Blue/Green Algae poisoning

Help Support CattleToday:

Dave Clarkson

Active member
Joined
Aug 5, 2020
Messages
31
Reaction score
25
Last week I had a two yearlings become sick. They were in a pond. I got them out and quarantined them. One was sicker than the other and I expected him to die......which he did I found him dead the next morning. The was 8 days ago but the other one is still alive. Both were very wobbly on their feet and were disoriented. The one that died had trouble breathing.

the next day I noticed one hanging back from the other four I had in the field. He came in last and would not eat feed. I quarantined him with the one that was still alive. He was acting "dazed" and actually charged us a few time. That was not normal for him because he would eat out of my hand. We called a vet. He said the charging and wobbling was probably due to the neurotoxin. He was stretched out dead next to the one that lived the next morning (the calf, not the vet).

Two reasons for this post. The first is to alert others of this problem. It is a fast killer. Farmers find dead cattle in the field and never know why. This could be one reason. We had several deer die due to this in the area last year. It has never happened to us....as far as we know but we have had cattle die.

The second reason is to find out if anyone has any experience with this and to find out what to expect for the one that is still alive. It has been 8 days. He has shown improvement. He can stand and walk. His back end seems to be in a little more control. He curled his back legs a bit and stood out toward the tips but that is getting better. He did not eat for a couple of days. We picked fresh grass and he began to eat that. He will pick at feed and a little hay. I think he is eating enough to keep going. He is drinking sufficiently now. He had a black stool which I assume was blood. It is going back to normal. he urinates.

Any idea of recovery of if he will make it? What should i do or expect? It killed the others FAST. I took the remaining four out of the field 5 days ago and am hoping they escaped.

Thanks for any info
 
Our watershed lake was tested (K-State) & confirmed positive for blue-green a couple years ago. Fortunately, we are able to completely shut it off from the cattle so no sickness or death. It's too large to treat (normal is 155 million gallons, 60 acres) so we just had to wait until it cleared.

Really sorry this happened to you. Hopefully he'll pull through!
 
Thanks for the replies. It did not happen on our farm. My father has been running cattle here for 60 years and not problems YET. The corona virus hit and prices went to nothing. My friend said I could put my seven head of fall calves there until this fall when prices would be up. He has a beautiful place, great fences, barns to get out of the sun and he said he if the water got low he would put out fresh water. Which he did. He also checked them a couple of times a day. If he had not been checking them they would have all died.

I had to put the one surviving one down two days ago. heart breaking he was a great steer. Looked really good. He was eating fresh grass and a little feed. He drank plenty of water. He had trouble walking at first and his back feet were curled. After a few days he was standing and walking better and feet looked much better. He got a little more dull and stood less. I arrived the next morning to find him running around the barn banging off of walls hitting the gates, falling down and pressing his head into the hay. He was crazy in the eyes and looked terrified. I believe he was actually seeing things that were not there. It was time.

I have been working on our ponds all summer because I heard in the fall that it was going to be a hot summer. So, I fenced off the ponds. I never thought is was a good idea for cattle to stand in ponds. This algae feeds on nitrogen.....so they feed it while standing in it.

I am having it ours tested ASAP
 
Not saying it wasn't the algae, but I would be making sure and not assuming. Algae is everywhere and poisoning is rare. Make sure you don't miss something else thats making them sick.
 
That is a great point. I moved the last 4 back to our farm where we have never had a problem like this but I am getting the water tested.
 
Top