why has my mare got milk????

C

centuryb

New Member
Jun 7, 2006
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hi, i have a 14.2hh welsh D mare who is 12 years old, about 2 weeks ago my daughter noticed (while we were bathing her) she had a drop of milk on her teats. i have been looking each day since and the last 3 days if i squeeze her she squirts milk like a cow!!!

also for the last 2 days her udders feel bigger and harder

i know she had a foal 4 years ago.

Could it be the heat?

do some mares do this when they are about to come in season. we have had her since october last year and she has not had a season yet.

she has not changed shape while we have had her, although she put weight on a couple of months ago with summer grass and so we put her in lammi paddock as we thought she was at risk of lamminitus. she has now slimmed down and is her normal self.

there is nothing else different about her just this milk.

any comments would be appreciated

thanks
 
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Are you absolutely positive she isnt in foal? If you have only had her since October it is possible? I would be tempted to have her checked out/scanned by a vet to be certain. She should have been cycling in season for the last few months now id certainly keep her separate from others just in case. She should have no milk remaining from her previous foal although hormones could have produced some milk I would check just to be positive!!!!!!
 
is it definitely white or is it a straw coloured liquid? some mares respond to the change in grass at certain times of the year, especially if they have had foals when younger, I had a mare do this and the vet sent it off to be tested and came back to say all was well, but it was straw coloured not white :D
 
Couple of questions:

Is she kept with other horses? Esp male horses? Have you recently had any new male horses around?

I ask because my share mare doesn't come into season (at least not obviously) unless there are male horses around. If, after not having seen any for a while, she meets up with new male horses, suddenly she comes into season in a big way.

Second question:
Has she been acting broody or protective around you or any other horses/pets? Could be a phantom pregnancy if so.
 
white milk

thanks for replies, the milk is deffinatly white, she was in with mares but moved to lammi field which has 1 gelding about month ago, she shows no interest in him and he no interest in her. her temperment is normal.
surely she cant be in foal (can she) she would be at least 9 months by now and no belly etc?????
 
You say she's in the field with a gelding? Could this 'gelding' be a rig? A rig is a horse which hasn't been gelded properly for whatever reason. One reason being only 1 testicle is visible, the other is usually hidden in the scrotum. May be this is so in your case. Have a chat with your vet. Although if this is the case, the body heat usually destroys any active sperm. However, if I were you, I'd get in touch with the vet pronto!.
 
But if she was only in with the gelding a few months ago, even if it were a rig she wouldn't be showing milk as she'd only just been covered.

I think you should defnitely get her checked out!

Coudl be a phantom pregnancy?

Or you could have a new arrival pretty soon!
 
she may not be showing a belly on her if you've had her on restricted grazing in a lami paddock. even if she isn't pregnant you need to get a vet to her sooner rather than later, in this heat she could develop mastitis or worse. the fact that she hasn't come into season, or been a moody mare at all suggests only one thing to me i'm afraid!!
the vet will take a blood sample and send it off to be returned by two weeks, its about £70. however if she is running milk and is pregnant they may be able to tell by just feeling her stomach or doing a quick internal inspection
 
Do horses have phantom pregnancies??? My dog once had a phantom pregnancy and she even came into milk!! she then proceeded to protect her toy pig thinking it was her puppy!!!

Just a thought :confused:
 
they can do, its not unknown, but usually spotted and treated before they get the full blown symptoms
 
Our goat had a phantom pregnancy, has never had any kids before, and she was producing milk.

I think that everyone is right that you should contact your vet, even if u just speak with them.
 
capalldubh said:
Could be a phantom pregnancy if so.
Click to expand...

I have never had a mare so I'm not familiar with that in horses, but I have plenty of experience with dog false pregnancies. We had 2 German Shorthaired Pointers that would start a false pregnancy everytime they came out of heat. They wuold gain weight, give milk, get morning sickness and vomit. Then about 60 days later which is a normal dog gestation, they would have cramps and labor pains. After the "labor" was over they would carry around stuffed animals and even soft drink plastic bottles and tuck them into their bellies to nurse.

We eventually had to get both of them spayed.
 
Hate to say it but we bought a mare from a yard in november and rode her away jumping and everything, gave her a month off after having her teeth done in may and she had a foal on the 14th of June, Never showed anysigns of putting weight on just as yours has done bagged up at the end of may and foaled in june.
 
I'd get her checked out. I suspect you is going to be a grand-mummy. They don't always show. Vet will probably be able to feel by doing a PD and popping his hand into the rectum at this stage. Let us know!! Don't panic! Worse things have happened at sea!
 
My mare had a phantom pregnancy, but it is very very unusual in horses, to the point that several equine vets and two very experienced-with-breeding yard owners were convinced that Molly was about to foal. If it lasts more than a few days, then I'd get it checked out by the vet
 
Ok, i think i can solve this..

The same thing has been going on with mare, 14hh Welsh D x Newforest, 9 yrs old. I noticed when i was cleanin her teats than she was milking. We spoketo our YO, and she called the vet. He said, not to worry, clover in the ground (the stuff with 3 leaves) produces eostrogen which causes them to milk. Her teats were getting bigger and bigger, so when he came to give her a flu jab and he said he was fairly sure she isnt pregnant and that he still thinks its the clover. He sais to us DO NOT MILK THEM AS IT STIMULATES THE MILKING PROCESS AND WILL CAUSE THE MARE TO BECOME ILL! So dont worry, just ignore it and let it dry up!

Hope that helps!
 
thanks again for all replies, just to clarify she has only been in with gelding for about 1 month so he can not be responsible! but i did wonder if being in with him had brought on a phantom pregnancy.

hope she is not in foal an we have been working her about 5 days a week and cut her food down as she was looking larger and laminitic.

i will feel really bad if she is as we have not rested her as we would have done had we knows.

i will let you know but still fingers crossed she is not.

thanks
 
I've heard of non pregnant mares developing a bit of a bag. It is often called 'witches milk'.
But if there is a chance she could be in foal, then I'd have her checked asap.
 
Good luck finding out, i wondnt worry too much about resting as im sure she would be ok although its not the ideal thing to do many people have bought mares in foal and not realised til they went in the morning and hey a baby!!!!! A friend of mine whipped in on his mare, and i also bought one that wasnt in foal but 8 months later i had a foal at foot!! When i asked the previous owners they said it wasnt but had just bought it and shed been in two dealing yards and two markets so who knows what the babies dad was hes now four and spotted and really cute but wont be taken prisoner to any novices but hes out competing and doing really well!!! Hes called Goblin!!!!!
 
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