Everyone has heard the phrase “Garbage in, Garbage out.” This applies to beef cattle nutrition as well as computers. A good nutritional base is critical to every aspect of beef production, from the backyard cow-calf producer to the 10,000 head feedlot manager. One major component of nutrition that is often overlooked is the role vitamins and minerals play in beef cattle health.
Minerals and vitamins need to be supplemented, as most feedstuffs are not balanced. Hay loses almost all of its Vitamins A, D and E within six months of harvest. Vitamin A is extremely important for reproduction, eye and normal growth. Fortunately, the liver stores large quantities of Vitamin A, and injectable supplements can be helpful during the winter months. Vitamin A deficiency causes blindness (especially in calves), many reproductive problems, and increased respiratory illnesses.
Vitamin D is required to allow the digestive system to absorb calcium and phosphorus, and helps to regulate calcium/phosphorus balance and use. Without Vitamin D, calves will develop rickets, and cows are unable to utilize the calcium they are fed. Deficiencies in Vitamin D contribute to cows developing milk fever at calving. Most cows get enough Vitamin D through exposure to sunlight, but sometimes that is hard to come by in this part of the world. Vitamin E is critical to suing every bit of selenium consumed, and also to the immune system. A lack of Vitamin E contributes to white muscle disease and heart failure.
There is strong interplay between calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and Vitamin D. We recommend a 1:1 to 3:1 ratio of calcium to phosphorus. Too much calcium causes phosphorus to be wasted, resulting in a phosphorus deficiency. This is characterized by decreased pregnancy rates and poor growth. Grass hay contains little calcium, and larger amounts of phosphorus. Alfalfa hay is the opposite, with lots of calcium and little phosphorus. When a cow calves, she physically cannot eat enough calcium to maintain milk production. Her body must steal this calcium from her bones. As the cow ages, her ability to release that calcium gets slower and slower. This is why some older beef cows go down at calving - they cannot get enough calcium into their bloodstream to keep their brains and muscles (including the heart muscle) working. Magnesium deficiencies can also cause down cows, but this mineral is stored in the liver. Too much calcium or phosphorus in the diet, however, ties up the magnesium, preventing absorption in the liver. Some cows lack both calcium and magnesium, and this is very hard to treat when they go down at calving.
Other minerals stored in the liver are selenium, zinc and copper. All of these minerals are important for strong immune system function, normal skin and haircoats, and healthy connective tissues. Low levels of these minerals can be responsible for decreased response to vaccines. This means that more calves could develop respiratory disease, despite receiving the appropriate vaccines. Deficiencies of these three can also cause “poor doers.” Copper deficient calves often have faded appearing haircoats, diarrhea and a general failure to thrive. Selenium deficiencies appear as sudden deaths from heart failure, and white muscle disease. Low levels of zinc can decrease pregnancy rates, impair semen production in bulls, and cause several skin diseases.
Iodine is a micromineral, but it is important for all body functions. Iodine is required by the thyroid gland for proper function. Low iodine levels cause calves to be born with goiter, have poor growth, and causes feet troubles in all classes of cattle Manganese also fits the micromineral definition, but is vital to proper nerve function and reproduction. Deficiencies of manganese cause downer and sterile animals.
Properly feeding these essential vitamins and minerals is the best way to ensure adequate levels are maintained. Injections are handy at certain times, but research has shown that the animals urinate out as much as 75% of injected selenium within two days. Zinc and copper injections, such as in Multimin, have a better life, with about 75% finding residence in the liver. Calcium, magnesium and phosphorus injections have their place during emergency treatment, but are not useful for long-term maintenance. It takes about 30-45 days for most vitamins and minerals to fill up the reserves in the liver and muscles. This is why you want to start a mineral program at least a month before a stress, such as calving or weaning. Feeding your cows a balanced mineral/vitamin supplement throughout pregnancy is best, so the fetus has a chance to develop properly. This gives the calf a strong start—he is more likely to consume adequate colostrum at birth.
Some of you are using a chelated mineral. This is when a protein is attached to selenium, copper or other mineral. The protein kind of drags the mineral along through the digestive process, and allows more of the mineral to be absorbed. If you feed your animal a regular inorganic mineral, she needs to eat it every day to maintain adequate blood levels. If you feed them a chelated mineral, then her body will store more of it. This means if she only eats the mineral every 2 or 3 days, she still gets enough.
One problem of an imbalanced supplement can be interactions between minerals. Too much molybdenum prevents copper absorption; too much calcium or phosphorus increases the requirement for magnesium, manganese and iodine. Increased sulfur intake will decrease absorption of selenium and copper. The level of salt in the mineral/vitamin supplement can decide how much the animal eats every day.
Nutrition is a pretty complicated subject. The important thing is that you can contact your veterinarian for help to develop a feeding plan. We also have ways to test your cattle to find out what is needed or to correct an existing deficiency. A simple way to check many minerals and vitamins is a liver sample, such as from an aborted or stillborn calf.
Fall 2007
Your cow dog, whether header or heeler, Border Collie, Catahoula or Australian Cattle Dog, is an integral part of your herd management. He saves time and labor, and can cover rough ground with ease. Here are some basic things you can do to keep your friend healthy.
Vaccinations are very important, even if you think your dog never leaves the ranch. Your local coyotes and wolves can carry parvo, distemper, and leptospirosis. You can bring parvo home on your boots, and maybe that stray dog you saw two days ago isn't the healthiest. The simplest way to protect your dog is through vaccination. Now, one shot given to a 6 week old puppy doesn't protect him for life. Puppies need vaccines given at 8, 12, and 16 weeks of age for greatest protection. If you got your pup after 12 weeks, he will need 2 doses of vaccine spaced 3-4 weeks apart. Rabies shots can be given after 12 weeks of age, but only by veterinarians. As an adult, your dog needs a distemper/parvo/ Adenovirus Type 2/parainfluenza/lepto vaccine every year. Talk with your vet about how often he needs a rabies booster. There is also now a vaccine available for rattlesnake bites. It unfortunately doesn't prevent the bite, but can decrease the severity of the reaction to the venom.
Parasite control is an important but often overlooked aspect of health care. Ticks can be brutal during the spring and summer. They can cause tick paralysis, and carry a number of nasty diseases. Dogs that catch and eat rodents are susceptible to tapeworms, hookworms and roundworms that not only harm your dog's gut but can be transmitted to humans. There are now a number of excellent products on the market that can greatly reduce the number of little critters your buddy is toting around.
Working dogs are exposed to many hazards every day - from riding in the back of a pickup to being stomped by an ornery old cow. A little first aid knowledge always comes in handy. Wounds, in general, are very treatable. Keeping them clean with a mild soap and saline solution (like for contact lenses) goes a long way toward healing. And no, dog's saliva has no special healing properties. In fact, too much licking is like you rubbing a wound with sandpaper - it makes things worse. If you think a wound needs stitches, get help as soon as possible. We have the best luck sewing up a wound if it is less than 6 hours old. After that, the risk of infection is very high, and the vet may leave it open. Broken bones are common, and the success rate for fixation is pretty high. If you think your dog broke something, don't wait. Take him to your vet as soon as possible. Putting the puzzle pieces back together is much easier when the fracture happened last night instead of 6 days ago. Rattlesnake bites, scorpion stings, and serious beestings can usually be treated fairly easily, but again, time is of the essence. Eye injuries tend to be very serious, and to save his sight, need to be treated immediately. Sometimes vets have to send certain cases to an opthalmologist for the best outcome. Cheetgrass is the bane of cattle dogs - it can get into his eyes, ears, between his toes, and into any little crevice. Inspect your dog's feet every evening, and remove the awns before they have a chance to burrow in. Check the armpits, groin and around the tail regularly, as the cheet can burrow into the tender skin in these areas and cause abscesses. If he starts shaking his head or whining when you rub his ears, have a vet check them as soon as possible. We have a special little tool to snag the awn out. If your dog starts holding an eye closed, carefully inspect under the lids or flush the eye with saline solution. Take him to a vet immediately if the eye looks abnormal or you can't grab the seed without causing more damage.
Last but not least, please don't base your dog food purchase on the price tag. He needs high quality nutrition for high quality work. And in a lot of ways, good quality food costs less than cheap stuff- he won't need to eat as much, and therefore won't pass as much stool. A bright eye, shiny haircoat, healthy weight, and willing attitude are worth a few pennies more, right?
Spring 2006
As many of you already know, Idaho has lost the brucellosis free status we have had for the past fifteen years. Idaho is now a brucellosis class A state, and I will explain how this affects us as cattle producers. Most of you may remember when we needed to bleed all the cattle as they went through the sales for breeding purposes. We became brucellosis free in 1991 and have not had to do this again, until now.
Any breeding cattle over 18 months of age, need to be bangs tested in order to travel out of the state. This does not affect in state cattle right now. The test is done at the sale yard on the day of sale to allow the travel of these cattle. The state still requires our heifers to be bangs vaccinated before they are a year of age. However, we have the option to mature vaccinate cattle if we forget to have it done as calves. In order to mature vaccinate the cow, blood needs to be drawn and tested negative for brucellosis. Permission from the state is needed, and then we vaccinate and tattoo the cow different than if she was vaccinated as a calf. This allows us to differentiate the mature vaccinates and the calf hood vaccinates. These mature vaccinated cows can go back into Idaho or into Washington. Most other states do not accept the adult vaccinated cattle, which is another reason to get them vaccinated as calves.
Cattle that are not vaccinated can only go directly to approved feedlots for slaughter or to a slaughter facility. The best way to get the most value from our calves or breeding stock is to make sure to vaccinate them against brucellosis as calves. At least we have the option to mature vaccinate the cows, but they still have the limitations mentioned above. If they were to test positive for bangs, the state would probably want to investigate why and possibly look at the rest of the cattle in the herd. So vaccinating them under a year is the best case scenario.
The state of Idaho wants to ensure that all our cattle are vaccinated as calves or now as mature vaccinates. In order to gain the free status back, we need to get our herds protected. The goal is to have the Idaho cattle 100% vaccinated.
I realize that any time we deal with state regulations and blood testing, it gets confusing and can be frustrating. I hope I have given you information to clear up some of these questions. Please don’t hesitate to call me for more information.
Editor’s Note - Helen has opened a new vet clinic in Cottonwood: Cottonwood Veterinary Service. She may be reached at 208-962-3450
Summer 2005
I know it is that time of the year when I should be talking about pasture management, trough placement, alfalfa pasturing or something like that. Believe it or not I was starting to write an article like that when it hit me that you would probably want to know more about vaccines and vaccine schedules. Oh yes us vets are constantly changing the vaccine protocols just to keep you on your toes. So here goes.
It used to be thought that calves less than four months of age would not respond to a vaccination program because of the passive immunity they receive from their mom. Research now shows that this is not true and that they respond quite well to IBR, PIS and BRS V even though they have passive antibodies to these viruses. This holds especially true for the modified live vaccines. BVD may be an exception, yet vaccinating for this virus does help a little even though they have antibodies to this virus. In real life this means we can vaccinate our calves as early as 5 weeks old and receive very good results from this vaccination schedule. It has also been shown in some tests that when we vaccinate our weaned calves it may not be such a great idea to vaccinate with a modified live (MLV) IBR, PIS, BVD, BRSV in conjunction with a Pasturella vaccine. The MLV vaccine may interfere with the body's immune system to develop antibodies to the Pasturella vaccine. The end result is a small response to the Pasturella vaccine and possibly sick calves later from these bacteria. If we vaccinate with this combination it is better to separate the two vaccines by at least two weeks.
Finally, lately you probably have been reading advertisements in the beef magazines on a new Lepto vaccine. If you want me to bore you with all the Latin names, the Lepto vaccine we use now is what everyone would call their five way Lepto vaccine. If you look at the names it includes Lepto pomona, Lepto canicola, Lepto icteroheaemorrhagiae, Lepto grippotyphosa and Lepto hardjo. When a company makes a vaccine it tries to cover as many problems in as many different areas as it can. So for example in the case of the Lepto vaccines we may only really have a problem with Lepto pomona or Lepto canicola and the other strains do not even exist here but are a problem somewhere else say back east or in Europe. This is the case with Lepto hardjo (now called Lepto hardjo-prajitno) which is a problem in Europe but not in the U.S. What they are finding out is that there exists another strain of Lepto hardjo called Lepto hardjo-bovis which does exists in the U.S. and that there are ranches that suffer from this problem. This strain of Lepto is very hard to diagnose because not all labs to which we send samples can test for this form of Lepto and it also does not work too well to just test a few animals that you feel may have this problem. What is recommended is a urine and blood sample from at least 10% of your herd to see if any of these animals have a titer to this Lepto or show the organism. Like other forms of Lepto, it primarily shows as infertility, delayed breeding from embryo mortality and some still births. There is a company that makes a vaccine for this type of Lepto but it does have a little bit of a price tag to it compared to other Lepto vaccines, so you would probably want to know if you have the disease before you just randomly vaccinate for this.
As with all these schedules please contact your veterinarian on the program that bests suits your individual needs. Also there are certain restrictions to vaccinating with a MLV vaccine to your calves at this age that you would want to talk to your vet about. And if I have totally confused you on the different types of Lepto vaccines please talk to him/her about that too.
