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COWS-fed-barely-sprouting-fodders, page : 52
Symptoms include respiratory problems or excessive drooling, nervousness, convulsions, diarrhea and abortion. Difficult breathing is common. Low levels of poisoning can cause abortion without other symptoms.
Prevention:
In some types of hay following drought, do not cut for at least 10 days after rain. Test hay samples for nitrate toxicity. The only safe way to feed hay with high nitrate content is to dilute it by mixing it with other hay. DO NOT FEED HIGH NITRATE HAY TO PREGNANT COWS.
INTERNAL PARASITES
Worms can infest the digestive tract of cattle especially animals grazing on irrigated pastures and young animals that have no resistance. A young animal may lose weight or have a rough hair coat, poor appetite, diarrhea, or cough. Less severe infections may not be detectable without a fecal sample.
Several species of roundworms infect cattle.
One lives in the lungs and others in the digestive tract where they lay eggs that pass out with manure. After the eggs hatch larvae travel onto forage plants and are eaten by grazing cattle and the cycle begins all over again.
Deworming at proper times of the year eliminate egg-laying adults in the intestines so no eggs are passed in manure to contaminate fee, pasture and bedding. Ask your vet to devise a deworming schedule.
LIVER FLUKES
If your pasture has wet areas populated with snails this can cause a problem. Cattle eat the tiny parasites attaced to plants growing near water. The young flukes migrate to the bile ducts of the liver. Later on eggs are passed in the manure and hatch in water to penetrate snails from which they emerge, attach themselves to vegetation and undergo another phase of their life cycle.
If possible fence off ponds, ditches etc. If this is not possible and your pasture has wet areas then treat the cattle once or twice a year to kill the flukes. Ask your vet as to the best time of year to do this.
Prevention:
In some types of hay following drought, do not cut for at least 10 days after rain. Test hay samples for nitrate toxicity. The only safe way to feed hay with high nitrate content is to dilute it by mixing it with other hay. DO NOT FEED HIGH NITRATE HAY TO PREGNANT COWS.
INTERNAL PARASITES
Worms can infest the digestive tract of cattle especially animals grazing on irrigated pastures and young animals that have no resistance. A young animal may lose weight or have a rough hair coat, poor appetite, diarrhea, or cough. Less severe infections may not be detectable without a fecal sample.
Several species of roundworms infect cattle.
One lives in the lungs and others in the digestive tract where they lay eggs that pass out with manure. After the eggs hatch larvae travel onto forage plants and are eaten by grazing cattle and the cycle begins all over again.
Deworming at proper times of the year eliminate egg-laying adults in the intestines so no eggs are passed in manure to contaminate fee, pasture and bedding. Ask your vet to devise a deworming schedule.
LIVER FLUKES
If your pasture has wet areas populated with snails this can cause a problem. Cattle eat the tiny parasites attaced to plants growing near water. The young flukes migrate to the bile ducts of the liver. Later on eggs are passed in the manure and hatch in water to penetrate snails from which they emerge, attach themselves to vegetation and undergo another phase of their life cycle.
If possible fence off ponds, ditches etc. If this is not possible and your pasture has wet areas then treat the cattle once or twice a year to kill the flukes. Ask your vet as to the best time of year to do this.