Foal Birth Alarm Lite 1.0 For Hire
Many of our customers only need a birth alarm for a few weeks. After being asked abut hiring the foal alarms on multiple occasions, we finally invested in a few for rental purposes. The Foal Birth Alarm allows you to rest, knowing that you will be informed the minute your mare gets contractions, making sure you don't miss the moment and can be there to help if required. This helps to keep both your mare and foal safe, should there be any problems during the birth.
The Foal Birth Alarm Lite attaches to your mare's bridal and is motion activated (no need for invasive insertion or specialist help). When the alarm detects labour motion, it will send an SMS to up to 2 mobile phones (or call a landline). You do not need wifi - but you do need to ensure there is mobile signal where your horse is located. The alarm is made by Gallagher and is highly reliable and respected.
The Foal Alarm Lite is easy to use and gives you peace of mind that you won't miss the moment and can keep your horses safe.
The terms for rental are as follows:
- £50 rental charge per week, up to a maximum of £225 (so if you need if for 6 weeks, you will only be charged £225). Rental period goes from the day you receive the alarm, to the day we receive the alarm back. Please note that the Foal Birth Alarm Lite alarm does not come with a SIM. You can purchase a SIM from any phone shop, very cheaply.
- Must be returned to us within 2 months, or you will own the alarm! You are responsible for returning the alarm.
- Must be returned in good, clean working order. If the alarm is not cleaned there will be a cleaning fee of £30.
- There is a £419.99 deposit. Rental fee will be taken from £419.99 deposit. Funds will be returned to your account within 5 working days of receiving the alarm back in good working order. You may choose to keep the alarm, if you wish and will then not receive a refund.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us: sales@farmcareuk.com. We are a family run business and we are happy to help.
Here's a really quick video about the rental alarm and process:
Please see below for links to manuals and more information
Foal Birth Alarm Lite Manual: /user/Foal Birth Alarm Lite.pdf
Foal Birth Alarm Lite Quick Set Up: /user/Birth Alarm Quick Start Guide.pdf
Foal Birth Alarm Lite Troubleshooting: /user/Birth Alatm Trouble Shooting.pdf
You tube clip from Gallagher on Quick Set Up:
Review of the Birth Alarm Lite 1.0 (the older version, before the launch of the sleep setting) from The Polo Times, August 2020
A Home Breeding Essential
Home breeding is an exciting experience, but it can also be a worrying time, with the due date always being a bit of a question mark. Even if you know the exact date of the covering, equine gestation can be from 320 to 380 days, with 330 days (11 months) as the most commonly cited gestation length. If, as in our case, your mare has been covered naturally and been turned out with the stallion for a period of time, then the due date can be A home breeding essential Birth Alarm even more difficult to guess. This is where the Birth Alarm Lite is an invaluable tool. The alarm attaches to your mare’s headcollar and is motion activated, when your mare begins contractions she will lie down on her flanks (a typical position for birthing) and the alarm responds to this change in position and after the position has been maintained for eight seconds the alarm will send a signal to the pre-programmed mobile phone, which alerts you that your mare is lying down on her side.
The Birth Alarm Lite is a non-invasive way of being notified when your mare is due to foal, based on her position, however one of the down sides is that each time your mare lies down for a rest in the same position as the labour position, the alarm cannot tell the difference. It is also worth noting that if the headcollar that the alarm is attached to is not properly fitted and is too big, then the alarm can shift position and also send off an alarm. This does cause a few false alarms, but when it does call you for the real thing, then you will be pleased you invested in one!
Here at Polo Times, our broodmare Nevada was out with the stallion over the summer of 2019, this meant we only had an approximate due date (5 June – 5 July) based on an early scan and as we did not have a foaling box and she prefers to be out at grass, the birth would likely take place in a small paddock. The Birth Alarm Lite had been recommended and as the due date was only approximate, we thought it would be a useful investment. Once the Birth Alarm Lite arrived, there was a bit of difficulty setting it up, partly due to operator error, but once attached to Nevada’s headcollar it didn’t seem to bother her and we felt more at ease knowing that we would be alerted should she go into the labouring position. It is fair to say we had more than one false alarm, it turns out Nevada not only likes to nap a lot during the night but also likes to scratch her head, which tilts the alarm and sends off a false reading. On Thursday 9 July, we checked her in the afternoon and could see some signs of bagging up (until this point she had shown little sign of this, which is quite common in maiden mares); we checked her again at 10.30pm and again there were signs of bagging up but she did not show any signs of impending labour, such as appearing restless or agitated, sweating, circling, looking at her flanks etc; we nonetheless decided we would check on her again at 1am. However, we did not have time for this, just as we turned in for the night, the alarm went off and we went outside to check, expecting a false alarm as we had just checked on her – but much to our surprise, when we went outside, there were signs that something was happening and we heard her waters breaking, action at last! Less than 30 minutes later, the foal (later named Monkeynut) was safely delivered and the vet had just arrived. With that, the weather turned and the drizzle began; after some time it was clear that Monkeynut was struggling to gain a purchase with his ‘slippers’ (the protective coating foals have on their hooves so as not to damage the birthing canal) on the damp ground and the vet recommended we moved him inside. Once inside, he still struggled to stand and feed, needing assistance with both, but within 24 hours he was healthy and bright eyed. If we had not used the Birth Alarm Lite, then no doubt Nevada would have delivered the foal safely, but in between the 10.30pm and 1am check, Monkeynut would have been lying out on damp ground, unable to stand or feed properly and there could have been serious consequences. So, despite the false alarms and at times frustrating set-up, the Birth Alarm Lite gets our full recommendation!
Birth Alarm Lite The Foal Alarm Lite can be purchased at www.farmcareuk.com The Foal Alarm Lite can be rented for £50 per week, up to a maximum of £200 (so if you need it for 2 months, you will only be charged £200). N.B. The Foal Alarm Lite does not come with a SIM card, you will need to purchase one for yourself in order to use the alarm
Web: www.farmcareuk.com Tel: 01323 406212 Email: sales@farmcareuk.com
Basket | 