Foaling

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amieb123

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Hi - Im new to here and this is my first attempt at posting something!
I have two mares due to foal in March and Im trying to buy a Wyke GSM Foaling alarm but due to them currently being upgraded Im having difficulty finding one due to none of the old model left and delays in the new version being released - Panic on!
Has any one used one of these and what are your views on them? Also does anyone know of other alarms that you dont have to be within a certain distance of the mare as i live a mile away from stables.
Hope this makes sense and isnt too long x
 
I used to use foaling alarms years ago but I had so many false alarms that I stopped using them. Maybe they are more reliable these days but Id still not use them. Milk testing is far more reliable and saves all those countless sleepless nights. I milk test all mares and then I know that the mares will foal within 24 hours.
 
Well you can buy them but I think they are overpriced. I buy all the things necessary myself. Distilled water, ph testing strips for pools and a couple of syringes is all you need. I have to go out now but will give you a website later which tells you all about it.
 
Like the sound of this sounds like it would save me many sleepness nights up on Foal Watch!!
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I am another who does not use foaling alarms, in my experience they either go off when the mare is not foaling, or don't go off when they need to as a lot of mares don't sweat up during foaling.

I also don't use the milk tests as again, I've had a lot of mares foal that haven't even waxed up let alone run milk.

I don't think there is any substitute for sitting up watching them, so we have all the mares on camera from a month prior to foaling date.
 
Oh Dear Touchwood so I am in for lots more sleepless nights then? tbh even with my camera I still like to go over and peep so I am sure I would still do the same with a monitor/milk test!! Love it really just with 3 so close together this year I hope they all come in a few nights and not weeks between or I will need matchsticks!!
 
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Oh Dear Touchwood so I am in for lots more sleepless nights then? tbh even with my camera I still like to go over and peep so I am sure I would still do the same with a monitor/milk test!! Love it really just with 3 so close together this year I hope they all come in a few nights and not weeks between or I will need matchsticks!!

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That is the downside, matchstick eyes! Obviously being a stud, we are more set up for it than homebreeders, as have plenty foaling down all in one place, and split the sitting up between more than one of us. I do just feel that its the only foolproof way!
 
the foaling alarm im looking to buy has a sweat based sensor and also has the back up of a sensor for when they lie in the foaling positon which can be turned off if you wanted to. ideally id have cctv but cant due to living just over a mile away, unless anyone knows a way round this?
 
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I am another who does not use foaling alarms, in my experience they either go off when the mare is not foaling, or don't go off when they need to as a lot of mares don't sweat up during foaling.

I also don't use the milk tests as again, I've had a lot of mares foal that haven't even waxed up let alone run milk.

I don't think there is any substitute for sitting up watching them, so we have all the mares on camera from a month prior to foaling date.

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I echo that completely!!!!! I may run on low batteries for weeks but it is definately worth the hours!!!!!
 
I have a foaling alarm - one which is a laying down sensor - also have cctv but only use these as a back up to sitting up watching.
Our alarm missed 1 last year and gave a few false alarms but with checking mares, watching them we didnt miss a mare
 
Re. the laying down alarms - you must get loads of false alarms...what happens when the mares lie down? From watching ours over the years, especially in late pregnancy, the mares spend half the night lying down asleep. We find that by the time they get that big they also snore and grunt a lot (its obviously where everything is getting squashed!) so they sound like they are foaling half the time!
 
From experance the only way to be sure the folaing goes ahead without any problems is to stay up and watch them 24 hours 7 days a week! The milk test, and sweat type alarms with CCTV are good but you have to stay up and watch all day and night and be ready to help.

The laying down alarms are a waste of time!

good luck
 
I use a sweat sensor alarm from http://www.foaling-alarms.co.uk/foal%20alarms.htm

Incredibly knowledgeable and helpful people (he designed the original Wyke alarm which - from what I have heard - is NOT as good now.)

They CAN give false alarms in hot weather - although you can adjust the sensitivity - but with mares foaling in hot weather I have 18" fans in the stables which helps a lot. Have only had one mare missed when wearing a foaling alarm - a TB - who didn't sweat at all. Luckily she didn't need help either!

Milk testing can help - but some mares take umbrage at you messing about with their udders - and some mares DON'T let milk down until a VERY short time before (or after) foaling.

The only 100% SURE way is to sit up - when hot weather makes the alarms unreliable or if I'm worried at all about the mare, I park my car outside the stable and doze in it (window closest to the stable open so I can hear every movement - and an alarm clock set for hourly checks just in case I DON'T hear it!)
 
When my 2 mares were due to foal I got an old caravan and spent the night there ,The first foaled st 9.30 pm when I was at work but my daughter was checking the second caught me out completely 2 weeks early and no waxing at all and foaled in the field .
 
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We have cctv, and you cannot beat it. We don't have any alarms they are a waste of time.

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O#ve GOT to disagree - profoundly! CCTV needs someone watching - which means not sleeping! I wouldn't survive a foaling season without my foaling alarms - and they've saved a few foals that were early in mares I wasn't expecting to foal for atleast a few more days.

Mine come onto foal watch at - usually - 320 days, although I have several that are known to foal early who come in a week earlier. They wear the alarms at night from then. I had one mare last year who foaled 3 weeks 'early' (318 days) - NO bag at all - and the mare was USELESS! Foal would definitely have been at SERIOUS risk if the alarm didn't go off! (And I'd be at serious risk if I had to sit up watching CCTV - 7 nights a week - for 4-5 months!) I'd like CCTV as well - but I can live without it. My alarms I CAN'T live without.
 
Personally, CCTV worked well - I woke up on the hour every hour for weeks to blearily stare at TV screen next to bed for a minute or so. You do get into a routine and it becomes quite bearable after a week or so. Both my maidens had to have assitance pulling the foalies out. The CCTV allowed me to see that they were spending the early evening trying to wee alot. You get used to their normal 'routine' and any slightly abnormal behaviour is easily apparent whilst viewing in secret but may not be so if you were to visit them during the evening. My Andalucian mare (her 2nd foal) went through all of labour without a bead of sweat - this would have been missed by a sweat alarm.
 
My CB mare went through the whole labour without a bead of sweat too. BUT THE ALARM DID GO OFF. So it must have detected a low level of moisture. At first I thought it must be a false alarm, but her behaviour showed that it wasn't and she foaled 20 mins later. The 2 foalings I had previously watched were by TB mares and they were both very wet, not just damp. So I will definitely use an alarm this year too.
 
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