There are several grazing-related animal health concerns out there that call for discussion. When animals are grazing, you need to keep them in mind to keep everything safe. Generally speaking, prevention tends to be a more practical and economical approach to these issues on pasture. This is instead of treating them. The two problems we want to focus on the most are pasture bloat and grass tetany.

What is pasture bloat?

Bloat refers to the swelling of the rumen with gases created by microbes during fermentation. These are ones that can’t escape via belching. Fermentation always happens during digestion. Although, the rate at which it does changes between forages. Rapid fermentation together with an abundance of compact particles within the rumen causes foam or froth to be generated. This stops the animal from releasing gas. In severe instances, the gas gathers and puts pressure on the lungs. It does until the animal experiences respiratory failure, which proves fatal.

Bloated animals will experience distension on the upper left side where the rumen is. They will regularly defecate and urinate, switch between standing and lying down, and kick at their flank. In severe cases, there will be laboured breathing, an extended neck, and a protruding tongue.

Grasses are typically bloat safe. Yet, several common legumes come with a risk when utilised for grazing. For instance, the initial rate of ruminal digestion of alfalfa is five to ten times higher if you compare to most grasses. Bloat-causing forages include alfalfa, sweet clover, red clover, alsike clover, and winter wheat. Low-risk ones include oats, canola, Persian clover, and spring wheat. Bloat-safe ones would include fall rye, sainfoin, and crownvetch.

Minimising the risk

As for how you can minimise bloat risk and improve animal health, there are a few options. One would be to never turn hungry livestock into a pasture holding a high level of bloat-causing plants. Fill animals with dry hay or grass pasture prior to starting to graze high-bloat potential forage.

Don’t turn animals onto fresh, high-bloat potential pasture moist with irrigation water, dew, or rain. Both the initial rate of digestion and rate of intake are greater for moist plants. This causes quicker initial digestion.

Grass tetany

Next, we have grass tetany. Other names for it include hypomagnesemic tetany and grass staggers. What we have here is a complex metabolic disorder caused by a decrease in magnesium absorption or magnesium deficiency. Symptoms include a depressed appetite, lower weight gain and a drop in milk production. There is also muscle twitching and nervousness. In acute instances, it could develop to trembling and muscle spasms, aggression, and hyper-excitability. There can be frequent defecation and urination, staggering, stiffness, lack of coordination, and deadly convulsions too.

Animals with a high magnesium requirement are at high risk. Think cows in early lactation. Older cows are more vulnerable too because magnesium absorption decreases with age. You need to beware of the different risk levels if you want to maximise animal health.

Grass tetany is normally observed in lush grass pastures. These are ones possessing high levels of potassium fertiliser and nitrogen, or manure application. This is especially so in early spring. As amounts of other nutrients such as potassium increase in forage, magnesium availability goes down. Low soil phosphorus levels minimise the plant’s capacity to take magnesium up from the soil. Wet, cold weather increases the danger too as it lowers the availability of soil phosphorus.

Reducing the risk

One thing you can try to reduce grass tetany is utilising a mineral including magnesium at a rate of 1% to 3%. This ensures there is a suitable level in the soil for grass and plants to pick up.

Keep in mind that magnesium isn’t stored by the animal either. Thus, it needs consuming on a regular basis.

Adding legumes to the pasture mix and avoiding heavy fertilisation in spring lowers the danger too. Legumes come with higher magnesium concentrations than grasses.

Use our supplies to improve animal health

At JS Hubbuck Ltd, we supply top quality products to help keep animals healthy. There are multiple options available to make it easier to find the right solution. Plus, we can offer information about everything. Our prices are also some of the most competitive you can find.

So, if you’re interested in animal health, let us know. We can offer support and products you can rely on.