Foal Watch - Lights on/off? (having issues with cctv!)

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luckilotti

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 January 2006
Messages
2,176
Location
Lancashire
hillhousestables.co.uk
Hi,
so last night was the 1st night i had the cctv on. Last year it was great, its one with 30 infra red lights on and was so clear least year, well, once it hit about 9.30pm, it wasnt good :( if shes stood by her hay, i can see fine, if shes laid in her 'main sleeping place' its fine, but if she stands at her door, or in the opposite side of the stable to the camera, i can barely make her out at all :( From the stud i bought her from - she does tend to foal against walls so obviously i dont want to miss it!

What i was wondering is... does anyone have the lights on overnight? I cant leave her light on as the switch also does the broodmare next doors stable and the stable with my ickle ducklings in, i really dont want to risk upsetting them. SOOOO... i was thinking of a small light, similar to http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clip-Light-...0?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1308315680&sr=1-2 as i have one laying around and could hopefully clip it at the furthest side of her box to assist with the view on the cctv.

Thoughts???

Will it being on unsettle her too much? Previous foals were born 8am ish according to the stud i bought her from so she doesnt tend to foal at night, not to say she wont with me!

Any other suggestions?
 
I left the lights on just in her stable when I set up CCTV, i could see her in the dark it was just much clearer with the light on. Had a couple of nights where she seems really restless and showing lots of labour signs but never went anywhere, then the third night I thought I'd leave the light off and within an hour of me doing the last checks on yard and switching all lights off she started in labour and delivered foal! I don't know if it was coincidence or just that she couldnt really relax with the light on! I switched it on once she started pushing and needed some help.

The light in my stables though are quite bright so maybe wouldn't have affected her so much if it had been a little dimmer.
 
I used an inspection lamp in my mares stable it was enough to light the stables so i could see the CCTV and not disturb the other horses, i was really worried about leaving the lights on and upsetting the mare. In hindsight it would have probably been better to leave 'the big light' on, considering as soon as i saw her in labour i turned the big light on anyway!!!
 
Thanks for the replies, I'm just about to go down and try and set up the clip type light fitting i mentioned in my earlier post. It can take upto a 100watt bulb so fingers crossed, that will help. Otherwise i think i am going to buy a new infra red camera as last year it was soooo clear, without the need of a light on etc and i just dont feel that easy about leaving the light on - especially as it means the other and my ickle ducklings will have to have theirs on aswell...
Maybe i need to ask an electrician how much it would be to put her light on a different switch, maybe a dimmer switch. (hers is a very long flourescent light in plastic casing).
 
I put a 100wt bulb on extenstion lead and left that on all night and that worked really well. It gave plenty of light for the camera but not to bright for snoozing.
 
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