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Cattle Boards
Breeding / Calving Issues
Calf is weak and had purple gums
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<blockquote data-quote="Dega Moo" data-source="post: 1117356" data-attributes="member: 19930"><p>Maybe off the wall here but you're looking for ideas .... have you had your silage and cornstalks checked for nitrate levels? You mentioned few kernels in the silage because of a dry year and that's a risk factor for high, even toxic levels of nitrates. In those dry and barren years nitrates accumulate in highest concentrations in the lowest 12 to 15 inches of the stalk. If the silage was cut at a couple of inches off the ground and you didn't form good, solid and normal stalks with ears, you could very well be feeding silage or stalks with marginally dangerous levels of nitrate. One of the symptoms of high nitrate levels in cattle is a dark brownish color of blood and it could be there's blood in the feces and so on ..... Mature cows will 'acclimate' to above normal levels but there is a level that will kill cattle. Even if the calf isn't eating the silage or corn stalks I wonder if it would have absorbed nitrates through the cow prior to birth or even after birth nursing. I don't really know if either could be the case but my interest was piqued when you mentioned silage, a dry year and dark brownish colored blood. </p><p></p><p>Does anyone know if this is even plausible? </p><p></p><p>I would think your vet could check a stool sample for blood in the stool and it should be simple enough for the vet to check a blood pull for nitrates. You can always have a sample of your silage checked for nitrate levels as well. Northwest Iowa should have plenty of nearby labs that could test your silage and stalks. You could get stool samples and a vial of blood to your vet without hauling the calf to the vet.</p><p></p><p>Best of luck!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dega Moo, post: 1117356, member: 19930"] Maybe off the wall here but you're looking for ideas .... have you had your silage and cornstalks checked for nitrate levels? You mentioned few kernels in the silage because of a dry year and that's a risk factor for high, even toxic levels of nitrates. In those dry and barren years nitrates accumulate in highest concentrations in the lowest 12 to 15 inches of the stalk. If the silage was cut at a couple of inches off the ground and you didn't form good, solid and normal stalks with ears, you could very well be feeding silage or stalks with marginally dangerous levels of nitrate. One of the symptoms of high nitrate levels in cattle is a dark brownish color of blood and it could be there's blood in the feces and so on ..... Mature cows will 'acclimate' to above normal levels but there is a level that will kill cattle. Even if the calf isn't eating the silage or corn stalks I wonder if it would have absorbed nitrates through the cow prior to birth or even after birth nursing. I don't really know if either could be the case but my interest was piqued when you mentioned silage, a dry year and dark brownish colored blood. Does anyone know if this is even plausible? I would think your vet could check a stool sample for blood in the stool and it should be simple enough for the vet to check a blood pull for nitrates. You can always have a sample of your silage checked for nitrate levels as well. Northwest Iowa should have plenty of nearby labs that could test your silage and stalks. You could get stool samples and a vial of blood to your vet without hauling the calf to the vet. Best of luck! [/QUOTE]
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Calf is weak and had purple gums
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