why do mares give birth to twins then they die? this has happened twice on us.?

Question

This has haoppened twice to us inthe past foaling year.

Answer 1

The surface area covered by the foal placenta needs to be more than half the area available. This means that if you have two foals, they're both getting less area than they really need. in those cases, most often you get both foals dying. It's rare for both foals to survive to term. Generally if the mare is checked early in the pregnancy, one fetus can be pinched off leaving one fetus to take the whole area. This usually allows for the single foal to survive. If you're often getting twins i'd look at my breeding program and possibly remove the mare that tries to twin OR make sure to have the mare checked at each breeding and remove the twin to ensure a viable foal.

Answer 2

No twin pregnancy in mares is not that common. When a mare is pregnant with twins she usually aborts around 8 mths at the latest. And those who do carry end up losing both foals.

Answer 3

Occasionally both foals will live, at the very least they start out stunted but catch up. More often they continue to have problems. Most often they are aborted or die soon after birth. Like every one said they just can't get the neccesary nutients in the womb, most people choose to lose one instead of both if they're discovered soon enough. Sorry it's been happening to you.

Answer 4

Mares are not usually able to carry and feed twins.
Most people have the horse ultrasounded to confirm pregnancy and if they see twins the vet will go in and pinch one off to remove it so the other one can survive.
That is how we have handled twins in the past with our broodmares.

Answer 5

They don't always die. There might be something wrong if it was the same mare, or stud, or a million other reasons that the foals died. I would talk to your vet. to see what they say. They will be able to tell you the reason the foals died.

Answer 6

Mares are not set up to have twins. On well managed brood mare farms if twins are revealed on a pregnancy test the pregnancy is usually aborted. You clearly know why......