acorns and cattle

[herfdog]

Last night I spotted a cow limping badly would not put any weight on it. And the bull had a little limp. Left her until today after work got a halter on her and tied her to a tree, got her to lie down after fighting with her for ten minutes. The hoof looked good no foot rot or anything. The bull is in the same boat the cow is in now doesn't put any weight on his foot they are not moving far at all. I will load them up in morning and bring them back home and get the vet out to see what is going on. Has anyone had trouble with cattle bruising or hurting their feet from acorns? This is my first year at this pasture it is about 30 acres but there is probably 20 oak trees and I see the acorns are just starting to fall off the trees. Just strange that two have come up lame at the same time with what looks like the same thing.
thanks

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Have never had any problem with cattle bruising there feet on acorns. Never had any problems except with white oak acorns. They are about the only one that cows will eat very good.

 

[kenny thomas]

Have not seen foot problems from acorns but if they eat them it can cause major problem. I agree that white oak is usually the ones they eat most.

 

[mnmtranching]

We have about 300 acres of mature oak pastured on the ranch. We will enjoy another bumper crop. Acorns are about a month away from falling.
Cattle love them, NEVER seen a problem of any kind.

 

[mnmtranching]

We have about 300 acres of mature oak pastured on the ranch. We will enjoy another bumper crop. Acorns are about a month away from falling.
Cattle love them, NEVER seen a problem of any kind.

 

[redcowsrule33]

I have seen a few cases of acorn poisoning, not good. I would guess that the cattle that got sick were not used to the acorns - maybe they can build up a tolerance? Leaves can also be bad - a friend told me that her grandpa back in the 30's got desparate for feed in the drought and cut down the oaks in the pasture to feed the cows. They all died.

But I guess it solved his feed problem.... :?

 

[andybob]

A possible reason why some cattle are poisoned and others not, could depend on the type of oak, some types we have on the estate are very low in tannin and can be fed to livestock (mostly pigs) without any effect, others are very high in tannin, especially the traditional English oak, and either have to be fed in low percentages of the diet, or be soaked to draw out a high percentage of the tannin before feeding.

 

[backhoeboogie]

The weight of a cow or bull on an acorn should crush the acorn. They bust live oak acorns and pecans when they step on them in the road. What type of acorn is it? Mine step on limestone and gravel with no yielded foot problems. It is hard to imagine a little old acorn causing a cow to limp.

 

[jerry27150]

if cows eat too many acorns it can kill them, found that out the hard way. mine would eat all kinds some it never bothered, others died. it can also cause an acorn calf if cow is in second trimester. a calf that is always small & never does good. vet says to move them to a different pasture if acorns are abundant. some claim green acorns are the ones that bother most. never had any with foot problems from acorns though

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

White oak acorns have a sweet taste to them where other acorns don't. That is the same reason deer perfer them.

 

[dun]

White oak acorns have a sweet taste to them where other acorns don't. That is the same reason deer perfer them.

The white acron family is a single year acorn. From flower to nut in the same year. The red oak family are 2 year acorns. Flower one year and don;t have the mature nut till the following year. Wether that's why the reds have more tannin or it's just because they're a different kind of oak I don;t know.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Don't no the why of it Dun just no the white oak acorn has a sweet taste to them and cows and deer will eat a lot more of them. If there is no white oak acorns look for the deer to be in the black jack thickets.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Last night I spotted a cow limping badly would not put any weight on it. And the bull had a little limp. Left her until today after work got a halter on her and tied her to a tree, got her to lie down after fighting with her for ten minutes. The hoof looked good no foot rot or anything. The bull is in the same boat the cow is in now doesn't put any weight on his foot they are not moving far at all. I will load them up in morning and bring them back home and get the vet out to see what is going on. Has anyone had trouble with cattle bruising or hurting their feet from acorns? This is my first year at this pasture it is about 30 acres but there is probably 20 oak trees and I see the acorns are just starting to fall off the trees. Just strange that two have come up lame at the same time with what looks like the same thing.
thanks

Acorns aint your problem sounds more like ergot or foot rot my bet is ergot..

 

[herfdog]

what is ergot never heard of it?

 

[Caustic Burno]

http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index ... word=ergot

 

[backhoeboogie]

White oak acorns have a sweet taste to them where other acorns don't. That is the same reason deer perfer them.

Deer choose live oak acorns over corn. Same for pecans. Go figure. They will leave a feeder to go eat acorns.

 

[TexasBred]

White oak acorns have a sweet taste to them where other acorns don't. That is the same reason deer perfer them.

Deer choose live oak acorns over corn. Same for pecans. Go figure. They will leave a feeder to go eat acorns.

Deer also get fat on acorns....cattle die...both ruminants....."type of oak tree" doesn't seem to really be a determining factor. Have seen cattle die from eating just about any type of oak available in Texas. They'll usually slug feed on them until they're gone then literally stand under the treee waiting for the next acorn to drop. Cattle loose weight, manure turns to pure liquid (with acorn hulls in it) and many times she dies....

You're foot problems in the cattle are caused by something else.

 

[Caustic Burno]

White oak acorns have a sweet taste to them where other acorns don't. That is the same reason deer perfer them.

Deer choose live oak acorns over corn. Same for pecans. Go figure. They will leave a feeder to go eat acorns.

Deer also get fat on acorns....cattle die...both ruminants....."type of oak tree" doesn't seem to really be a determining factor. Have seen cattle die from eating just about any type of oak available in Texas. They'll usually slug feed on them until they're gone then literally stand under the treee waiting for the next acorn to drop. Cattle loose weight, manure turns to pure liquid (with acorn hulls in it) and many times she dies....

You're foot problems in the cattle are caused by something else.

Heck mine feed on acorns every fall white and red oak never had a problem. I turn mine in the woods come fall.

 

[TexasBred]

CB all I can say is that you're either very lucky or they are not eating the acorns in large amounts. And white oak acorns are lower in tannic acid than some of the others especially red oak.

 

[Txwalt]

http://www.caf.wvu.edu/~forage/acorns/acorns.htm

Walt