It is never good whenever your cattle are suffering from a disease. It can rob you of performance while increasing your expenses.
Many health problems that occur can be handled if they are detected early. If detected in time they can be prevented or even minimize losses. You can then take steps to keep it from spreading or coming back. One main thing to remember is to always consult your veterinarian if you believe a health problem has occurred.
Though sickness can occur anytime of the year here are 4 of them that tends to happen during summer. I’ve included some signs to look for as well as steps you can take to minimize it’s effects.
Pink eye
Although this cattle disease can occur anytime of the year it is very common during summer. It is caused by a bacteria that gets into either one or both eyes. The bacteria that causes it is spread around by face flies so controlling the fly population is a good way to prevent this disease.
This disease can begin very sudden, generally it begins with an excessive flow of tears in the infected eye. The animal will hold the eye partially closed while rubbing the eye and it will seek a shaded area. An ulcer will develop in the middle area of the cornea and a ring will develop around the ulcer, Usually within a couple of days the entire cornea of the eye will become cloudy,
After this occurs the linings of the eyelids will become red with mucus and pus. The ulcer will deepen and then completely cover the cornea. If left untreated the eye will rupture, lose fluid and collapse.
If you believe that one or more of your cows have pink eye you must first isolate the infected animals so as not to let the infection spread to the others. Then you must have them immediately treated by a veterinarian to eliminate it.
Warts
These are fibrous tumors of the skin and mucus membranes of cattle. They are caused by many strains of the papilloma virus. This virus is generally transmitted to cattle by direct contact with any animals that are infected. It can also be transmitted by the use of contaminated instruments or even by biting flies, such as horn or stable flies.
The wart usually occurs on the head, neck and shoulders. It has also been known to grow in the mouth or on certain reproductive organs of cattle.
In order to prevent warts from spreading you need to isolate the ones that have them. This will keep the other cattle from getting it as well. You will need to keep them separate for a period of 3 to 12 months. This will give the cow time to build up an immunity to the virus. Once the immunity system has killed the virus the warts will become dry and fall off.
Grass tetany
This typically occurs during years like what we are having now. With the abundance of rainfall grasses will grow very rapidly and be very lush and green. With the sudden growth forages will be lacking in magnesium and it is the shortage of this mineral that will cause grass tetany.
The cows that are afflicted with this are usually thin while grazing on lush green pastures that are high in nitrogen and potassium. Extreme stress such as from extreme weather and from calving and nursing have also been known to cause this to occur.
One sign that is most often seen with this disease is the animal in question will be staggering around. In addition to this they may also toss their head around, start to bellow a lot and then galloping around before going to the ground with convulsions.
If it appears that any of your animals have been affected you will need to immediately contact your vet so they can begin the treatment of raising the magnesium level in the cow’s blood.
One problem with this disease is that it can occur so rapidly that often you may not even know they are having this problem until you find a dead cow. Prevention is pretty much the best course of action when dealing with this. I talk more about ways you can prevent this from happening here.
Sudden calf death
Nothing is more heart breaking for a cattle producer than seeing a dead calf. It is especially heart wrenching when it happens so suddenly.
The problem with the sudden death of a calf is that there are many things that can cause the symptoms of heavy breathing, a fever, and ultimately sudden death. If this happens you will need to have your vet perform a necropsy on the calf in order to determine what caused this to happen.
Two of the most common culprits of this are Blackleg and Lepto. These are caused by certain types of bacteria from the surrounding area. The good news is that both of these can be controlled with a proper vaccination program. Your local vet can tell you if either of these diseases are common in your area and what measures you can take to control them.
Though I only mentioned 4 of them here there are many different types of disease that can affect your cattle herd. The Texas AgriLife extension office in Bexar county has a paper talking about more of the ones that you can come across throughout the year. It includes some symptoms as well as some management methods you can follow.
Review
Cattle disease is one of the biggest robbers of production in the herd. 4 of the most common ones that you may come across during the summer are:
- Pink eye
- Warts
- Grass tetany
- Sudden calf death
