Dairy
BY DR. GEORGE
F.W. HAENLEIN
Extension Dairy Specialist
University of Delaware
What About Selenium?
Do you have repeat-breeding
problems in your dairy herd? Is
your average calving interval
about 13 months or more? Do you
have high somatic cell count prob
lems in your tank milk? Do you
have mastitis, metritis and retained
placenta problems? Are your
calves bom weak?
If the answer is yes, you’d best
check the selenium status of your
cows. Blood samples from a few
special cases taken to the Penn
State University or some other lab
and tested for selenium content
should tell you if this is the culprit,
because here in Delaware, Pen
nsylvania, Ohio indeed, in
much of the Northeast and Mid-
Atlantic states the soils arc
selenium-deficient.
That means plants are deficient,
100, and normally you must add
selenium to your feeding ration at
up to 0.3 parts per million for
ruminants.
This is the new FDA allowed
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One day worming - no withdrawal
No need to throw milk away during
deworming- F.D.A. approved
Cows can be treated anytime in the
production cycle - dry or lactating
Broad spectrum control
Safe
Easy to use -1/10 pound per 100
pounds of body weight
It pays to worm - tests show higher
milk production on dewormed cows.
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Paradise, PA 17562
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Management Column
maximum limit, and it is three
limes higher than that allowed
originally in 1979. The increase
was thought to come closer to the
normal selenium content in for
ages grown on soils with adequate
levels.
Continuous feed supplementa
tion with selenium can be justified
because it lakes only about 3
weeks for animals to become defi
cient on selenium-deficient diets.
The practice helps maintain resis
tance to infections and keeps all
kinds of troubles from starling.
High milk production and
longevity in our milking herds
both essential for maximum profits
depend on good health and the
ability to resist disease. However,
high production imposes consider
able stress on our cows and can
reduce their ability to respond
effectively to disease challenges.
How often do you hear dairy far
mers say that it’s their top cow that
got sick again, not the bottom one.
Not only arc today’s cows bred
and fed for higher production,
they’re also confined to less total
space often with not much pas
ture at all and arc exposed to
kssMus
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| PURINA CHDWS |
more manure, more mud, more
concrete floors, more internal
parasites and disease organisms.
Pasture grazing has been
replaced by silage bunk feeding,
but silage fermentation degrades
many vitamins in corn and other
forages, including vitamin E. High
grain feeding has also become
necessary for today’s high milk
production. But without supple
ments, deficiencies in essential
minerals must be expected, espe
cially in selenium. Even in slates
like Georgia, which have normal
selenium levels in their soils,
selenium-deficient forages have
been identified, because other fac
tors than soil influence selenium
content and selenium availability
to animals.
Selenium, together with vitamin
E, is of critical importance for
maintaining the animal immume
system and the integrity and func
tion of body cells. Recent research
has shown this to be especially true
for newborn calves, which had a
belter growth start when they
receive extra vitamin E.
In other studies, cows
rations low in selenium and
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Unionviile, PA 18375
(215)347-2377
From Delaware
min E have developed cystic ova
ries, uterine infections and signif
icantly increased incidence of
retained placenta. These problems
have been corrected by treating dry
cows and springing heifers three
weeks before calfing with lOcc of
a selenium-vitamin E injection, or
scc at drying-off lime and again 3
weeks prior to calving.
Ohio research showed dramatic
benefits of up to 41 percent reduc
tion in mastitis, with fewer cases
and shorter duration, where sele
nium and vitamin E were added to
the daily dairy ration or given by
injections. The improved milk
yield and bonus payments for ship
ments of milk with low bacteria
and somatic cell counts increased
herd profits, more than making up
for the cost of the added vitamin E
plus selenium.
The supplementary levels sug
gested by this Ohio research were
700 mg of vitamin E and 50 mg of
selenium at one time, 3 weeks
before calving. Or 3 mg of sele
nium plus 600 units of vitamin E
per milking cow per day. For
calves, 125 to 250 international
units of vitamin E plus 2 mg of
fed
vita-
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selenium gave the best daily
growth rates.
Stressed cattle performed better,
had less sick days, less mortality
and belter feed conversions when
daily rations were supplemented
with 800 international units of vit
amin E, plus selenium and also
some B-vitamins.
A final word of caution sele
nium is readily excreted in milk.
More information is needed on the
allowable tolerable maximum
levels of selenium in milk for
human consumption. Unnecessary
feeding of selenium to our cows
should therefore be avoided.