Cleft palate? Caused by weeds?

[Crackerplease]

Last year I had four calves with cleft palate. I thought maybe to blame MLV, so I switched to KV. This year I have two cleft palate out of 80 calves. My daughter/vet student has sent me some info about Lupines and Croatelaria which I'm trying to eradicate. Is there anything else I should look for? Thanks.

 

[BeefmasterB]

Last year I had four calves with cleft palate. I thought maybe to blame MLV, so I switched to KV. This year I have two cleft palate out of 80 calves. My daughter/vet student has sent me some info about Lupines and Croatelaria which I'm trying to eradicate. Is there anything else I should look for? Thanks.

Found the subject interesting and starting poking around and found this:

From the Merck Veterinary Manual:
"Crooked calf disease, characterized by joint contractures, torticollis, scoliosis or kyphosis, cleft palate, and combinations of these defects is seen in calves of in cows fed Lupinus laxiflorus , L caudatus , L sericeus , or L nootkatensis between days 40 and 70 of gestation. The quinolizidine alkaloid anagyrine is the teratogen. Ingestion of L formosus causes similar skeletal defects and cleft palate in cattle and goats; the teratogen is the alkaloid piperidine. Fetal development is at greatest risk when lupines are grazed early in plant growth or during seed formation. Conium maculatum (poison hemlock) causes contracture-type defects and occasionally cleft palate in calves, goats, sheep, and pigs. It may be a contributing factor in contracted tendons in foals. Both the plant and seed are toxic and teratogenic. Other plants suspected of causing similar defects in calves include Senecio , Cycadales , Blighia , Papaveraceae , Colchicum , Vinca spp , and Indigofera spicata and related plants. Ingestion of Nicotiana tabacum produces skeletal defects in pigs similar to those induced in cattle and pigs by Lupinus and Conium . Nicotiana glauca also induces contracture-type defects and cleft palate in cattle, sheep, and goats. Sudan grass ( Sorghum vulgare ) is incriminated as a cause of arthrogryposis in horses, and S sudanese may cause arthrogryposis in calves."

 

[hillsdown]

I had a calf born 3 or 4 years ago that had arthrogryposis . She lived two days but never did stand and had to be tubed because of her cleft pallet. I gave her to my vet and they did numerous tests on her to get a definitive answer as to her malformity and came up with arthrogryposis ..Because she was my only one then and since we have come to the conclusion that it was not caused by noxious weeds but rather her Charolais background.

In your case I would definitely be concerned of your cattle consuming noxious weeds during pregnancy . Have you gotten your actual vet involved and it can also be something in the breed of your cattle. You can also contact your local ag agency and they can send a field rep to go through your pastures with you so you know what weeds need to be eradicated.

Good post BmB, great info.

 

[chas]

i have a 2 day old char cross calf from an angus mom ...calf still alive but tube feeding it.it has cleft pallette...its is large framed but can not stand without my help... once standing it will remain so for up to an hour...its hind legs are rigid and it has extremly limited muscling...would it be assummed this calf has arthro...am i wasting my time tubing it twice a day??first time ive had this.. we run 200+ mom cows .