# seems to be bagging up



## farmgirl6 (May 20, 2011)

My suprise preggo mare, who the vet estimated to be somewhere between five and seven months, seems to be bagging up above her udder, or maybe I am just feeding her too much? she is on about three quarters of a bale a day good grass hay and about six pounds of omeline 300 divided into two feedings, she is about 13.2 or so and big as a house


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

If it were my mare she wouldn't be getting nearly that much grain unless she actually needed it to maintain weight. A heavy mare can have a harder time foaling than a mare in good weight. Do you know anything about her foaling history? Is she maiden?


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## farmgirl6 (May 20, 2011)

I've got no pasture and am trying to judge by the back of the feed bag, I have no idea how far along she is for sure, if it is a first, or even what for sure she is bred to! - she is probably closer to 14, small quarter horse. She acts hungry constantly!!!


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

If she's in overall good condition I'd cut that grain down to a couple handfuls twice a day and give her all the hay she wants. Many mares will start to "bag up" months prior to foaling and some won't until after they've delivered. My TB mare will start to develop every spring and hasn't foaled in 6 years. A more reliable indictor of imminent foaling is softened ligaments in the tail, elongating vulva, and going suddenly slab sided which means the foal has dropped into position. All of which can happen in an hour or two of foaling. Try to relax you've got a while yet and it sounds like you're doing very well by the mare. :grin:


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## ShyAnne (Jun 18, 2008)

- WEIGHT OF HORSE IN POUNDS -
Lactating Mare	600	800	1,000	1,200	1,400
Minimum Hay or Equivalent Pasture*	7.0	9.50	12.0	14.5	17.0
Omolene #300Â® Horse Feed	7.50	10.00	12.50	15.00	17.50


- WEIGHT OF HORSE IN POUNDS -
Weaned Foal Through Yearling	300	400	500	600	700
Minimum Hay or Equivalent Pasture*	3.00	4.00	6.00	7.00	8.50
Omolene #300Â® Horse Feed***	7.25-7.75	7.50-8.50	7.00-9.25	7.50-9.50	7.75-10.00

Depending on your pasture, following feeding purinas feeding directions seems your right on track. 

Here are a few pictures to help you. Sometimes mare will get puffy in front of the udder first, it could be from weight gain, or from edema... 
Because you dont know how far along your mare is the best thing you can do is watch her udder, check it 2 times a day for changes. Get a NOW picture and keep it on your computer to reference to. Remember some mare completely bag up and some dont before foaling. 
One very reliable method is to milk test, Using walmart test strips you can follow the ph and as it drops from bright red to pale yellow your getting closer. 

My mare Kate as a maiden bagged up and foaled in just over 2 weeks. She foaled at day 314. Foal is perfectly healthy!

over the summer when Kate was 7 months she developed Edema, and swelling in her udder, Not to be confused with bagging up. We treated her by hosing her 2-3 times a day and putting a fan in her paddock. We also made sure she got out and walked. When the weather cooled down the edema disappeared.


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## ShyAnne (Jun 18, 2008)

On October 23rd Kate started to bag up...I thought we had 6 weeks left !



By November 7th she had a decent udder started.


by the 10th I knew things were getting serious and started testing her ph was 7.4.



Morning of the 12th her ph had been testing 6.4 for more than 12 hrs She foaled this evening:


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## ShyAnne (Jun 18, 2008)

This picture was taken from behind the day she foaled. Notice her udder is squared off from behind and her vulva is elongated.





BTW hope this helps!


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## Irish Pixie (May 14, 2002)

The feed companies want you to buy lots of grain.  Just go easy on it you definitely don't want to deal with laminitis _and_ a pregnancy.


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## farmgirl6 (May 20, 2011)

thanks guys, pictures are great, will post some of fat girl and get your thoughts, IP will cut her back a bit as I think she is doing fine and I was kinda going by the printing on the bag, perhaps happy medium, suffering guilt because I was in denial, did not want her to be pregnant so decided she was fat and put her on a diet early on. she stayed fat, slick and hungry and grumpy!


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