UNIVERSITY PARK
(Centre Co.) Pasturing
horses and other livestock is
the most economical and
easiest way to feed.
The most difficult thing
about pasture feeding forages
is the inconsistency of both
feed quantity and quality.
Poisonous plants and weed
can cause metabolic distur
bances or death of the
animal. The following are
some common disorders cre
ated by grazing certain pas
ture plants.
Ryegrass staggers usually
occur in grazing animals in
late summer when predomi
nantly ryegrass pastures are
dry and growing slowly. The
condition occurs most com
monly in sheep with occa
sional cases in cattle and
horses. Most affected animals
show no signs unless dis
turbed or excited.
Symptoms vary from mild
tremors when animals are at
rest, to severe in coordination
and falling when they move
or are excited. Death from
this condition is rare. How
ever, affected animals that
are unable to stand may
starve if left unattended.
Removing animals from
the pasture and changing the
teed will allow recovery. The
danger of ryegrass staggers in
pastures in greatly dimin
ished with rain and increased
Goose Hill Farm of Hamilton, NY, the home of the largest purebred herd of Normande dairy cattle in the U.S., and the only
purebred Dairy herd of Normandes in the U.S., will be hosting our Ist Annual Normande sale on:
Saturday, September 14,2002 -12 Noon
Goose Hill Farm
1079 Preston Hill Road, Earlville, NY 13332 • (315) 691-9830
We will be selling
For more information on the Normande breed and the sale, visit our website:
www.normandecattle.com
Catalogs will be available in the coming months. Mark your calendars now for this first ever event.
We will be having a tour of our new milking facility the morning of the sale from 8:30 am to 10:00 am. Come visit the first
and only milking nerd of Normandes on the North American continent.
Contact:
ZANE SMITH
(315) 691-9830
or
DAVID HUGHES, Farm Manager
Plant And Animal Considerations For Graziers
plant growth.
Ergotism is a condition
caused by the growth of a
mold that produces a poison.
The ergot mold primarily in
fects rye and some other
small grains. Some forage
grasses including prome
grass, bluegrass and ryegrass
are also occasionally affected
by the same mold. Seeds form
a distinct dark purple to
blackish mass when infected
with this mold. If ergot is sus
pected the feed should be
evaluated to determine if the
mold is present.
Signs of ergotism can be
similar to those of fescue tox
icity. Two separate syn
dromes have been identified.
Gangrenous ergotism, the
most common form, is a
chronic condition affecting
cattle and occasionally swine.
It is characterized by lame
ness, swelling around the fet
locks, pan and eventual loss
of hooves due to a dry gan
grene.
If severe, ears and tails can
also be lost to dry gangrene.
The nervous form of ergo
tism, although relatively rare,
usually begins with diarrhea
followed by convulsions, ag
gressiveness and eventual pa
ralysis of the respiratory
center. There is no effective
treatment except animal re
moval from the oFending
feed source. Preven ion is
best accomplished bv clip
The first
40 Registered Normande Bull Calves
ail born in 2002 with outstanding Normande genetics.
* We will also have some selected Registered Normande heifers and cows for
ping potential problem pas
tures to prevent development
of seed heads.
Sweet clover poisoning
occurs as a result of molds
that grow in poorly managed
sweet clover silage or in sweet
clover hay put up too wet.
These molds cause the chemi
cal dicoumarol to be formed
which blocks normal blood
clotting in animals that con
sume large quantities. (Di
coumarol is commonly used
in several commercial rodent
poisons).
If formed, the poison per
sists in hay or moldy silage
and is readily eaten by ani
mals.
The signs of sweet clover
poisoning include those of ab
normal bleeding. The first
signs are bloody nose and
black, tarry manure. Swelling
of joints, lameness and diffi
cult breathing can occur later
if heavy doses are consumed.
Treatment consists of re
moval of the feed source and
administration of vitamin K
to restore normal blood clot
ting.
Prevention includes avoid
ing moldy sweet clover si
lages and moldy hay that
consists primarily of sweet
clover.
Nitrate poisoning can
occur in cattle and horses
grazing pastures or eating
hays that have accumulated
high levels of nitrates during
The Ultimate Grazing Breed
Ist Annual
NORMANDE
Dairy bull calf sale
ir Normande Cattle Sale ever held in
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 13,2002, Foraging Around-
growth. Nitrates accumulate
in plants when excessive rates
of fertilizer have been applied
or when plants have been
drought stressed. Nitrate
levels tend to be higher in the
lower one-third of the plant
and accumulate more at
night and on cloudy days.
Some species of plants that
are known to accumulate ni
trates include Johnsongrass,
sorghum, sweetclover, bro
megrass, orchardgrass,
lambsquarter, oat hay, rape,
barley, wheat and corn. En
siling forages suspected of
having high nitrate levels
usually reduces the chances
for problems.
However, hay continues to
be dangerous as the accumu
lated nitrates do not decrease
over time.
Low levels of nitrates can
cause abortion without any
other symptoms. Severely af
fected animals develop
muscle tremors, lose coordi
nation and become weak.
Moving these animals will in
itiate difficult breathing com
monly followed by collapse
and death.
Nitrate poisoning is often
confused with prussic acid
poisoning but is distin
guished by a marked differ
ence in blood color of affected
animals. Animals poisoned
by nitrates will have choco
late brown blood while those
poisoned by prussic acid will
>rth Ami
have bright red blood. Treat
ment by a veterinarian can be
effective if initiated early.
Prevention includes
mixing affected forages with
normal forages to dilute the
nitrate levels. Raising the
cutter bar 10-12 inches to
avoid cutting the lower one
third of the plant and not cut
ting drought-stressed forages
for several days after a rain
also helps avoid problems.
If high nitrate levels are
suspected, samples of the
forage should be submitted to
a competent laboratory for
analysis before the forage is
fed. Horses can tolerate a
higher amount of nitrate
levels in feed than cattle.
Prussic acid poisoning is
caused by a poison called cy
anide that can be produced in
several types of plants under
certain growing conditions.
All species of farm animals
may be affected with this
acute poisoning.
The plants most commonly
involved in prussic acid poi
soning are Johnsongrass,
sundangrass, common sor
ghum, arrowgrass, black
cherry, choke cherry, pin
cherry and flax. Johnson
grass is the most toxic of the
sorghums and commonly
causes poisoning when sub
jected to frost or drought con
ditions.
Very young, rapidly grow
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