Milk test strips are really just strips that folks use to test the total water hardness in swimming pools.Remember that this predictor of foaling must be read and interpreted in concert with all the other signs of foaling. Click here to read the signs of foaling that we have observed. It seems that most of the "signs of foaling" vary from mare to mare, but the changes in the milk just before foaling are the most reliably consistent factor.

This page has been revised as of April 22, 2008 due to our mare Jewel. We were testing with just one type of milk strip (Total Hardness) and had 100% success rate until Jewel came along. One night we tested her milk and confidently said we were having a baby after making a funny Pink Panther video. We were very confident until morning came and Jewel still was hiding her little one. Five more nights went by with the same result.I am still baffled by why only one mare would give false reads, but she did. A breeder friend encouraged me to also test her pH levels. They quickly revealed that her pH level was too high for foaling in the near future. Ironically, this breeder friend also had great success with the Total Hardness strips until her mare, Crystal, fooled her. This makes me conclude that one should not name a mare after any gem!

Thus, we are now testing every mare with 2 strips: (Click here to see a video where we use BOTH strips on 2 mares)

Total Hardness Strips: I bought ours from Nurenberg Scientific Supply in Portland for about $60 for 100 strips. They can be   ordered by phone at (503) 246-8297. I cut our strips in half to make them last longer. Keep the test strips in the frig, per the manufacturers directions. They can be used from one year to the next, but keep them sealed and refrigerated. These strips give you details about the changing calcium level in a mare's milk.  There are 4 squares on the strip. If all 4 squares change color within 60 seconds after dipping, I will start setting an alarm that night and spread straw. Read more about the procedure below. Click here to see a movie of us testing a mare's milk using the Total Hardness Strips! Click here to see another movie of us testing a mare's milk using the Total Hardness Strips!

 

hth 6-Way Swimming Pool and Spa Test Strips- These only cost about $10. They test calcium levels in addition to the pH, but I find the above strips much more detailed and helpful in their measurement. This strip only has one square to illustrate calcium level. That is why, I will keep using the Total Hardness Strips. These strips have multiple strips that change color and you compare them to a standard on the box. Click here to see us testing a mare's milk using the 6-Way Swimming Pool Strip

Our science experiment every night involves precise measurement of .5 cc of mare's  milk mixed with 3 cc of distilled water. We dip the strips in the mixture for 4 seconds.

Procedure for both types of strips:

     1. Rinse all utensils to be used with Distilled water to remove any calcium particles that

         are present from your tap water. Test at room temperature. In a cold temp.,

         the speed with which the chemical reaction occurs can be slowed. Measure precisely

2. Milk the mare into one cup (you only need 1 cc -- a few squirts). Don't overmilk. 

3. Measure 3 cc of distilled water into a second cup. Keep the distilled water clean. 

4. In the small syringe, draw up .5 cc of milk and squirt it into the 3cc  of water.

   FLUSH the syringe in the distilled water at least once. This is such a small sample

   that it can affect the test if you leave milk in the syringe.

5. Dip each (Total Hardness Strip and Swimming 6-Way Pool pH Strip) strip for 4 seconds, which which has four color blocks on it, and

   time exactly 1 minute. hold your breath and read the results.

Analysis of the Total Hardness Strip: (the blocks change from green to purple)

1-2 blocks changed -- Rest easy tonight. Sleep while you can to store up for your night of mare stare! Your mare is not even close. The milk will be clear sticky fluid or slightly cloudy, and probably hard to get. Test every other day.

3 blocks changed -- Pick up testing your mare to daily, but always test at the same time. The milk will be cloudy, and may almost be white. In my pre-milkstrip days, I would already be losing sleep, for the mare will look ready to pop right now

3 blocks change right away, 4th changing if strip is left out after 1 minute -- Not yet. Continue as above...

4 blocks changed WITHIN 60 SECONDS -- Spread the straw, put on the coffee pot, get your foaling kit in order, hook up your trailer. I will be having my daughters with me in the bedroom helping me watch the cameras! You are within 48 hours of foaling, probably closer to 24 hrs or less. The milk may be white. The faster the squares change, the closer you are!

Analysis of the 6-Way Swimming Pool Strip:

If it is your mare's big night, the calcium levels must be high and the pH levels must be low. The pH levels are indicated by the 3rd square on the strips. In this photo, the mare is not ready which indicated by the reddish pink color. When she is ready to foal, the pH level will be below 7.2 and the square will be more orange. The calcium level is also tested by this strip and is indicated by the purple square (far left square). They are purple in this photo which means that the calcium level is high. But both indicators need to change correctly for me to lose sleep.

 

Prior to Jewel's pregnancy, we were only using the Total Hardness Strips. To read a 'case study' of a mare close to foaling, click here... This page was made before Jewel.

To see our documentation of the milk strips and photographs from 2007, click here..

You can read about our Jewel's progression by clicking here.

If you would like to read about a farm that advocates using both kind of strips, click here.

Of course, we look at all the other signs of foaling and take them into account with every mare.