Aredis
Well-Known Member
The article on The Horse website is reprinted from Kentucky Equine
Here is the link to KER, perhaps you can access this if not The Horse
http://www.ker.com/
Search fescue and there are a lot more articles.
Kind regards
Steve
Fescue and brood mares.
- Thread starter minime
- Start date
The article on The Horse website is reprinted from Kentucky Equine
Here is the link to KER, perhaps you can access this if not The Horse
http://www.ker.com/
Search fescue and there are a lot more articles.
Kind regards
Steve
RutlandH2O
Well-Known Member
Minime: You were able to access theHorse.com? I hope so.
There are so many articles on so many topics.
Did you have any trouble accessing? Rollin is having a really
tough time.
There are so many articles on so many topics.
Did you have any trouble accessing? Rollin is having a really
tough time.
Rollin
Well-Known Member
Not just trouble logging on but no reply to two emails.
Yet I get several emails a week from the White House, yesterday I was invited to post questions for the President perhaps I should ask him why The Horse, don't answer their emails!!!
Yet I get several emails a week from the White House, yesterday I was invited to post questions for the President perhaps I should ask him why The Horse, don't answer their emails!!!
Rollin
Well-Known Member
My husband has tried to log on using a diff. email address etc and has the same problem. I am going to ask someone else in France to try, then we will know if France is gated for some reason.
wynter
Well-Known Member
I know this is a old thread but i was just wondering if anybody had any newer information about this?
My ID mare foaled on wends but still today has no milk what so ever today, she hasn't even dropped a tiny bit
Her foal died the thurs morning at just over 24 hours old.
I was thinking maybe she might suffer from Fescue Agalactia as she has lost foals before.
We were told when we brought her "within 24h she has a udder like a cow" which clearly she doesn't because she's been back on good grass since sat and it hasn't made any difference at all.
Her last owners didn't like her so they wouldn't of noticed or cared if she had eaten Tall Fescue.
My ID mare foaled on wends but still today has no milk what so ever today, she hasn't even dropped a tiny bit
Her foal died the thurs morning at just over 24 hours old.
I was thinking maybe she might suffer from Fescue Agalactia as she has lost foals before.
We were told when we brought her "within 24h she has a udder like a cow" which clearly she doesn't because she's been back on good grass since sat and it hasn't made any difference at all.
Her last owners didn't like her so they wouldn't of noticed or cared if she had eaten Tall Fescue.
Rollin
Well-Known Member
Wynter I am so sorry to read your post. How awful for you and your poor mare. I know how much you were looking forward to the foal. Heartbreaking.
I have not read anything recently other than the articles posted.
Why not contact your local National Stud and see if they know anything about this problem.
I have not read anything recently other than the articles posted.
Why not contact your local National Stud and see if they know anything about this problem.
wynter
Well-Known Member
I have read since that one of the main reasons for mares not producing any milk at all was to do with fescue because it affects the milk producing hormones and to give them Domperidone to help reverse the affects.
If only the people that brought her from had been honest for once and said she doesn't produce milk at all then we could of looked all this up before
She had a HUGE filly who was even bigger than our colt who was born a month before her.
I read one thing that said the foal needs the milk from mum to receive the anti bodies (when the mare has been on domperidone) against fescue because the foal can be affected as well.
But then can read something else which says that the foal can be ok
Also does anyone know if it's just a short term thing or can mares be carriers of it over a few years?
I asked the vet when he came out to do her paperwork and jabs that as far as we were told she doesn't bag up in till after she foals and within the first 24h and was there anything that could give her or the foal to help with her milk and i just got a "no there's nothing that she can have and you will just have to let nature take it's course".
If only the people that brought her from had been honest for once and said she doesn't produce milk at all then we could of looked all this up before
She had a HUGE filly who was even bigger than our colt who was born a month before her.
I read one thing that said the foal needs the milk from mum to receive the anti bodies (when the mare has been on domperidone) against fescue because the foal can be affected as well.
But then can read something else which says that the foal can be ok
Also does anyone know if it's just a short term thing or can mares be carriers of it over a few years?
I asked the vet when he came out to do her paperwork and jabs that as far as we were told she doesn't bag up in till after she foals and within the first 24h and was there anything that could give her or the foal to help with her milk and i just got a "no there's nothing that she can have and you will just have to let nature take it's course".
Last edited:
Spring Feather
Well-Known Member
Sorry to read this but what did your foal die of Wynter if you don't mind me asking?
Rollin
Well-Known Member
Wynter, as you saw from my post I thought we had lost a colt for the same reason two years ago - he was big about 75kg and late. He died the day he was born.
From what I have read in the USA it it the last tri-mester which is critical. Authors recommend taking the mare off in late pregnancy so that would imply it is not permanent.
You need to know if the fescue is infected with the organism which causes the condition - I did enquire in the UK but could not find any lab to do tests which means sending grasses to the USA. I don't know the regulations for shipping such a product.
From what I have read in the USA it it the last tri-mester which is critical. Authors recommend taking the mare off in late pregnancy so that would imply it is not permanent.
You need to know if the fescue is infected with the organism which causes the condition - I did enquire in the UK but could not find any lab to do tests which means sending grasses to the USA. I don't know the regulations for shipping such a product.
RutlandH2O
Well-Known Member
Wynter, I am so sorry to hear of your sad loss. Everything you've described points to fescue toxicity. I know the States has untold millions of acres of endophyte infected fescue. It appears to be a problem in Europe, as well. When I asked one of my vets, who has a particular interest in reproduction and neonates, about infected fescue, she said it is not a problem in the UK.
The mares are not carriers of this problem. They are affected during the last trimester, so removing them from the offending paddocks, three months before foaling, should protect against agalactia, prolonged gestation, dystocia, placental abnormalities, and neonatal death and dysmaturity. Treating with domperidone is useful, but, as one article states, it is not a magic bullet. But remember, even if the mare is removed from the infected fields, feeding hay that contains infected fescue is just as bad.
From what you have related about the previous owners, it may be that they were not aware of endophyte infected fescue, kept the mare on infected pasture, and assumed that it was a problem within the mare. Yes, they should have told you. Perhaps the vet who made the remark about nature taking its course is just as uneducated to this infected fescue difficulty.
There are other types of forage, I just don't know what is available to you in Brittany.
The mares are not carriers of this problem. They are affected during the last trimester, so removing them from the offending paddocks, three months before foaling, should protect against agalactia, prolonged gestation, dystocia, placental abnormalities, and neonatal death and dysmaturity. Treating with domperidone is useful, but, as one article states, it is not a magic bullet. But remember, even if the mare is removed from the infected fields, feeding hay that contains infected fescue is just as bad.
From what you have related about the previous owners, it may be that they were not aware of endophyte infected fescue, kept the mare on infected pasture, and assumed that it was a problem within the mare. Yes, they should have told you. Perhaps the vet who made the remark about nature taking its course is just as uneducated to this infected fescue difficulty.
There are other types of forage, I just don't know what is available to you in Brittany.