toby09
Junior Member
Posts: 105
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Post by toby09 on Feb 17, 2011 13:46:09 GMT
As title. We now have rubber mats and I use wood pellets but will be changing over to straw for a month before foaling. When I've seen others on straw and mats, even with plenty of bedding, I've always thought they're a bit slippery so I'm thinking of taking them out as the straw might have more grip on good concrete and I've never had a problem like that before.
Are they better on mats and straw or just straw? What do others do please?
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Post by elmere on Feb 17, 2011 13:51:16 GMT
Apparently theyre bad for bacteria, Im not sure though but Im going to take them out for foaling just to be sure  |
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Post by mountainsandhorses on Feb 17, 2011 14:01:10 GMT
Hi, My mare is one EVA matting with no "bed" as such just a wee patch and a sprinkling of ozbed/nedzbeds for when it is damp in the stable as the EVA mats are no where near as slippy.
When she gets close I will be keeping the bottom sprinke of nedz/oz and the straw on top. There is one rubber mat at the side of the stable and with the sprinkle of oz/nedz she never slips and that is with striped side up!!
If you can avoid I would really not have them on concrete- it is so hard on all legs involved.
Yesterday I put a new rug on my mare and fastened it too tight across her chest, when I came back to her she hadnt moved as much as constricted by my rug fastening. Her back legs were really quite filled and she was stiff (all fine and swinging again after a 5 minute walk) but just goes to show how their foal weight impacts on lymph fluid movement etc so I would have though a hard floor like concrete would make for discomfort.
I can lift my mats with one finger to clean underneath but agree rubber mats are a pain but can easily be hosed with some disinfectant.
Its all soo exciting, cannot wait to put that big straw bed down! x
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Post by boothsdale on Feb 17, 2011 14:06:03 GMT
We leave our mats down but the stables (and mats) are disinfected before the mares move in (about 3 weeks before foaling) and I put disinfectant down under the mats. Never had a problem with anything slipping on them with a decent bed down.
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Post by elmere on Feb 17, 2011 14:07:17 GMT
Hi, My mare is one EVA matting with no "bed" as such just a wee patch and a sprinkling of ozbed/nedzbeds for when it is damp in the stable as the EVA mats are no where near as slippy. When she gets close I will be keeping the bottom sprinke of nedz/oz and the straw on top. There is one rubber mat at the side of the stable and with the sprinkle of oz/nedz she never slips and that is with striped side up!! If you can avoid I would really not have them on concrete- it is so hard on all legs involved. Yesterday I put a new rug on my mare and fastened it too tight across her chest, when I came back to her she hadnt moved as much as constricted by my rug fastening. Her back legs were really quite filled and she was stiff (all fine and swinging again after a 5 minute walk) but just goes to show how their foal weight impacts on lymph fluid movement etc so I would have though a hard floor like concrete would make for discomfort. I can lift my mats with one finger to clean underneath but agree rubber mats are a pain but can easily be hosed with some disinfectant. Its all soo exciting, cannot wait to put that big straw bed down! x I can, mare and foal on a straw bed is the worst to muck out, Im not looking forward to it.  |
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Post by mountainsandhorses on Feb 17, 2011 14:47:10 GMT
Very true!!! x
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toby09
Junior Member
Posts: 105
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Post by toby09 on Feb 17, 2011 16:31:12 GMT
Thanks for the replies, it helps.
It goes without saying that the box will be scrubbed to within an inch of its life, mats lifted, floor and mats disinfected and walls painted before a strand of straw goes in there which will be so deep I can't feel the floor in my slippers.
I think the plan will be to do all that and then see if I can slide about on it, if I can (and I'm a bit lighter than a 16.3 ISH!), the mats will come out (they're big heavy cow mats, OH will have to be co-erced!)
Will still be interested in more replies though as I think they help others too.
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jules1
Junior Member
Posts: 66
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Post by jules1 on Feb 17, 2011 17:41:07 GMT
We kept our rubber matting in with chopped straw. Foal came a little early so we didnt have time to put down a full straw bed but I would recommend it. We found when the mares waters broke it left patches in the bed (as mare had thrashed around a bit) which were slippery and we had to help the little one to his feet with a towel under him as he couldnt get his grip. We were there so it wasnt really a big deal but if it happens without warning as ours did foal could have a problem getting up. Straw is smelly bit to be honest we just picked out around them and put more clean down until they were ready to come out of the stable then refreshed everything. Plus straw is warmer, out foal was born in March and we had a couple of chilly days when we put a large dog rug on him (foal rugs were too small) and with the clean straw he was very cosy.
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Post by bennylasarche on Feb 17, 2011 18:15:52 GMT
My mares generaly foal outdoors and have done with rare exception for the last 15years or so
We have rubber mats in 9 of our boxes and I wouldnt want to foal indoors on them as I am sure they would harbour bacteria and after foaling would not be easy to keep as sterile as a daily disinfected straw bed
We keep native welsh and its been rare to have foaling complications
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Post by holiday on Feb 17, 2011 18:23:58 GMT
We foal down on both, however I find the concrete floors are better, we have found the rubber mats to be slippy for both the mare if she wants to get up and down once her waters have broken and the foal once they start trying to stand. Once both are up and running well they cause no problems!!!!!
We foal down on deep straw then move to wood pellets once baby is a few days old, definately due to the mucking out!!!!!!! We also do the same and take out the worst of the wet straight away (within reason to mum!!!) take the worst out then wait until we get them out before doing a proper muck out. I do like to see a foal curled up in a cozy straw bed though!!!!!
We have also foaled down well on shavings, however they do get stuck to babys whiskers and are incredibily difficult to remove!!!!!! I have found shavings very difficult to keep clean without using huge quantities of them - of which at the price I resent!!!!!!
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Post by FF on Feb 17, 2011 18:36:37 GMT
My stable is currently shavings but nearer the time I plan to disinfect leave mats down and put shavings base down, then put straw on top and lots of it. Can't wait.
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Post by pencaedu on Feb 17, 2011 18:47:32 GMT
May I Hi-jack slightly?
Our foaling box is 20 x 12, in the corner of a a barn. The mare in question is a Section A who is 'not very tame'. The block walls are about 4'6" high. All the other horses & ponies can get to 2 of the walls. She is used to all of the loose horses, as they all share haylage bale on yard at the moment. Do you think she will settle to foal in there, or am I better to leave her in her usual 10'6 x 11'6 which has a low door for her? The horses can still get to the front of this (but it's in a different barn which the others tend to ignore. The front wall is about 5' high & I have another door on top of the low door which I could close to give her more privacy. What do you all think?
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Post by CarolineNelson on Feb 17, 2011 19:26:11 GMT
May I Hi-jack slightly? Our foaling box is 20 x 12, in the corner of a a barn. The mare in question is a Section A who is 'not very tame'. The block walls are about 4'6" high. All the other horses & ponies can get to 2 of the walls. She is used to all of the loose horses, as they all share haylage bale on yard at the moment. Do you think she will settle to foal in there, or am I better to leave her in her usual 10'6 x 11'6 which has a low door for her? The horses can still get to the front of this (but it's in a different barn which the others tend to ignore. The front wall is about 5' high & I have another door on top of the low door which I could close to give her more privacy. What do you all think? Hi - you're asking a question (do you thionk she will settle in there" etc - which only you can answer, as you know her! We had one particular (Cui) Sec A mare who would cross her legs and belt to the furthest end of the paddock to foal. No problem when she was foaling a Sec A, but, when put to our small TB stallion, we really did need to keep an eye on her! Give her some privacy, trust her instincts but be there for her if she asks.... Oh, and back to the plot - STRAW!! (previously disinfected floor, obviously) |
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Post by harrythepig on Feb 17, 2011 20:03:50 GMT
Toffee foaled down with a very deep straw bed placed on mats.
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Post by brt on Feb 17, 2011 20:09:00 GMT
Gosh i feel mean! Mine foal out in the field so have to put up with alsorts!!!
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Post by divadoo on Feb 17, 2011 20:39:44 GMT
I have foaled with both mats down and mats not down. On both occassions hoever i have had a massive thick bed and you cant really tell if it mats are down or not.
I have to say though, i despise the mess a mare and foal can make and this year i may switch back to shavings much sooner than i have in the past!
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toby09
Junior Member
Posts: 105
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Post by toby09 on Feb 18, 2011 0:33:21 GMT
Hi jack away with pleasure!
Tricky one. Can you not shut off the barn where her box is, you say they usually ignore it? Or would she settle better with the company in the foaling box as it is large enough that she can get into the far corner away from them?
You know your mare, what suits her best? The options are I think to try her in both boxes for a few days well before she's due and then go with the one where she's more settled and make sure she can't be hassled by the others. Do you have an electric fencing system, could you put a ring around her box so they can't get too near?
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Post by beckylock on Feb 18, 2011 8:01:38 GMT
I have mats in all my boxes I have a massive bed in the foaling box and have never had a problem.
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Post by holiday on Feb 18, 2011 8:22:33 GMT
I would say see how she goes after foaling, if she gets upset with the others trying to look at her baby and starts to kick out or put baby in danger you may have to consider a different option to avoid baby getting injured, some of our mares are quite happy for anyone to look at them others will have a break down!!!!! Funnily enough one of our nastier mares is more than happy for anyone to look in!!!
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