Is there a correlation between stillborn calves and a selenium deficiency in the cow.

[CowboyRam]

I was having a discussion with a neighbor that was having problems with weak or stillborn calves, and he was thinking it was due to a Selenium deficiency in the cow. This got me thinking; I have had three stillborn calves this year. I looked at the mineral that I have been feeding and I don't see any selenium in it. Could that be part of the reason I had three stillborn calves this year. I start feeding mineral once I get cows back to the farm around the end of October and feed it until end of May once they go back out on pasture. There are about five months where they don't get any mineral. This fall I switched to Panhandle Foundation 356 12-6; I don't see selenium on the label.

What say you?

 

[sim.-ang.king]

We don't usually have a selenium problem around here, so I can't tell you if that is the problem, but if your mineral has selenium it will be listed as sodium selenite in the ingredients, towards the end. Some minerals don't, and some do, but if you are having problems, feeding minerals with it will help, and you could also give multimin sometime before calving.

 

[CowboyRam]

We don't usually have a selenium problem around here, so I can't tell you if that is the problem, but if your mineral has selenium it will be listed as sodium selenite in the ingredients, towards the end. Some minerals don't, and some do, but if you are having problems, feeding minerals with it will help, and you could also give multimin sometime before calving.

according to the tag it does have sodium selenite in it.

 

[Hereford2]

Selenium deficient calves in my experience are weak, act slow, weak suck, can have random seizures until they get a shot of Bo-Se,.

 

[Son of Butch]

Most likely yes, as it does affect 3 day survival rates, which in turn affects survival to weaning rates. I would start giving your calves bo-se shots at birth.

Several years ago a Mn dairy farmer was having a terrible problem with calves dying in the first week. Turned out their farm was located in the pocket of a previously unknown selenium deficient area.

 

[Buck Randall]

I've seen herds with Selenium deficiency have issues with stillbirths that went away after supplementing selenium.

 

[redcowsrule33]

Vitamin E deficiency can also result in weak calves. Talk to your vet about testing. Lots of potential reasons including BVD.

 

[faster horses]

The answer is yes.
Clinical signs of selenium deficiency in WA include:

• suboptimal milk production
• suboptimal fertility in adult cattle
• retained foetal membranes (RFM)
• mastitis
• premature, weak calves, perinatal death and abortions.

In places with severe selenium deficiency, the following clinical signs may also occur:

• in young cattle: ill-thrift, poor growth rates, chronic diarrhoea and retention of winter coats
• acute nutritional muscular dystrophy in young calves:
  • sudden collapse or death of calves within 2–3 days of birth
  • high mortality rates.
• subacute nutritional muscular dystrophy in older calves (1-4 months):
  • stiff-legged gait
  • weakness and unable to stand or walk.

Which animals are most at risk?

Selenium deficiency most commonly occurs in young calves and calving cows, but is also seen in adult cattle.

Your mineral tag should show the amount of SE in the mineral.
Only so much is allowed by the government.
We have mineral with 26 ppm SE and we have some with 39 ppm SE.

I'm surprised yours doesn't show the amount of ppms.

 

[Silver]

It is strange that it isn't shown. Even TM120 block salt lists SE at 120 ppm.

 

[Katpau]

The mineral I use was specifically designed for this area by my Veterinarian. It has 105 ppm selenium. Se has a narrow range of tolerance. Too little can cause the conditions listed above, but too much can also cause problems or even kill an animal. You need to know what the selenium is in your environment before you begin supplementation. Over the counter mineral mixes are limited in the amount of selenium they can legally include. In some areas that will not be sufficient. In other areas it will be plenty, and there are areas where selenium is already dangerously high. Where I live in Oregon, selenium is deficient, but if I lived north of here and out near the coast, selenium levels are quite high.

 

[Son of Butch]

You need to know what the selenium is in your environment before you begin supplementation.

But in the meantime, start giving calves bo-se shots asap.

 

[simme]

@panhandlefeed

Panhandle Coop's Feed division is here to give you the best quality food for your operation with unmatched customer service. Stop in today to see what we can do for you!

www.panhandlecoopfeed.com

There appear to be several versions of Foundation 365 12-6. Most with selenium, some without. One specifically says NO SEL in the title.

Several years ago, there were 21 polo horses in Florida that suddenly died. Turned out that someone had mixed the selenium wrong. Way too much was what killed them.

Mineral overdose killed polo ponies, Florida says

The 21 polo ponies that collapsed and died before a Florida competition this month were given a fatal overdose of the mineral selenium in a vitamin supplement, the state veterinarian said Tuesday.

www.reuters.com

 

[CowboyRam]

@panhandlefeed

Panhandle Coop's Feed division is here to give you the best quality food for your operation with unmatched customer service. Stop in today to see what we can do for you!

www.panhandlecoopfeed.com

There appear to be several versions of Foundation 365 12-6. Most with selenium, some without. One specifically says NO SEL in the title.

Several years ago, there were 21 polo horses in Florida that suddenly died. Turned out that someone had mixed the selenium wrong. Way too much was what killed them.

Mineral overdose killed polo ponies, Florida says

The 21 polo ponies that collapsed and died before a Florida competition this month were given a fatal overdose of the mineral selenium in a vitamin supplement, the state veterinarian said Tuesday.

www.reuters.com

I just started using the Panhandle Foundation 365 12-6 Min mineral last fall. Out of 58 cows that have calved I only had three that were stillborn. I have not noticed any weak calves, and I have only had one calf with the scours. The cows got vaccinated early December; Verashield 6VL5, vision 7with somnus, and safeguard, and ivermectin.

 

[GoWyo]

CowboyRam -- based on my knowledge of the Wind River Basin, I have a hard time believing there is a selenium deficiency in the ground there. Look at all the irrigation seeps with the alkali. A lot of that is selenium and sulfates. It was all ocean bed millions of years ago. We had some cattle drinking out of a sub irrigation seep one year and they wound up going blind and died from what we believed was selenium poisoning or maybe just high sulfates, but I know there is quite a bit of selenium in the ground there.

 

[wbvs58]

My neighbour over the back and a few others had a few stillborn calves 2 seasons ago. The local land services Vets diagnosed it as uterine inertia due to low calcium blood levels taken from numerous cows. We were coming out of drought and had very late summer rain and the grass that did best was kikuyu which the cows were chasing. kikuyu contains oxalates which can tie up the calcium and in my opinion due to the late rain the grass really got going and I think the sugars in it made it very palatable to cattle and I think the oxalates may have been greater than normal.

Ken

 

[cjhames]

And here my wife thinks raising cattle is "easy" compared to goats.

 

[WFfarm]

Why would you not feed supplemental minerals all year long? Low Selenium comes from deficiency of Se in the soil. That doesn't go away during the summer months. You would need to have soil samples done on your pasture and hay ground know for sure if your area is low in Selenium. If it's ok, then it at least eliminates that possibility.

 

[faster horses]

Some ranchers go to the forest or other places where it isn't possible to put out mineral and
I get that. We have found, however, that cattle that don't have mineral, say 6 months out of the year, will eat the more the other 6 months so it comes out about the same as if they had access to it year-round. Calves eat mineral which stimulates their rumen. Therefore, they can digest grass better which leads to more daily gain. That's why when we ran ranch tests, calves on a year-round mineral program weighed 30+ lbs more. Those tests were run in a wet year and a very dry year with the same results. Of course you won't get 30# every year, but you won't lose the 30# that was evident the year that the mineral program was started. Plus it aids in herd health.

Cowboy Ram, where do you get Panhandle Foundation 365 12-6?
Ok, did a search and found it. The analysis looks good, I'm wondering what the ingredients are. What I found doesn't show SE in the mineral. Actually the ingredients are as important as the analysis. Maybe more so.

Interesting that Montana and WY for the most part, need SE in their mineral. At least in the places we are familiar with. The Black Hills of SD doesn't need SE. The mineral rep should have grass and/or soil samples showing what is recommended for that area.

 

[sunnyblueskies]

Some ranchers go to the forest or other places where it isn't possible to put out mineral and
I get that.

Our herd goes into forest/bush/pasture during summer. You can put out salt blocks/minerals there too. Just put it close to the water source or their favorite hang out spots. =)

 

[sunnyblueskies]

Out of 58 cows that have calved I only had three that were stillborn.

Do you know what the reasons for the 3 still born were?