Snow mold

[kato]

Back then we used to give the shot to the cows before calving. Selenium deficiency can cause issues with cows not cleaning as well.

The best solution was to sell the quarter section, which was home to 90% of the Canadian grasshopper population, and as sandy as the Sahara. And it was 10 miles from home too. Problem solved.

[BTOfarmallll]

Give the CALF a shot at BIRTH. Reread my previous post......

[SADIE]

Kato--I am glad you brought up the product use of Vit E --Se . The product that Was available and used was DYSTOSEL DS that could be given to the cow herd before calving. It was 5 ml dose. Any history of cows "slow cleaning" and weak calves it was suggested in the herd management for the next calving season.

Before this post I checked the supplier and Dystosel DS (double strength) 5mls has been discontinued. I used to use that product in my program till the last couple of years. Might consider re-introducing the 10 mls for next calving season. Cold weather calving has taken its toll on this ranch this year.

It was much easier to treat the dam then to be "treating the calf" .

[grassfarmer]

SADIE, There's a shot you can give to prevent cold weather calving losses - its called Putnbulzoutlater.
Seriously though why has the solution to everything to come from a bottle or a pill? I think if people paid more attention to what the cattle were eating - the diversity that's growing in their pastures and going into their hay/silage crops they would see most of these problems disappear. If a cow is grazing a long season on healthy diverse plants she can build up quite a reserve of health to transfer to her calf - real natural immunity.
I was told when I bought this farm that it had a history of white muscle disease and that you needed to inject SE and multi vits when the calves are born. We don't and have never had any problems. We don't spend a lot on a fancy mineral program either - trace mineral blocks from pulling bulls in Sept through to March 1st then any cheap pasture mineral and salt for the rest of the year. We don't have unhealthy calves, calves that don't suckle and the cows breed back just fine - we are 2/3 done calving and still in the last few days of the first cycle. If you calve fairly close to the natural cycle of wildlife and graze as long as possible it's amazing how many of the problems just disappear proving once again that mother nature is a lot smarter than we are.

[kato]

The problem we used to have was strictly with greenfeed off of one particular quarter section of very light sandy land. Alfalfa was fine, greenfeed from our heavy land was fine. The original deficiency was in the soil that grew the greenfeed, and it carried right through to the newborn calf. We haven't had to use selenium shots since we got rid of that land.

gf, of course the aim is to not need to use a bottle of whatever to cure a problem by preventing the problem in the first place. That being said, sometimes problems find you. For instance, we have a neighbour who had someone else's bull jump into his pasture and left the gift of vibriosis behind. You want to see a wreck? Now, that was a wreck! It's an obscure disease you don't see much, but it is preventable with vaccine.

We buy feeders. We have a cow herd. The feeders come from an incredible number of different homes, and they bring all their problems with them. Therefore our own cattle are vaccinated for everything. As long as that auction mart riff raff is coming in the yard, we will continue to vaccinate.

However, there are some sellers of these calves we buy that we'd just like to kick in the bum. You can tell the management they were raised under by the way they fall apart when they meet the challenges of the "system". The ones that come from vaccinated herds with good nutrition programs are very easy to spot. They'll be the ones that go straight on feed and never look back.

A healthy calf with a strong immune system can handle the stresses of going through the sales ring. They're prepared for it. They have reserves. One big problem with the auction marts is that calves are being sent through them without any preparation at all. Everyone needs to keep in mind that the buyers get to know over time who does their homework and who doesn't, and they will pay accordingly.

[Ruken]

Well we've been blessed with a good season so far. Just finished the first cycle and looks like we're at 80% calved. We too have had a lot of snow mold this year and my poor wife has had a tough time. Calves are ok though. My best guess for the weak calves is the selenium thing. Is there a blood test that can be taken to know for sure?

[littledoggie]

Sorry for the delay in responding to some of the questions and comments.
We start our calving season after the middle of April. The weather has been cooler then normal, but not cold. The snow was slow to go, but when it finally started to go it went fast. There has been no really bad weather like snowstorms or high winds, which we know can cause problems.
We cull for bad bags - not an issue.
As for selenium, consistent offerings of quality minerals is the norm on our farm. These calves are not weak. Our protocol is to give a shot of MU-SE to calves that fail to nurse in a timely fashion, or are weak. We also get some colostrum into the calf ASAP if they are not getting on the teat.
We fail to find a reason for this problem. But what we have noticed is a really high amount of snow mold, which is usually gone by the time we calve.
Grassfarmer, I don't disagree with a lot of what you say, except for the comments about minerals. It has been our experience that the cow's requirements for minerals prior to calving is hugely important. When there has been bad weather (rain/snow/high winds) that prevented us from keeping up with the minerals, there were always problems almost immediately afterwards with newborns. Once the mineral offerings were resumed as normal, the problems disappeared. But that isn't the case this year. The snow mold is what is different. And the reason for this post - to see if anyone else has noticed a relation to it.

[Ruken]

littledoggie, we've had lots of snow mold this year as well without problems to the calves vigor, ask your vet if a blood test will reveal anything, If so, do 10 weak calves and 10 calves that were strong and compare.

[kato]

Isn't it amazing how a thread can get off track?

Wouldn't snow mould be more likely to cause respiratory problems? Apparently that's what it does to people. Just a guess.

[jensend]

if selenium deficiency is the problem would a shot to a newborn do any good? we always figured we had to get it into the cow a while before birth to make it effective.