Count Down FoR Basic Brown

1. Count Down FoR Basic Brown Official due date: March 3rd, 2013 Calculated by subtracting 25 days from her breeding date which was the end of March 2012.

2. How do we predict when she’ll deliver? • We, the animal science students, have been observing and measuring changes in Brown for the last two weeks. We look for qualitative changes, aka physical appearance, and quantitative changes, aka measurements. • These include: • Qualitative: teat and udder development; softening of the hind quarters, activity level, belly development. • Quantitative: Calcium levels in colostrum, length of vulva

3. Teat and Udder Development Development 24-48 hours before birth Brown on 2/26 & 27/2013 2/26: Brown’s udder has just started to fill and she has no waxing. Still a few days away. 2/27: There is very little change from yesterday to today 3/1 Udders have filled a little bit more. You can see the fullness in the sides. We look for waxing on the teats which look like white crust at the end of teat and filling of the udder so the crease between two halves almost disappears.

4. Tail Head Tail head 24-48 hrs before birth Brown’s tail head on 2/27/13 2/28 She has some softening of the tail head but it will continue to become more pronounced as she nears parturition. 3/1 No change. The tail head becomes very pronounced as the muscles of the pelvis relax to prepare for the foal entering the birth canal.

5. Belly development-pendulous with a point 2/26 Basic Brown’s belly is pendulous without a pronounced point. 2/27 Today there was no change in her belly. 3/1 No change in belly position. The belly will become very pendulous and some may even have a point because as the foal enters the birth canal in the last 24 hours it’s rump points down and forelegs and head assume a “diver’s position”.

6. Length of the vulva Vulva—female anatomy Brown’s vulva 2/26—Vulva length was measured as 16 cm 2/27—Vulva length was measured as 16.5 cm, slight change in length. 3/1—Vulva length was 17 cm. She’s lengthening about .5 cm a day The vulva will lengthen significantly to accommodate for the 100+ pound foal. There can also be discharge when she is very close to parturition.

7. Calcium carbonate level in extracted milk [Ca2+] or greater within 24 hours of Foaling Brown’s calcium levels • 2/27 Her level’s haven’t been tested yet because we haven’t been able to collect he 2-5 ml of milk to test it. She only excreted a few drops when milked on 2/26. 3/1 We weren’t able to collect quite enough milk to make test reliable. It registered only one color square and that gives Brown a 1% chance of having foal in next 2-3 days. The milk is collected and then tested as shown above. As mare’s calcium level nears 200 ppm it is an indicator that she is nearing parturition.

8. Conclusions: Based on her lack of udder development alone, she is not going to foal today or tomorrow. It is very rare that a mare’s udder doesn’t fill with milk a few days before she foals. The crease between the teats should all but disappear. Additionally, she isn’t waxing at all. Waxing is caused by the colostrum that leaks out and dries on the teats. Colostrum, a valuable nutrient for the foal, contains simple amino acids, vitamins, carbohydrates, and most importantly antibodies that the mare will pass to her foal through passive immunity. We haven’t tested her calcium levels and are eager to do so because this seems to be the most reliable parameter of estimating due dates. Once her milk registers a calcium level of 200+ ppm she has a 50% chance o foaling within 24 hours, 72% chance of foaling within 48 hours, and 98% chance of foaling within 72 hours.