Birth (Parturition)

Doc-t February 5, 2015
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I loved delivering foals.  It was a miracle and a pleasant challenge for me when they went wrong.  Maybe it was not enjoyable for the mare or the owner, but it was a puzzle I always liked to solve.

Here are the facts.  90 out of 100 deliveries go without a problem.  Of the remaining 10, 9 usually have “elbow lock,” which, with the video I made here, all horse owners can resolve without their vet.

Then there is the 1 in 100 that gets stuck and often causes the foal’s death, the mare’s death, or both. These are why you stay up all night on foal watch and have your vet on speed dial. These are the ones I drove through blinding snowstorms to attend.  I loved delivering foals.

This video is from a vet watching her Jenny deliver her foal.

Foal delivery
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⬇︎ Click or tap on any image to fully open it. Swipe or click the arrow to move through the gallery. ⬇︎

1/29 – The birth of a donkey as captured by the owner. There is no difference between this and the birth of a horse. This image – The mare is restless and constantly looks at her sides.
2/29 – Donkey birth – The mare will often lie down and act as if she has colic.
3/29 – Donkey birth – The tail swishes indicating discomfort back there.
4/29 – Donkey birth – The foal is starting to bulge out of the birth canal.
5/29 – Donkey birth – The bulge increases and there is evidence that the water is breaking meaning the outer birth sack is rupturing (normal) and the fluid is escaping.
6/29 – Donkey birth – The pale blue inner birth sack called the amnion is now exposed which is normal. the outer sack would be a dark red color and would require immediate action by the attendant at this point, but this is normal.A hoof can be seen.
7/29 – Donkey birth – same as last image.
8/29 – Donkey birth – It is very common for the mare to stand at this point. This helps to reposition the foal on the long axis in the canal and does not harm the delivery. If a leg was back or any other bad presentation, this would be the time you would start to be concerned but experience helps you through this part.
9/29 – Donkey birth – down again, the process continues.
10/29 – Donkey birth – 2 legs are now seen through the thin membrane. It is OK that the membrane is not broken because the foal is receiving oxygen from the mother’s blood through the umbilicus. Note that both hooves are facing down towards her hocks. If they were facing up then this would indicate a hind limb presentation which may need professional attention if you don’t have the experience. Hind limb deliveries work well (see my blog “Shave cream delivery”).
11/29 – Donkey birth – Now the nose of the foal is seen. This can be seen either between the 2 front limbs or on one side of both limbs as seen here.
12/29 – Donkey birth – continuing
13/29 – Donkey birth – The mare has gotten up and is now laying on her other side. All is progressing well.
14/29 – Donkey birth – progressing well. Note how the vulva stretches considerably. In mares where it does not stretch enough, the vulva can tear or an episiotomy is performed which repairs more easily than a tear.
16/29 – Donkey birth – This is the normal position of the foal which is basically tangled up in the hocks of the mare and the hind hooves either out or still in the mare. This is a resting point for the mare. This is when the foal learns to breathe air. This is when the amnion breaks on its own. This is when you remain quiet and out of the stall with one exception – you need to get the amnion off of the nostrils if it happens to be there but make it quick and DO NOT DISTURB THE MARE. The longer she remains laying down the longer there is for the blood from the mare to continue pumping into the foal.
15/29 – Donkey birth – It is normal to have one limb be more forward than the other limb as this decreases the circumference of the foal. However, if the limb that is not as far forward gets too far back then there is a possibility of elbow lock. See the video on elbow lock. The foal will become stuck in the birth canal and the mare might get up and down to reposition the foal to release the lock. Alternatively you can wait for a contraction to stop and them press the foal with one hand on its head back into the mare while simultaneously pulling the limb that is locked forward to be more like the one further out. You can feel this release. Your job is done and you can leave the stall.
17/29 – Donkey birth – Resting. The bright red structure at the vulva is the umbilical cord coming from the mare to the foal. It is still attached to the foal.
18/29 – Donkey birth – The mare remains quiet on her chest which is normal. The foal is starting to struggle and in this struggle, his head will move towards the head of the mare. This is VERY important because the mare will start to bond through licking and sucking the ears of the foal. DO NOT DISTURB!
19/29 – Donkey birth – The foal continues to flop and struggle. This is how it moves forward. It is also how the umbilical, seen clearly as several vessels twisted in a cable configuration, gets disconnected from the foal. The other way it becomes disconnected is if the mare gets up. On occasion when she does get up, the whole placenta falls out and the cord remains attached to the foal.
20/29 – Donkey birth – The foal has drawn away from the mare and has removed the amnion and cord – or maybe the owner did this. Some people like to come in at this point and rub the foal with towels to dry it which might be needed if it is cold. I never did that and it was very cold in New York and had no problems. I believe it is not our place to interfere at this point unless absolutely necessary.
21/29 – Donkey birth – the mare is bonding with licks, nips and sucking of ears. This is normal and not to be confused with savaging which is very different. It is also normal to have the ears of the foal droop as seen here. Also normal is the wet and stringy look of the bottom of the hooves. Imagine your fingers soaking in water for 11 months. In a few hours or less the hooves become dry and appear normal. You can almost see this stringy look on the bottom of the RH sole but it’s dark.
22/29 – Donkey birth – It has been 14 minutes since the image of the completed birth with the one hind limb still within the mare. It is that fast. Notice the coach in the background. Do what she is doing and let the foal learn.
23/29 – Donkey birth – The coach is giving the encouragement which is a sign of a good mother. Let her do her job.
24/29 – Donkey birth – Not the feet in 18 minutes!
25/29 – Donkey birth – later that morning with the owner a little over 9 hours from delivery.
26/29 – Donkey birth – curious already.
27/29 – Donkey birth – at 20 hours this foals knows where to find food. Note the normal position of all mares to present the teat to the foal. Still and with the opposite hind limb resting on the toe. Note the normal positioning of the foal with the head at the level of the lungs and not above the lungs to avoid aspiration pneumonia. When bottle feeding foals people often make the mistake of placing the bottle above the lungs creating an increased chance of pneumonia. I have actually had one owner place the foal on its back like a human which resulted in the death of the foal from inhaling the milk.
28/29 – Donkey birth – The look of a healthy 3 day old foal from a normal delivery.
Categories: Foal Delivery

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