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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.



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