Sunday, May 17, 2009

Baby Watch, part two

Misty continues to get bigger and bigger. She is spending more time laying down.
Her udder continues to fill, though not yet to the point that the teats are distended.
Her vulva is starting to soften up, and her tail muscles relax.
Looking at her straight on on Saturday, she is still very wide and lop-sided. Foals lay cross-wise in the mare's abdomen until about a week before birth, when they shift to a rearward-facing position (hopefully). The discomfort the mare experiences with this shift sometimes mimics colic, or perhaps their digestive system is disrupted some. When Misty had her first foal for us, the BO, who was an experienced vet tech and broodmare owner, "guaranteed" that she would foal exactly 8 days after this bout of "false colic"--and, sure enough, she did!Evensong, "Eddie," Spring 2000

Last night after Misty finished her grain, she stood pouting in her stall, gently bumping her butt against the wall.
"I want this baby OUT!"

I bedded her stall with the straw this weekend and will hook up the baby-cam sometime this week. It's still a little early, by the calender, but better too early, than too late. I figure at least one more week before I have to start the sleep-deprivation ritual.As soon as Kate is done with her antibiotics, and can go back out with the rest of the girls, old man RT will go in his pen again at night, so Misty can have some privacy. But for now he plays the doting surrogate father (when Misty feels like letting him).

1 comment:

  1. Interesting post for someone who knows absolutely nothing about a mare's birthing process. Looking forward to seeing Misty's foal!

    ReplyDelete