What is the youngest a filly can get pregnant?

[MissTyc]

My friend purchased a filly in March - supposedly 7 months old at that time (so born summer 2010) ... Vet is coming out on Tuesday as in the last few weeks the filly seems to be growing a huuuge belly. She worm counted two weeks ago and there was a low burden so mare was wormed same as her other horses.

I visited today and omg if that filly doesn't look pregnant. I breed a few of my own and everything looks ... well pregnant! Checked teeth and she's on baby teeth all round, but I suppose she could be 6-10 months older than she should be? I know teeth are not an exact science.

Could she be?
Phantom? She has been seen to have seasons but I know that isn't everything as had a cob mare deliver healthy big foal last year after having normal seasons all the way through gestation.

 

[FairyLights]

I have known of an infoal yearling.

 

[Mare Stare]

I have known of an infoal yearling.

Did she have any health problems carrying? Was she a good mother or did she reject the foal?

I always assumed it was around the age of 2 because my filly didn't start coming into season until then.

 

[MissTyc]

Geeezus!!!
I was hoping I could call my friend and say Don't worry HHO says it's not possible - must be a phantom ... (or worms or a giant tumour?! Ye know ... hard to know what would be best). She def looks pregnant shaped to me. Yikes

 

[overtherainbow]

surely if youd seen her start to have seasons you would think it might be possible?

 

[MissTyc]

surely if youd seen her start to have seasons you would think it might be possible?

Well yes and no ... As far as I understand it, she started seasons as one would expect of a yearling from about April/June ... no way of knowing if these were her first seasons though? If mine, I would have assumed these to be her first so would assume she could theoretically get pregnant from that point. But in order for her to be pregnant *now* as a yearling, she obviously would have had to have met an entire male before her first January.

Having written that out I now change my vote back to phantom!

 

[JanetGeorge]

My friend purchased a filly in March - supposedly 7 months old at that time (so born summer 2010) ... Vet is coming out on Tuesday as in the last few weeks the filly seems to be growing a huuuge belly. She worm counted two weeks ago and there was a low burden so mare was wormed same as her other horses.

It's more likely she has tapeworm (which doesn't show up on a worm count) or that she's not on a suitable diet. Obviously a filly can get in foal once she startscoming into season IF she is in with an entire male. IF he filly was 7 months old when you're friend got her and IF she hasn't been in with a colt/stallion since your friend got her then it is highly unlikely she is in foal as fillies rarely come into season much before 10 - 11 months old

 

[Sparkles]

Near enough impossible if you bought her at 7 months...

Late yearlings maybe possible...2 year olds - yes definately possible, 3+ - yes, no questions asked unless other issues.

I'd put a pramox down her neck, followed by a 5 day wormer if that makes no difference.

Failing that, I'd up her feed to something far more nutritious and easier to digest.

 

[MissTyc]

It's more likely she has tapeworm (which doesn't show up on a worm count) or that she's not on a suitable diet. Obviously a filly can get in foal once she startscoming into season IF she is in with an entire male. IF he filly was 7 months old when you're friend got her and IF she hasn't been in with a colt/stallion since your friend got her then it is highly unlikely she is in foal as fillies rarely come into season much before 10 - 11 months old

Thanks JanetGeorge - will pass on this info!
It makes more sense to me this way.

I know my friend is pretty good with her worming as I remember discussing Pramox with her in the spring. This cover tapeworm? Makes me realise I don't know much about tapeworm (only horse I knew who had a problem became a bit anaemic and lethargic, but he was quite a bit older and neglected) - going to go read up on tapeworm now!

 

[Sparkles]

It's tape season just gone now if my memory serves me. We've just done all our lot, plus 5 day wormers for any yearlings slightly 'under' looking.


What is she fed?

 

[MissTyc]

I know she just wormed as this was the first thing I asked when I saw the filly - Equimax (don't know when exactly but understand it was in the last 2 weeks after the worm count).The filly is in super condition - glossy coat, shiny eyed, prancing about with her buddies ..

Feed if I have it correct is ad lib hay and what looked like fairly good grazing for this time of year & chaff with a youngstock balancer (possibly Baileys stud). I have two of the same age as hers and she has based her feed on what mine get. But mine have never looked anything like that!

 

[Sparkles]

Only reason I ask about the feed is if she's on a lot of roughage which hasn't got enough in it to cut it atm nutritionally for her, then her gut could be working over time to try and digest it, with it being in the gut longer and not getting a lot of nutrition out of it at the end of the process - causing the 'bloated' look.

Our baby just had this and had the feed team come out to look at him and said the ad-lib hay/grass/balancer he was on just wasn't cutting it and the bloated look wasn't from worms at all, but literally just from the medium quality roughage taking ages to digest and not doing a whole lot nutritionally for him so was sort of 'starving' himself by eating solely this. He advised us to feed him a kilo of coolstance a day and within 2 weeks it would change his appearance - it's been over 2 weeks now and ther belly's gone!

[I'm not a nutritionalist...I leave that to the experts lol, so I may not have explained or worded it quite right....but it is along them lines! Feel free to amend.]

 

[MissTyc]

Only reason I ask about the feed is if she's on a lot of roughage which hasn't got enough in it to cut it atm nutritionally for her, then her gut could be working over time to try and digest it, with it being in the gut longer and not getting a lot of nutrition out of it at the end of the process - causing the 'bloated' look.

Our baby just had this and had the feed team come out to look at him and said the ad-lib hay/grass/balancer he was on just wasn't cutting it and the bloated look wasn't from worms at all, but literally just from the medium quality roughage taking ages to digest and not doing a whole lot nutritionally for him so was sort of 'starving' himself by eating solely this. He advised us to feed him a kilo of coolstance a day and within 2 weeks it would change his appearance - it's been over 2 weeks now and ther belly's gone!

[I'm not a nutritionalist...I leave that to the experts lol, so I may not have explained or worded it quite right....but it is along them lines! Feel free to amend.]

That is really interesting!
Obviously I didn't check my friend's hay!

Also I don't know how much chaff she gets. Mine get a fair amount with their balancers and the finer types also get additional readigrass in the winter. Will mention all this to her. It's her first foal so she counted on my help but my help turned out to be useless as I'd just never encountered this and simply thought Worms! (and Yikes the beast does look pregnant!!)

 

[Sparkles]

Might be worth a mention anyway [remember chaff won't have much nutritionally in it either] we hadn't encountered it either or considered it...we thought for a shetland foal ad-lib hay/grass and a balancer was enough [normally is for the others!], but clearly it wasn't for him. That little thing got wormed to an inch of it's life bless him!

 

[Chloe-V]

I also think it's most likely to be worms, I'd do pramox and then the 5 days panacur guard a couple of weeks later.
Worm counts don't give a true picture at all and you don't know if she was wormed regularly enough or correctly for a foal before you got her.