I did some research on 'red bag' last night and this morning. The correct term is placenta previa... premature detachment of the placenta... The typical 'red bag' is from the fertilized egg attaching itself too low in the uterus or too close to the cervix. The placenta can grow over the cervix and this is what is seen as the 'red bag.' The placenta detaches, is expelled first and then the foal. If you get to it in time, you cut through the placenta, reach in and pull the foal out. However, there is still the risk that the foal is oxygen deprived and results in a 'dummy foal.' It takes only a few minutes for the foal to suffocate.
Sometimes the placenta detaches and the foal and placenta are delivered at the same time. If the placenta detaches and the foal is without oxygen en utero, the foal suffocates inside the mare. When delivered, it is stillborn.
Cause for placenta previa can be endophyte toxemia from fescue hay contaminated with the endophyte fungus (common in eastern states such as Missouri). Placentitis (infection of the placenta caused by bacteria entering through the vulva) can cause premature detachment... and, I also read, if the placenta is attached too low, the foal can lay against it and the pressure causes detachment. In normal pregnancy, the placenta is attached to the uterine wall above the foal...
Last night, I assume the placenta came out before the foal or right after the foal and the foal couldn't break out of the bag quickly enough and suffocated. Placentitis and endophyte toxemia causes tough bags as well... So, two things happened... The placenta detached too quickly and stopped the oxygen flow AND the bag was too tough for the foal to break out of on its own when it was delivered...
It is also quite possible the placenta detached inside Annie even a few days ago and the foal had already suffocated... We did notice that all movement stopped about 3-4 days ago...
If a mare has placentitis (infection of the placenta), it can be remedied by administering antibiotics about 30 days before the foal is due...
Unless I have a necropsy done, I won't really know what happened.
I bought this mare last May with her yearling filly. The previous owner had a hard time delivering the foal (filly) the year beore and the filly was damaged in the hind quarters during delivery... In retrospect, I don't know if this caused a uterine infection or not... I also don't know if a uterine infection can last two years. Annie is well-fed (primarily alfalfa hay) and had no issues this past year. She is blind in one eye as the previous owner didn't know she had an eye infection and never treated it. She is also 16 years old. In all other respects she acts like any other horse in our herd. She is low on the totem pole, but for the last 3-4 months she has been with only the pregnant mares and she buddied up to Freckles... Freckles sometimes pushes her around, but most of the time they eat together and stand nose to tail and scratch each other or just flick the flies off each other with their tails...
Kari
