Page 167 - Speedhorse, February 2019

Fescue toxicity, which occurs when a mare consumes endophyte-infected fescue during the last trimester of pregnancy, can be a cause of red bag delivery. However, the more common problem with endophyte-infected fescue is lack of milk production after foaling.
“Vigilance is paramount when watching mares, to be there if she does need help. If you see a mare in stage two labor that has protrusion of the placenta rather than the clear, white amnion, this is an absolute emer- gency, to open it. The foal should be right on the other side of the amnion sac inside that placental covering. It should be front feet and nose, but might be hind feet, or some other part of the foal,” says Schroeder.
“You can’t tear the placenta with your hands because it is too strong, thick and rubbery. You need something sharp to cut it, like scissors,” he says. If the mare has a placentitis, this tissue may be very tough and nearly impossible to puncture with your fingers. It’s best to have
a pair of scissors in your foaling kit to poke through the placenta.
“We generally don’t recommend knives because people tend to go too deeply and cut more than the placenta, especially if they are in a panic to resolve the problem. Once you get it open, however, it can be torn away from the feet or nose and everything after that usually goes well. The mare can do the rest and push the foal out normally,” he explains.
There will be a poor outcome if no one notices the red bag delivery. The birth may be slower, and the foal cannot break through the thick placenta causing it to suffocate. “There
is minimal to no chance for that foal to live.
If someone is there, however, the placenta can be cut open. That person will generally go ahead and provide some controlled assistance to bring the foal out quickly, or at least pull
the bag across and off the foal’s head and most importantly, off the nose so it is behind the ears and there is no obstruction as the mare pushes the foal on out.
“If the placenta is coming out all at once with the foal, obviously stage three labor is accomplished at the same time. We typically
do not have to worry about retained fetal membranes. Stage two and three are happening simultaneously and all is well, but I still like to try to figure out the reason why the mare had a red bag delivery. Is it just by happenstance, or was there something in her recent medical his- tory that triggered this? Has the mare been sick with diarrhea, colic or some other problem? Was she a problem mare to get bred? Does she have a history of bacterial or viral placentitis? Was she exposed to a toxin like Eastern Tent caterpillars or did she have any infectious reproductive diseases such as herpes virus or a fungal endometritis? It’s a good idea to do some investigative work to figure it out.”
Ideally, the placenta would be submitted
to a diagnostic lab to have it checked for any evidence of disease. “It’s a good idea to have someone look at it for further testing. The last thing we’d want to see on any farm is a brewing underlying problem that no one knew about until this mare’s red bag delivery. This could
be one of the first signs of a major abortion- causing problem that might affect other mares, which could be very devastating to a farm,” says Schroeder.
In terms of the foal, if someone was there to cut through the placenta in time and the foal was born quickly, he would probably be fine, but it is always prudent to have the new foal
examined by a veterinarian. In some instances, however, he may have been without oxygen
too long, which might result in “dummy foal” syndrome or perinatal asphyxia syndrome. “He may have been compromised more than the average foal that was born normally. If people don’t want to bring the foal in for checking, they need to be vigilant in monitoring that foal. Is he nursing regularly and getting up
and down normally? Is he going through the normal cycle of getting up, nursing, napping, playing, etc., multiple times per hour? These foals usually act normally for the first 24 hours. After that, they may decline if they are becom- ing a bit slow,” he explains.
“I tell people to diligently monitor that
foal for the first 72 hours. This isn’t a mare and foal you would just turn out to pasture. You’d want them in an area where they can be readily observed and then you’d know if the foal becomes dull and is lying around more. You’d notice that the foal, who was up nursing vigorously at first, is now just lying around and more lethargic,” he says.
“Here at our referral hospital, we are usually dealing with the after effects. Either the foal didn’t survive because they missed it and want to know what to do in the future to try to prevent this happening again, or I may be dealing with a foal that’s slow, that
The foal emerges normally in most equine births, with the placenta (as indicated by red line above left) still attached and you will see the whitish-clear amnion sac encasing the foal.
In the rare red bag birth, the placenta (as indicated by red line above left) detatches too soon and comes through the birth canal with the foal still encased within the non-ruptured red placenta.
SPEEDHORSE, February 2019 163
EQUINE HEALTH