The
Udder Page:
Here I've documented the 'waxing and waning' (pun intended)
of my mare's udder so that I can assure myself I haven't lost my mind.
She initially unilaterally 'bagged up' 6wks prior to the due date. Given
that she might loose the foal (loose is not being pessimistic; they usually
aren't generally viable, even on supportive hospital care, before 4wks
of the due date), I had the vet take out the caslicks at this point. She
had an abrasion high up on the inside of her right leg that I discovered
was caused by her blanket strap chaffing her as she lay down when she
put those final pounds on(how awful did I feel about that!)... it was
likely to have contributed to the early bagging since it went down after
the chaffing was treated with topical ointment (good ole' bag balm!).
I didn't have the digital to record that lopsided occurrence.
Late in week two/early in week three. I really had to close in here to show this. I'm disgusted at this point and we're past 335 days. She's gone down considerably all of a sudden. She didn't really bag up much again until the day she was due. Maidens.
By the way, so far these pics were all taken in the evening, when mares are at their lowest bagging point of the day after walking around. The morning checks were slightly more exciting (she didn't like the cold hands on her udder)... I chose not to bother with the camera mostly then!
THIS is what I was looking for (of course it didn't have to happen for her to have the foal, but still, it was nice that she did something typical for once!). She suddenly showed all the other signs quite clearly on this day too.
The test strips from the night before had indicated she had a 95% chance of foaling within the next 24hours... well they were close. She went another 36 before she foaled. This picture was taken 20hrs before she foaled.
Now that's swelling! If she thought they hurt the week before, she was quite miserable now.
I'd spent a little time trying to acclimate her to the concept of udder abuse so she wouldn't flip out on the foal. She was ok, although the foal takes udder abuse to new heights and she's allowed to remind him to be gentle.
Anyhow, that's what my mare's udder looked like the evening before she foaled: Typically deflected outward teats. Her milk still could have been more opaque but it was extremely sticky.
She also didn't stream, so I never needed the baby bottles to save the colostrum (although I almost needed them, so I'm really glad to have had them... read about the dystocia and ensuing stifle-lock and shock).