A3B*Lancasler Farming, Saturday, June 5, 1993
Herd
(Continued from Page A 36)
With severe grass tetany, ani
mals will become stiff, go into
tetany, and have convulsions
which can result in death.
What is happening?
Magnesium is part of an enzyme
that helps quiet nerves. If a signal
is sent through a nerve to tell a
muscle to contract, the nerve is
then quieted and the signal is no
longer sent.
Without this enzyme, simple
movement will start muscle
spasms and then convulsions.
It takes lime for this enzyme to
be made so a simple treatment of
supplemental magnesium won’t
solve the problem today.
You should feed extra magne
sium approximately two weeks
before animals start grazing and
continue feeding magnesium
throughout spring grazing. Pre
venting grass tetany requires mag
nesium be fed in the form of mag
nesium oxide (MgO) at the follow
ing levels:
Cattle - 2 oz per head per
day.
Sheep - 1/3 oz per head
per day.
Laminitis (Founder)
Laminitis, or founder, as it is
also known, is again caused by the
rich digestible quality of spring
pasture.
The quality is so good that it is
almost like letting your animals eat
unlimited grain. Animals that have
a sudden increase of rich digestible
feed in their gut also have an
increase of lactic acid.
This increase in acid kills off many of the
digestive bacteria normally found in the gut.
When they die. they release an endotoxin.
The deadly combination of lactic acid and
endotoxin moves throughout the body and hurts
blood circulation.
Blood is shunted from the foot and sections
die.
With mild cases, the hoof is very warm to the
touch and the animal is reluctant to move. Severe
cases of laminitis put the animal in agony.
In the severe cases, the bone separates from
the hoof and can actually rotate and poke out the
sole. The hoof weakens and deforms.
Ponies seem to be especially prone to suffer
ing from laminitis. The best prevention of lami
nitis is making sure that animals are slowly
adapted to spring pasture. Let them eat small
amounts and slowly increase the amount they
eat.
Spring pastures are excessively nutritious,
readily digestible, palatable and an easy source
of problems for your livestock.
Simple precautions will help prevent prob
lems for your animals. Too much too soon will
kill your animals.
Let them gradually eat more pasture over time,
fill your animals up with poorly digestible hay so
they can’t gorge on pasture, pull them off pasture
and put them in the bam until they are adapted to
the new diet, feel their ears for cool body temper
atures (grass tetany), check their manure to see
that is isn’t too loose and observe their actions,
movement and behavior to make sure that they
are acting normal.
Subtle changes are your first clue to problems.
If you misjudged and didn’tprevent the problem,
at least treat the problem early on.
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Health Challenges Need Attention To Detail
Displaced Abomasum
This past winter we seem to
have had an unusually high occur
rence of displaced abomasum
(D.A.) in cattle. The abomasum is
the fourth stomach (the “true” sto
mach) in the cow and it rests on the
right side of the rumen.
It is possible for the abomasum
to somehow slip under the rumen
and get squeezed (called a “left
D.A.”, the most common form of a
D.A.) or accidentally flip over on
top of itself (this is called a “right
D.A.”, the less common form).
Usually you have to call your
vet and have the problem corrected
with surgery.
Normally a D.A. will occur in a
cow shortly after calving because
of all the changes she has gone
through.
The large calf took up so much
space in the cow that the aboma
sum got pushed forward and, after
calving, it had room to accidental
ly move and become displaced.
This situation is made worse by
a cow going off feed or eating 100
little fiber.
With less bulk in the gut, it is
extremely easy for the abomasum
to move around.
Feeding a high com diet will
result in more fermentable feed
entering the abomasum and high
amounts of volatile fatty acids
(gas) collecting in there. These
gases can fill up the abomasum and
push it out of place, resulting in a
D.A.
What about cows that have a
Don’t Lei This
Happen To Vou
Again' Valuable
Harvest
• •
D.A. during mid or late lactation?
The problems with freshening
do not seem to apply to these cows,
so why would they have a D.A.?
You have to review your farm
situation and see if the conditions
are similar to “freshening.”
By that I mean did your cow go
off feed for a few days? This is not
typical for mid or late lactation
cows (they arc used to a lactation
diet and love to eat!), but maybe
something changed and there was
less bulk in the gut which allowed
the abomasum to move around.
Or possibly the cows selected
the com and avoided the fiber in
their diet. In this situation there
would be less bulk in the gut and
more gas in the abomasum.
Have the Feeds
Changed?
Last year we had record high
yields with com; com silage could
be lower in fiber.
Have your silage analyzed to
know the true energy level and
feed it appropriately.
Is your silage stored in a bunker
silo? Ail the rain we have been get
ting this winter could dilute your
silage. You may be feeding less
fiber than you realize because you
aren’t adjusting for the added
moisture.
Wet feeds can mold could
your feed have a mycotoxin?
Cattle don’t want to eat moldy
feed, so that could cause a drop in
feed intake. Mycotoxin can bring
on all kinds of problems in addi
tion to D.A.’s, so you should have
your feeds analyzed for them as
well.
1992 was a year when condi
tions were ideal for mycotoxin
Time Is Lost
WAITING
On Others
.. m
*
growth. We had a late harvest If y° u find that the problem lies
because of wet fields, lots of rain, with fresh cows, then you need to
and conditions that led to fusarium at die dry cow management
molds growing in the field and in a °d group fresh cows so they get
the storage bin. the special attention they need.
Common fusarium toxins are however, you discover that
deoxynivalcnol (DON or vomito- D.A. s are occurring at all dif
xin), zcaralenone and fumonisin. ferent stages of production, then
Look For a Pattern y° u nee d to monitor feed quality
Write down when cows were an d feed intake,
with D A.*s Remember* cows esn be on 3ncl
DidalargepercentageofD.A.’s °ff f° r weeks with a mild D.A.
happen within the same time? before the problem is serious. A
Were they all fresh cows or were slight displacement may correct
they animals in different stages of itself, a severe displacement
production? cannot.
Pa. FFA Members Prepare
For Summer Convention
STATE COLLEGE (Centre
Co.) Members of the Pennsyl
vania FFA Association are prepar
ing for the 64th State FFA Activi
ties Week to be held June 15-17 at
the Pennsylvania State University.
The general sessions will be
held in Eisenhower Auditorium on
Tuesday and Wednesday evenings
at 7 p.m„ and the final session is
Thursday morning at 9:15 a.m.
More than 1,100 FFA members,
advisors, and guests are expected
to attend.
The convention will feature
three general sessions with
addresses by Marty Coates, a for
mer national FFA officer, and for
mer PA state officer Andy Rill.
Recognition will be given to Hon
orary Keystone Degree recipients
and Foundation award recipients.
Top chapters in safety and overall
chapter activities will also be rec-
r
ognized. In addition, the
1993-1994 State Officers will be
elected and installed.
Other highlights will include
participation in one of 26 career
skill competitions, including pre
pared and extemporaneous public
speaking, parliamentary proce
dure, land judging, and agricultur
al mechanics. Recreational activi
ties provide members time to
interact with fellow FFA members
from across Pennsylvania. The
public is invited to attend any of
the general sessions. Courtesy
Corps will be available to help
seat guests.
The National FFA Organization
is 401,574 members strong. High
school students in the 7,456 chap
ters prepare for leadership and
careers in the science, business,
and technology of agriculture.
Improve your options
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