Naval ill?

[cowman]

I am kind of amazed to hear all this talk about naval ill on these forums. I wonder how come this seems to be so prevalent? I vaguely remember one calf getting it about twenty years ago when a heifer had him in a "mud" puddle.
I don't ever use any iodine or naval dip, but I will admit I am a big fan of lots of straw and lots of room. Not trying to put anybodies management practices down here...just wondering if the bug that causes naval ill gets into the soil or something?

[nerves]

We have had lots of experince with navel ill. First from calving in january steer calves get a lot back in the days of cold winters due to navel cords taking a long time to dry up. we have used iodine alot and have seen no differnce. We used to bed heavey with staw every day no differnce. We changed our calving to April and use large areas 30 acres paddocks to calve in now. The navel cords now dry up the same day. My thoughts are this the navel cord is a direct connection to the blood supply when the calf is born. If the cord lays or contacts manure or mud puddles with bacteria in them your chances are better at getting infection. If the cord breaks off short there will be a hole into abdomen that will be a catch all for dirt and mud, and at times the animal will also bleed to death unless you have a needle and thread, and once in a while a hernia will result from this. We still check every calf 3 days after birth. Just grab the navel area give it a squeeze, if it feels like a hard cord chances are there is infection. It is rare but once in a while one shows up we think it has more to do with what that navel cord is touching when they are born, that also includes human hands.

[kato]

I wouldn't be surprised if it gets into the soil. We have a small pasture where any calves born there will get it sure as anything. It's about 30 acres, and it's been a pasture for a long time.

We have as much trouble in January as April and May. Doesn't seem to matter. Born in the pasture, born in the barn, navels treated with iodine, or not, it's all the same. We bed like a bandit when they are in the yard, too.

I think a lot of it has to do with the sizes of the cow herds nowadays. When you have 30 cows they just aren't as crowded, and you can see what's going on a lot easier than if it's a calf out in a pen of 75 or a hundred calves.

[nerves]

Do you have any other disease problems on this land. Bacteria needs moisture to live. If the bacteria is in the ground then you may also have other problems like scours, or coccidiosis in the cattlle.Or do you fertilize the ground with manure?Usally there is a reason. some people that have had problems with disease and infections will put lime on. (lime is a caustic most bacteria cannot survive in a caustic enviroment). Now you have peaked my curiosity.