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Post by gem on Dec 20, 2005 14:03:46 GMT 1
Sky is getting bigger and closer to birth (well 4 1/2 months but whose counting??!!) I am keen to ensure that it all goes well, does anyone have any experience of birthing alarms and or putting in a camera, how much does it cost to put a camera up and are the birth alarms effective? I want to be there for the birth but would also like to capture the precious moment on camera. It also means I dont have to be stood next to her when she foals I can leave her to it unless there are problems
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Post by june on Dec 20, 2005 14:26:03 GMT 1
If you contact Hilary Vernon at the National Foaling Bank she can tell you where to get foaling alarms etc. She is very helpful and the membership fee is well worth paying as you then have an expert on the other end of a phone line 24 hours a day.
We had 3 mares foal very recently. They all foaled in the field without any alarms and everything went fine so we didn't need Hilary's assistance but it was reassuring to know that it was there had we needed it and I've used her since for advice on worming, feeding etc. These mares arrived from Argentina in May and played polo most of the summer until we noticed they were getting suspiciously fat!
Her number is 01952 811 234.
The other person I found very helpful was Nicola Tyler, the nutritionist at Top Spec. She has produced a couple of leaflets on feeding mares and foals which are great. Ours are all on Alfalfa and Top Spec Balancer and doing really well. The foals are 14 weeeks and 8 weeks old, living out and thriving. They help themselves to mum's feed whenever mum allows!
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Post by jaffaandme on Dec 20, 2005 14:43:11 GMT 1
Hi Gem,
One of my customers has a big yard in Essex and they breed and train dressage horses. Alongside this, they also hire out birthing alarms etc. If you're interested I can get the details for you?
Claire
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Post by specialsparkle3 on Dec 20, 2005 14:49:23 GMT 1
8-)Hi Gem ---I'll tell you about foalng cameras etc when we are at the dentists!!! No seriously, I have cameras in both my foaling boxes but they were put in about 13 yrs ago so I don't know about cost. They are the proper observation ones that enable you to watch the mare (and the mare & foal for the 1st few days) with only a tiny10 wat bulb on in the stable so it doesn't disturb the mare too much. I leave it on a few nights before she foals to get her used to it. Of course you have to make sure you wake up every hour or so when she's close to look at the telly, but I would imagine you won't have any trouble with that!!!! I think these systems are a bit expensive but they're worth it if you aregoing to continue to breed. Otherwise you can use an ordinary CCT camera wired to a telly, which works with the lght on . Friends of mine have foal alarms, but find they go off too easily with only a slight temperature change, and I have never thought it was very fair to make a mare heavy in foal, wear a roller. When you mare breaks her waters, you must still quietly observe her over the door,with the light on to make sure the foal is appearing the right way round etc. but it's certainly better for you and the mare if you can stay away (in a warm house !!!) until the last minute. You have my no. if you want to know anything else. ;D
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Post by jaffaandme on Dec 20, 2005 14:52:07 GMT 1
I think the ones that I know of are worn around the mare's neck and only go off when the mare lies down. I don't think they go off due to temperature (at least these ones don't). Don't quote me but I'm sure thats the case.
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Post by specialsparkle3 on Dec 20, 2005 15:07:59 GMT 1
Jaffa -- if they go off when the mare lies down, you would be rushing out every other hour, days before the event !!! It's a myth that mares in foal don't lie down near to foaling, mine both do and one of them snores as loudly as my husband, (my camera also has sound!!!) Gem if you could hire one it would be well worth it if the wiring could be done on a temporary basis.
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Post by gem on Dec 20, 2005 15:22:40 GMT 1
Thanks both, the plan is to have the CCTV and do stints of sitting up with a friend whose mare is also in foal . I am unsure yet of whether to try a foaling alarm or not as Sky is a sweaty mare anyway. However for the sake of wearing a roller and my being able to get the vet to the foal in time if there is any issues I am leaning towards this and having the CCTV so that I can watch the birth without disturbing her.
Special Sparkle I will certainly give you a call nearer the time (after my hand has recovered from all that gripping you'll be doing at the dentist) as Ill be mega stressed she is the first mare that I have owned and put into foal, its different when its someone elses Sky is my pride and joy!!
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tammy68
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Post by tammy68 on Dec 20, 2005 15:42:52 GMT 1
Hi Gem, I bought a cctv from Woolworths last year. It had a small tv monitor (only black and white) and a camera which I put up high in the top corner of the stable. This only cost £40 as they were on offer. It was brilliant as I was able to watch my sister's mare from the comfort of my bedroom without having to keep going out to check as this can put them off foaling. It is said that the foal comes when it is ready to be born but it is the mare who dictates the hour. The only problem with this is that with the sound on, you tend not to get much sleep as you keep thinking 'this is it'. Also, the unit I bought is only operational when the monitor and camera are within 20m of eachother. This was fine for us although it was at its limit. Also, it is amazing how you can still get a really good picture at night time when all is dark. In the past I used a baby monitor to listen as the mare becomes quite restless when in the early stages. I found this to be better than nothing but the cctv was truly amazing as once I saw the legs coming out I was straight down there to ensure all was well. The result was a perfect little filly!
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Post by annahindley on Dec 20, 2005 15:57:17 GMT 1
You can get cameras that are movement sensitive so they only kick in with movement or sound. You can also link them to the hard drive of a computer - so no video tapes if you want a record. A friend of mine got this system in her stud, but I think it was mega bucks. its brilliant - but like everything, you get what you pay for I suppose! For her, she culd give owners footage of their folaies being born. She also had some cameras set up for security - no video tape and no hours of endless actionless footage mean it is great. i think she bought off a supplier on ebay.
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Post by gem on Dec 20, 2005 16:54:48 GMT 1
anna bit pricey for my needs I only want it for one mare to foal I wont be breeding more unless I win lotto
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varkie
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Post by varkie on Dec 20, 2005 18:37:08 GMT 1
We looked into all this last year when we were having our first.
You can get all kinds of foaling alarms. Some are sensitive to heart rate, some to sweating up, some to laying down. Depending on how your mare foals though, they may be really useful or really useless! For our mare, the laying down one would have been useless, as she did that every night for weeks before giving birth. The sweating one wouldn't have been any good either, as she didn't sweat up during birth. The heart rate one would have been best, as she did up her heart rate considerably. We didn't end up getting one in the end, as I didn't feel I could justify the cost considering that I was going to sit up & watch the CCTV each night.
We did install a CCTV. We bought it for only about £50 from an electrical store (Currys or Comets or somewhere like that. It came with night vision as automatic, so it wasn't necessary to have a light - the night vision bit was invisible to horse or human sight & only visible when watching the CCTV screen. The CCTV unit didn't come with a monitor, tho we could have bought one. We just rigged it up to our portable tv that we brought from home. Although my OH did the rigging up, it was easy enough, and I could have done it myself. We didn't video it, but I guess we could have set the video to record that TV channel that the CCTV was one.
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Post by arabmania on Dec 20, 2005 19:52:00 GMT 1
hi not exactly an answer to birthing alarms etc., i was anxious not to miss my mare's foaling but i just knew she was going to give birth the evening that she did! i read the books, studied the pictures, did the IH foaling course etc etc..!!! me and my daughter camped down in an adjacent caravan that night and we didnt miss a thing! we comforted my mare through it and was given immediate access to baby to help rub down and assist with first feed. what a lifetime memory and honour. we have it on video and i still fill up if i watch it now 4 1/2 years on!!!
good luck with yours!
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cokey
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Post by cokey on Dec 20, 2005 20:09:12 GMT 1
My mare had a foaling alarm which should have gone off when she started to sweat - but being very stoical, she didn't sweat at all! Luckily I was camped out in the tack room anyway, but I would have been really miffed to have missed the big event. Think that CCTV is a very good idea, but wouldn't bother with the foaling alarm again!
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Post by jor on Dec 20, 2005 21:12:29 GMT 1
I think its very difficult when choosing birth alarms for maiden mares or mare you personally have never foaled before. I did not use foaling alarms or CCTV this year as all of mine were maidens and foaled in the field, so not only did I not know how each mare would be in labour and foaling I couldnt cover the whole of the foaling field (about 1 1/2 acres) with one camera.
I missed two births, only because we didnt know the mare was actually in foal with one and the second we werent expecting a foal from until January (hmmm me thinks someone got dates wrong...) Fortunately both these foals were absolutely fine but I was a bit panicked!
When the mares were within 3 weeks of foaling date I started checking them every 2-3 hours 24 hours a day (nightmare!) when I felt a mare may be foaling I stayed in a tent (lol) outside the field checking every ten minutes (no sleep). In hindsight it would have been very useful to have a night vision camera cover the majority of the field, except you could bet the mare would hide in a corner that couldnt be seen! As it happened only one of my mares foaled at night, the others foaled at 11:15am 9:25am and 1:15pm as it happened when I was there, all these mares reacted very differently, one didnt show any signs of distress (no raised pulse, no sweating, no getting up and down) she had the foal in ten minutes and was as laid back about it as anything. Another sweated quite badly in the hour before but actually gave birth stood up, the first time I have ever seen this. The third had no sweating, a slight raise in pulse and was up and down like a yoyo for three hours.
As you are foaling inside CCTV is an excellent option, I am having CCTV installed in the new barn (stables will be going in soon yippee!!) and the ones who are used to foaling inside will be foaled in there. I wont be using birth alarms though. I worked for an arab breeder who used them and to be honest they were more trouble than they were worth 8/10 times they set off for no reason and mare was either asleep or stood eating hay!
I do wish you luck and hope you find the perfect birth alarm and CCTV unit.
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Post by specialsparkle3 on Dec 20, 2005 22:00:34 GMT 1
The automatic night vision camera sounds great, it problaby wasn't invented when we had ours installed, I wonder if I could change mine to one of those, I shall have to find out whether it will be ok with the present wiring that goes from the stables to the house ----any electicians out there?
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