Pregnancy Of Mare
Categories:
Diseases of Animals
Is there any way to tell when a mare is in foal? I have had a
veterinarian and he could not tell me.
There is no very good way to tell whether a mare is in foal for some
time. Practically speaking, the safest way to do is to have her bred
every time she comes in heat until she takes the stallion no longer.
Even then some mares will come in heat a couple of times after getting
in foal. If the sexual excite
ent speedily subsides and the mare
persistently refuses the stallion for a month, she is probably pregnant,
though not surely so. Also if a vicious mare becomes gentle after
service it is an excellent indication of pregnancy; likewise pregnant
mares will very often put on fat rapidly after conception and will be
unable and unwilling to do as hard work as before. Enlargement of the
abdomen, especially in its lower third, with slight falling in beneath
the loins and hollowness of the back are significant symptoms, though
they may be entirely absent. Swelling and firmness of the udder, with
the smoothing out of its wrinkles, is a suggestive sign, even though it
appears only at intervals during gestation. A steady increase of weight
(1 1/4 pounds daily) about the fourth or fifth month is a useful
indication of pregnancy. The further along the mare is in gestation the
more pronounced the symptoms become. In the early stages it is naturally
much more difficult to detect, especially with the great differences in
different mares. Cessation of heat and changes of disposition are about
the best signs in early stages.