Death loss to Johnson Grass

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Crazy that it molded so much so fast if it was just put up this summer. I've got hay from couple years ago, molded enough that the cows just won't eat it.
Guess that's another thing to look out for
This bout has to be an isolted incident, where all the stars lined up perfectly. I speculate every roll I have has some in it, and a few that are about pure.
 
This bout has to be an isolted incident, where all the stars lined up perfectly. I speculate every roll I have has some in it, and a few that are about pure.
I had wheat hay one year that was so moldy I was scared to death to feed it. It was BAD BAD BAD!

Fortunately everything came out ok. They ate most. Some I used for bedding. Sold some for mulch.

Honestly I was amazed nothing got sick.
 
There are different kinds of molds. And different stages of mold the mold itself Some very harmful, some not nearly as bad. I don't remember as much about it as I should considering the wet climate I live in but there is at least one old thread here at CT explaining it much better than I. I have fed some moldy hay one year and the cows gobbled it up with no problems but I finally got scared enough to burn several rolls and pushed another one off in the pond.
(a practice I saw crawfish producers use to increase their crawfish size.. evidently the crawfish eat something that grows on the water soaked hay)
 
Don't know if this old post/thread is useful, but maybe


@MikeC

Well-known member​

JoinedApr 11, 2005Messages7,636Reaction score1LocationAlabama
larryshoat:36w6u052 said:
After all that has been written on nitrate poisoning have any of you guys ever known of a documented case of nitrate poisoning ? Just curious.

I have seen a many a case. When the vet finds the artery to put that blue stuff intravenously, the cows blood is brown instead of red. Chocolate brown.

When we had the dairy, we grazed sorghum-sudan and had to be extra careful during dry periods.
 
Something is still not sounding right to me. Did they sample multiple bales? If they just grabbed a handful from one, they might not have found the 'hot' bale(s) if nitrate was an issue. And... within a field, there may be 'hot spots' where plants are more stressed and prone to NO3 accumulation, such that some bales may be dangerous and others safe.
Didn't know the state had resumed forage testing; they had stopped doing so. 2018(last year we bought any hay) we borrowed hay probe from the Extension office, sampled our own, and submitted to forage testing labs. I know the vet. diagnostic lab does NO3 testing on forages, but they don't come out and collect samples.

Multiple animals of differing ages dead, and multiple abortions... I'm still thinking nitrates, not mold.
I've seen some pretty moldy stuff fed through the years - and fed some myself, with no issues. Mycotic abortions are uncommon and sporadic... yeah, I know they happen, but in 30+ yrs of diagnostic pathology work - predominantly on food animals - I've only seen ONE case of mycotic abortion in cattle. It's been so uncommon that it would not even be on my radar for this situation unless I was presented with an abortus and placenta that had typical lesions.
 
He have any poisonous weeds moving in? A few years ago, poison hemlock moved in around here. Lost a mature bull and two cows had rotten calves before I figured out what that new weed was. Two other herds in this end of the county also lost a bull within a year, one was confirmed to have poison hemlock growing in the edge of a hayfield along the creek.
 
Something is still not sounding right to me. Did they sample multiple bales? If they just grabbed a handful from one, they might not have found the 'hot' bale(s) if nitrate was an issue. And... within a field, there may be 'hot spots' where plants are more stressed and prone to NO3 accumulation, such that some bales may be dangerous and others safe.
Didn't know the state had resumed forage testing; they had stopped doing so. 2018(last year we bought any hay) we borrowed hay probe from the Extension office, sampled our own, and submitted to forage testing labs. I know the vet. diagnostic lab does NO3 testing on forages, but they don't come out and collect samples.

Multiple animals of differing ages dead, and multiple abortions... I'm still thinking nitrates, not mold.
I've seen some pretty moldy stuff fed through the years - and fed some myself, with no issues. Mycotic abortions are uncommon and sporadic... yeah, I know they happen, but in 30+ yrs of diagnostic pathology work - predominantly on food animals - I've only seen ONE case of mycotic abortion in cattle. It's been so uncommon that it would not even be on my radar for this situation unless I was presented with an abortus and placenta that had typical lesions.
I hope to talk to my brother this weekend. His response was really to short to gather a ton from.

I didn't remember this til my son reminded me, but I gave my brother some hay last year, and he insisted on paying me back with this years hay. We both have 4 x 5 rollers, and I have no idea where those 20 or so rolls are. I'm 99% sure it's not stacked with my horse hay. A horse would be equally susceptible or maybe even more susceptible to whatever this was correct?
 
An old vet who taught at OSU Vet medicine said that horses were less susceptible to prussic acid from johnson grass than cattle. I have fed a lot of johnson grass. some was even drought stressed. Haying and drying allows some to dissipate. One of the biggest problems is Silverleaf Nightshade. the weed that has slim leavees and produces those little yellow balls in the fall usually. It is high in Solanine a clycoloid poison. https://www.google.com/search?q=sil...IABmQGIAa4UkgEEMC4yMJgBAKABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz
It only takes one pound of that stuff to kill a 1000lb animal. the weed is a real bitch to kill..
 
An old vet who taught at OSU Vet medicine said that horses were less susceptible to prussic acid from johnson grass than cattle. I have fed a lot of johnson grass. some was even drought stressed. Haying and drying allows some to dissipate. One of the biggest problems is Silverleaf Nightshade. the weed that has slim leavees and produces those little yellow balls in the fall usually. It is high in Solanine a clycoloid poison. https://www.google.com/search?q=sil...IABmQGIAa4UkgEEMC4yMJgBAKABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz
It only takes one pound of that stuff to kill a 1000lb animal. the weed is a real bitch to kill..
O lord!
We cut 10 acres of "Bermuda" that was plum over run with that crap!
It did NOT leave the property. Apparently their goats didn't care.
 
Sorry about that loss. We feed hay with Johnson grass in it and this year bought some that I know is bound to have a lot in it.
Years ago, I lost a Holstein cow, out of the blue. Had put out a roll of hay that was molded pretty bad. Didn't have any other cattle visibly affected but always suspected that was what caused it by the timing.
 
Why did the vet say to burn the ground where the hay was stacked?

It sounds almost like some other sort of poison particularly if the cows weren't hitting the hay that hard.
 
Why did the vet say to burn the ground where the hay was stacked?

It sounds almost like some other sort of poison particularly if the cows weren't hitting the hay that hard.
Not sure. Unless if it only takes a bite or two.
 
Why did the vet say to burn the ground where the hay was stacked?

It sounds almost like some other sort of poison particularly if the cows weren't hitting the hay that hard.
I presume, to help get rid of seeds and rhizomes that fell to the ground while it was stacked.

Vet recommended we do the same thing Christmas 2019 when some horses next door got speargrass infections in their mouths and gums.
 
We all have been guilty of feeding moldy hay . Either it was some deadly kind or there were other factors involved.
 
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I know that baled millet, Sudan and other feed hay will because of nitrates and been told that Johnson grass will also. But have no first hand experience. The old timers around here won't bale stressed Johnson grass.
 

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