a drop to test. Left alone till her bag was almost tight and it was flowing again she foaled about 4 days later I think . Good luck , late foal , mare will need extra to feed baby with little / no goodness in grazing .


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## becca1998 (9 September 2016)

Weird thing is she doesn't have a massive bag her teats are big but that's  it's very strange. She's very uncomfortable and keeps biting her sides and kicking her belly


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## Magicmadge (9 September 2016)

If she's a maiden she may not fill till a few days before sometimes they don't let the milk down until foal is born . When you tested what were the results?


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## becca1998 (9 September 2016)

Yea she is maiden and just a clear liquid


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## Magicmadge (9 September 2016)

Were you testing the fluid with test strips? Fluid , if you can get any will start to go a bit opaque will try and upload a pic of my mares milk this year just before she foaled .


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## becca1998 (9 September 2016)

I just did a bit onto my had and onto something dark to see the colour of it it was just like water


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## Magicmadge (9 September 2016)

This was mares milk  the week before  she foaled

s







And on the day she foaled


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## becca1998 (9 September 2016)

Hmm I'm going to give it ago again tomorrow and hopefully some joy if there's no foal in the morning haha... I can only hope been saying that for the last 3 weeks "tonight is the night"


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## Magicmadge (9 September 2016)

Keep us posted post some pics of udder and fluid if possible .


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## Tetrarch 1911 (10 September 2016)

Ah, the joys of waiting for babies to arrive ... do you know what sort of stallion she's in foal to?


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## becca1998 (10 September 2016)

I wish I did I brought her from the sales so i don't know anything about her


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## becca1998 (10 September 2016)

Well I went up there today and did my usual checks and still no milk but her teats where really shiny and waxy to the touch and tiny crystals on the end of her teats?


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## PorkChop (10 September 2016)

becca1998 said:



			Well I went up there today and did my usual checks and still no milk but her teats where really shiny and waxy to the touch and tiny crystals on the end of her teats?
		
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Good sign that foaling is getting close.  Try not to only focus on the bag, maiden mares sometimes don't produce any milk until foaling starts.  Is she relaxing around her back end?


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## becca1998 (10 September 2016)

Her belly has dropped over the last 4-5 days and no change in her back in I didn't check today it's hard to tell if her back end mussels have loosened as she has a fat bum but on her sides you can see when the fat on her ribs end the the foal belly starts if that makes sense (she did very good this summer and have only been feeding her a small amount in the last 5 weeks as the vet advised me to) oh and her tail is very bendy a lot more than it should be and she can't seem to pull it down if you hold it up but it's been like that for 3-4 weeks


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## becca1998 (13 September 2016)

Right more exciting stuff her milk is back and is slightly cloudy still quite watery in consistency but there is definitely a tinge to it. So my next question is how long before they foal does their milk change? Are we talking hours days or weeks?


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## Equi (13 September 2016)

Don't pay too much attention to it all - my mare foaled the night of having still very yellow fluid, and not a huge bag or amount. My YO mare foaled after having proper milk for weeks. They will foal when they want to, mine didn't even have an elogated vulva or dropped belly. She just popped. I had been waking up every hour for a month, and one time i woke up and boom there was a foal.


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## becca1998 (13 September 2016)

Her back end still hasn't loosened of but she has been producing milk for nearly 6 weeks now but it has been clear up until now so something must be happening and she's the size of a house haha


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## Equi (13 September 2016)

I didn't notice my mares back end dip significantly either. However i was warned by previous breeders that she doesn't show and just morphs a foal into existence lol


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## becca1998 (13 September 2016)

Ohhh god I have been the person for the last 5 weeks tonight is the night and noo she's keeping me waiting I have no idea what she was bred with so I'm getting a bit impatient I'm praying it's tonight or tomorrow but I think I'm being a bit optimistic


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## Feival (13 September 2016)

Bendy tail means the muscles aren t as tight


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## Magicmadge (13 September 2016)

This was my mares vulva before 







 

And two hours before she foaled.


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## Clodagh (14 September 2016)

How exciting! I am sure you will get the foal vet checked when it arrives, but if she has been running milk for weeks she may have lost her colostrum. My mare did and although we used a friends mares colostrum the foal had to have a transfusion. No problems after that though, it is just worth mentioning to the vet.


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## becca1998 (14 September 2016)

Still no foal and I have been testing the milk for the last couple of week just to see the consistency and colour but went there this morning and she was the otherside of the field and as soon as she saw me she came cantering over how she can canter God only knows shes huge


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## Feival (15 September 2016)

Anything??


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## becca1998 (16 September 2016)

Still no foalie she seems to go one step forward the two back vet came just over 5 weeks ago and said about a month I think she's ate it


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## becca1998 (28 September 2016)

Update, no foal after 6 weeks of waiting I decided to get a different vet out and she said no foal but not I have the issue  of a fat 3 year old what do I do with her


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## Clodagh (28 September 2016)

Oh how sad, after all that excitement. It is a good time of year to be fat, the grass should be dying down now. I would do some work with her, but I know a lot of people disgree with starting 3 year olds.


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## becca1998 (28 September 2016)

Clodagh said:



			Oh how sad, after all that excitement. It is a good time of year to be fat, the grass should be dying down now. I would do some work with her, but I know a lot of people disgree with starting 3 year olds.
		
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The vet wants me to start work her but I'm a bit cautious as don't want to go to fast as she is a cob and they do take a long time to mature


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## Peregrine Falcon (28 September 2016)

What a shame.  You can start long reining her, desensitize her to as much as possible.  Correct groundwork will make the backing process easier and she'll trust you more.


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## popsdosh (29 September 2016)

Sorry no foal(my guess all along) I would be claiming back my expenses from the first vet as they clearly are muppets  ! however I guess that leaves you in a better position with her. 
Its very easy to get carried away and miss the obvious signs!


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