1 of the mares at the barn I board at was foaled about a month and a half ago. She had an ultrasound 1 wk ago. The vet said she was having twins. But the owner doesn't want to abort one of the twins [[which i think is cool of him ;-]]
I was wondering the risks and problems that might happen. I know their are risks with every foaling but what ones are more likely to happen with twin foals??
鈾?Emily 鈾?br>
P.S. the mare is 7 yrs old .. about 15 hh .. and this is her 2nd pregnancy. She was bred right after her foal was born.
Thanx again!
Answers:
If twins are detected, it is best to follow your vets鈥?advice on what to do, they may try to pinch one, or leave them and hope that one dies naturally. The survival rate of healthy twins is very low because the uterine wall cannot easily support the growth of two placentas.
Twins pose a number of risks:
In 95% of mares with twin embryos, one or both embryos are resorbed or aborted during the first 60 days. However, waiting to see if this occurs naturally could delay or interfere with a subsequent successful pregnancy.
Of the small percentage of twins that survive in utero past 50 days, it is highly unlikely that two healthy foals will be born. If either survives, it may be small and weak.
Most twins surviving past 50 days will spontaneously abort at 6-8 months.
Mares carrying twins are more likely to give birth prematurely (before 300-320 days). Premature foals may have serious medical problems and are less likely to survive.
It really isn't a good idea. In most cases where both twins were born (that I have seen), either one or both are small and have medical problems. Both of them tend to end up smaller and less able to handle strenuous work when mature than just the one would have. It also poses quite a risk to the mare during birth.
I hope the owner is aware of all the risks and the unlikelyhood of 2 normal, healthy foals.
Its hard to say if both of them will be ok. Their is a good chance that they both be born but their is a chance but their is a risk for mares who have twins it puts a lot of strain on the mare! but yea i dont know but yea
The babies could be under nourished or under developed. they will probably be a bit smaller than a normal foal just like human twins. Twins are fairly rare in horses, and some of them dont make it. But there are the lucky ones that do.
http://www.mini-horse.org/health_care_tw...
well, there won't be enough milk, and the second one may die. the mother may just get overwhelmed and her body wouldn't produce any milk at all. etc. you should read about it.
There is nothing cool about not pinching one foal and it is just plain stupid quite frankly. Why would anyone want to put their mare through that if they didn't have to?
As I said when I answered another question about twins, I foaled a mare for some people and they were unaware of twins as the larger foal was masking the smaller one behind it on the ultrasound. The mare foaled and the first one was normal sized but dead as the cord was wrapped around it's throat. The second one then arrived and was about the size of a dog. We had to stay with it 24 hours per day. It couldn't stand and couldn't have nursed even if it could have stood as it was so small. It was like a skeleton with skin, covered in silky down hair. We had a nasal tube and after 2 days, it started having multiple organ failure so we put it to sleep.
The normal complication is that one foal receives all the nutrition and the other does not resulting in a much smaller foal with numerous problems. Also, if one dies during the pregnancy, she will usually lose both. The stress on the uterus can cause ruptures and if there is dystocia or malpresentation, emergency surgery can be required. If surgery can not be performed in time and there is a mjor malpresentation, sometimes they have to remove the foal in pieces - literally. I cannot see how anyone can say that they care about their mare and risk her and what could be a healthy foal like that. They should be prepared for the worst and for some big vet bills.
Call your vet and ask. Don't ask unqualified strangers who have not only never seen the horse, but never examined her. Such advice means nothing.
Agrees 100% with Lisa M
Great answer
The risks to the mare are serious as she was bred back right away, so her body didn't have time to rejuvenate. This is issue number one and very important. Mares are not physically built to carry twins. Even though she has two now, she can still abort one or both at any time. She is now maintaining 3 lives...her current nursing foal and these two. This is not fair to her. The foals stand a high risk of being undersized with no hope of reaching a useable height at maturity, of having malformed limbs and internal issues even if they do go to term and are born. Not aborting one twin is not cool. This is not a twofer bonus. For all the horses' welfare, one embryo should be pinched.
First of all, the twinning has nothing to do with her being bred on foal heat (the first heat after foaling) and breeding that early is perfectly acceptable but there are slightly lower rates of conception as some mares are more ready than others. The early embryo places very little drain on the mare, so she needs only maintain herself and nurse her current foal.
As to the twins, your vets opinion is best. Here is an excerpt from "Manual of Equine Reproduction" by Blanchard et al - I tried to take out the technical stuff without changing what the section was saying: "Twinning is an undesirable condition in the mare. If twins are not reduced to singletons at an early stage of gestation, the usual outcome is late-term abortion...Complications that can arise with late term abortion of twins include dystocia [difficulty during the birthing process - can be fatal to the mare], retained placenta [can be fatal to the mare without proper treatment], delayed uterine involution and metritis [uterine infection, can be fatal to the mare without proper treatment], and, of course, death of one or both twins...incidence of twin conception varies with breed, being more common in those breeds with a higher incidence of multiple ovulations (eg thoroughbreds approximately 15 - 25%)...With experience, success rates [of manual crushing or pinching] are approximately 90% (ie 90% of pregnancies carried to term as singletons) when one twin is manually reduced at 14 - 15 days of gestation [pg 86-87]." Here's another section, part of a chart: "twinning: 65-70% of twins are aborted or stillbirths; majority abort by 8-11 mo of gestation; retarded growth of fetus [which means you will get a small immature foal that needs a lot of supportive care and may not survive] and often have mummification of one of the twin fetuses; a common cause of equine abortion (20-30% of all diagnosed abortions) [pg 84]"
I have to say I agree with the vet, the best thing to do is squeeze one of the twins. Carrying twins is a huge risk for the mare, and in the majority of cases you will lose one or both of the twins. It is better to deal with the issue now than further down the line when it could be fatal to all three.
Think how big a single foal is and how much energy it takes for a mare to give birth. Now double it!
You will end up with small, undernourished foals and a very tired mare.
The best thing to do all round is to get rid of one pregnancy. Yes occasionaly you hear the happy stories about the mare that had two healthy foals and everyone lived happily ever after, but this is the exception not the rule. To put a mare through a twin pregnancy would be cruel - if left alone you may find she will abort them herself.
I've been involved with breeding throughbreds for several years and every twin pregancy that I have dealt with has been aborted by the vet. It is a fact of life that a mare is not designed to carry multiple pregnancies and I firmly believe that anyone who knowingly puts a mare through such a pregancy is being cruel.
I'm sorry if this offends anyone, but ask your vet, I'm sure they'll agree with me.
Twins surviving are the extremely rare exception rather than the rule.
The mare will probably slip both foals early and now they will both die. The abortive procedure for horses at this early stage is relatively simple and would save the other foal, the vet simply pinches the embryonic sac away from the umbilicus. It is very sad to think about, but they will both nearly certainly die if it's not done.
Animal husbandry is not for the squeamish.
all of that is crap. there was a stallion here called Bandsman (by Riverman) who was part of a twin and although ne never raced he was the champion stallion for 6 years. he produced 4 derby winners.
for both babies and mom to be good and well is very rare. we had a horse here on the farm pregnant with twins no one knew about and we lost all 3 of them. on the other hand the old barn that i use to work at the horse had twins and everything was fine. its very rare though. i personally wouldnt let my horse have twins. its too risky and i could be left without any horse at all.
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