Numerous limping cows

[TCRanch]

I've never had foot rot that severe. But I did have a cow with an abscess earlier this year and the vet said 60cc penicillin for a 1400 lb cow instead of Draxxin or LA300, leave the wound/abscess open so it would drain (no Kopertox or anything that would coat it). Penicillin did the trick! Fire Sweep, good luck - that's downright ugly!

 

[snoopdog]

We have had more cases of lameness this year also , been dry and we do have rocks. I would buy the cows, Drax or exceed has cleared up every case of ours . My bull was the only one that had it in a front leg, and he had a substantial amount of swelling . I do suspect the mineral and or salt situation this year , and I don't have any evidence to back that theory .

 

[gizmom]

Jeeze that looks bad, sorry your having this fire sweep that looks painful.

Gizmom

 

[bird dog]

Does the calf go with the deal? Are the other ones bred? I'm like the others. If I had room and some grass it sounds like a good risk/reward but only if they are bred back.

It worries me they have been limping that long and have a low body score. I have a few limping right now but it has been wet and they are heavy bred. It usually takes two or three weeks for them to get over it. Much quicker if they calve.

 

[Bright Raven]

The parent bedrock in the region where Fire Sweep lives near Springfield MO is a sedimentary rock called chert. Very similar to flint, in fact, flint rock is a type of chert. It is very common on the surface of the soil. If you dig a fence post hole, you encounter it all the way down to as deep as 3 feet. It goes all the way down to the parent bedrock. The chert occurs in sizes from pea gravel all the way up to stones the size of a persons skull. The stones fracture with very sharp edges. I would be a nervous wreck if my cows had to walk on that. I think her cows get a lot of bruising to the sole of their hoofs. Those bruises abscess and the abscess breaks out around the coronal area.

 

[Farm Fence Solutions]

The parent bedrock in the region where Fire Sweep lives near Springfield MO is a sedimentary rock called chert. Very similar to flint, in fact, flint rock is a type of chert. It is very common on the surface of the soil. If you dig a fence post hole, you encounter it all the way down to as deep as 3 feet. It goes all the way down to the parent bedrock. The chert occurs in sizes from pea gravel all the way up to stones the size of a persons skull. The stones fracture with very sharp edges. I would be a nervous wreck if my cows had to walk on that. I think her cows get a lot of bruising to the sole of their hoofs. Those bruises abscess and the abscess breaks out around the coronal area.

....Play some back home, come on music. That comeeesss from the heart.......

 

[True Grit Farms]

I thought you were supposed to put the LA 200 - 300 directly into the fetlock?

 

[Redgully]

I have used Ilium dexapent on cows who start to limp and it seems to sort it out pretty quick. If it doesn't you know there is something more than a bruise or swelling.

 

[JMJ Farms]

Does the calf go with the deal? Are the other ones bred? I'm like the others. If I had room and some grass it sounds like a good risk/reward but only if they are bred back.

It worries me they have been limping that long and have a low body score. I have a few limping right now but it has been wet and they are heavy bred. It usually takes two or three weeks for them to get over it. Much quicker if they calve.

Calf is for sale but I don't want him. He's stunted and I don't thing he'll ever be any count. Not sure if they're bred back. My guess would be that 2 out of the 4 are probably 2nd trimester and the other two are probably open. Judging by BCS, I doubt they were in good enough condition to breed but I've seen stranger cases.

I'm gonna make him an offer. All he can say is no. I ain't interested in another job. If there's not some room for a decent profit I will just go fishing instead of doctoring limping cows.

 

[Banjo]

Our cows are on good mineral (Vitaferm), are healthy, and have adequate flesh. I really think we are having an outbreak because of the drought, and really bad, dry, rocky soil. Ron has explained, in the creek area and anywhere there is no pasture, the rocks are VERY sharp and range in size from grape to orange, just not round! I have now treated 8 cows with a limp, and three of them have wounds like above. I am hoping my trimmer friend who does the dairy cows next property over can get me on his short list to get these cows looked at on the table.

Could you describe your good mineral...whats in it?

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Our cows are on good mineral (Vitaferm), are healthy, and have adequate flesh. I really think we are having an outbreak because of the drought, and really bad, dry, rocky soil. Ron has explained, in the creek area and anywhere there is no pasture, the rocks are VERY sharp and range in size from grape to orange, just not round! I have now treated 8 cows with a limp, and three of them have wounds like above. I am hoping my trimmer friend who does the dairy cows next property over can get me on his short list to get these cows looked at on the table.

Could you describe your good mineral...whats in it?

http://vitaferm.com/product-categories/ ... -products/
This is what we use in the summer.

And this once the flies die, until spring:
http://vitaferm.com/product-categories/ ... -products/

 

[Banjo]

Our cows are on good mineral (Vitaferm), are healthy, and have adequate flesh. I really think we are having an outbreak because of the drought, and really bad, dry, rocky soil. Ron has explained, in the creek area and anywhere there is no pasture, the rocks are VERY sharp and range in size from grape to orange, just not round! I have now treated 8 cows with a limp, and three of them have wounds like above. I am hoping my trimmer friend who does the dairy cows next property over can get me on his short list to get these cows looked at on the table.

Could you describe your good mineral...whats in it?

http://vitaferm.com/product-categories/ ... -products/
This is what we use in the summer.

And this once the flies die, until spring:
http://vitaferm.com/product-categories/ ... -products/

I was curious to see if you fed high mag mineral. I feed purinas high mag wind and rain mineral year round nowadays. I find that if I go off the high mag for a couple of months.... by switching to the regular all season mineral or some other brand with low or no mag.....things start going south for my herd.
Ironically, I had visit a few months ago from the purina rep....I guess for this part of the state...this guy was the district manager or something high up and he was accompanying the young rep that day.
The district manager said he used to manage a big ranch somewhere out west and he began to tell me how much magnesium per day a cow needs especially if she is nursing. He said cattle cannot get enough from most grasses and hay along with the low levels in the average mineral.
Anyway, that may or may not be your problem. I just thought I would share what he told me.

 

[snoopdog]

Could you describe your good mineral...whats in it?

http://vitaferm.com/product-categories/ ... -products/
This is what we use in the summer.

And this once the flies die, until spring:
http://vitaferm.com/product-categories/ ... -products/

I was curious to see if you fed high mag mineral. I feed purinas high mag wind and rain mineral year round nowadays. I find that if I go off the high mag for a couple of months.... by switching to the regular all season mineral or some other brand with low or no mag.....things start going south for my herd. Our ground is the same here FS and yes , described to a tee by BR.
Ironically, I had visit a few months ago from the purina rep....I guess for this part of the state...this guy was the district manager or something high up and he was accompanying the young rep that day.
The district manager said he used to manage a big ranch somewhere out west and he began to tell me how much magnesium per day a cow needs especially if she is nursing. He said cattle cannot get enough from most grasses and hay along with the low levels in the average mineral.
Anyway, that may or may not be your problem. I just thought I would share what he told me.

That is very good mineral and I have had the same results when taking them off of the hi mag, no matter what brand .

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

OK, hoof trimmer came out today, and thankfully hubby took some pics for me. My cattle have White Line Disease, due to the change in the ground so quickly from the very dry and hot to the sudden moisture from rains (which, we are dry again!). Sole becomes soft, and easily injured by rocks. (https://www.merckvetmanual.com/musculos ... -in-cattle)
Here are some pics:
This cow just came up lame a few days ago. She is due to calve next week, so heavy bred. She weighs 1575, and we treated her Saturday with LA300.

Notice the blood dripping from the left (bottom) foot? That is a new lesion. On her right foot (top), the injury is starting to ulcerate.

This one has the ulcer that has worked all the way up to her hairline, see where it is circled? Both back feet were bad

So she got a pair of shoes

This cow has an old one (bottom foot) that had cleared and was healing, and a new one (top foot). She came up as sore about 45 days ago, I treated, she got better, then sore again.

This is the one pictured earlier in this thread, where I showed you the big open wound on her heal. This is what it looks like when it is cleaned up (the cherry red heal is the one I pictured for you guys)

This one is a new one, just showed symptoms a week ago. See where the ulcer was dug out?

And with new shoes

We have NEVER had more than one cow that needed this type of treatment. Our trimmer said we needed to keep them out of the creek where the majority of the rocks are located. Unfortunately, it is the only way to the pastures we graze. My bill today was $400, so I wonder how much a bridge would cost to build across two different creek crossings???? :bang:

Hopefully, some of you learned something. I plan on visiting with my vet about this, see if we need to tweak our mineral program or what? I plan on doing some research on the high mag thing, you might be onto something.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

Here is a really good article about it, how it happens and how to treat it.

http://cdrf.org/wp-content/uploads/2012 ... e-Line.pdf

 

[snoopdog]

Thanks for the pics and the update !

 

[Bright Raven]

Note: It might be hard for some folks to visualize the nature of the topography in the region of your farm. As I described in a previous post, the rocks on the surface at your farm are 100 % fractured chert. It is literally like walking on broken glass. The creek beds consist of a 100 % surface of fractured chert.

I think your foot trimmer is correct. I would fence off your creek beds. You could use poly wire. I know you must cross the creek beds to access pastures but you could fence off the creek in all other areas.

I don't believe it is mineral. I use the exact same mineral regiment that you do. I have ZERO foot issues and our cows are very similar in size and pedigree.

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

FSSR, do you also have loose salt with EDDI out for them (I assume you do, but thought it worth mentioning)? Also, instead of building bridges, perhaps a load or two of smooth river rock in a specified crossing might be plausible. On another note, anytime I have feet trimmed, it paint pine tar on the coronal band. Obviously, not a good idea on ones with open wounds such as those you posted, but for regular trimmings it is helpful in maintaining good foot health on poor soil/weather.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

FSSR, do you also have loose salt with EDDI out for them (I assume you do, but thought it worth mentioning)? Also, instead of building bridges, perhaps a load or two of smooth river rock in a specified crossing might be plausible. On another note, anytime I have feet trimmed, it paint pine tar on the coronal band. Obviously, not a good idea on ones with open wounds such as those you posted, but for regular trimmings it is helpful in maintaining good foot health on poor soil/weather.

Yes, they have lose salt.

The problem with putting out rock (or anything) is that the creeks run hard several times a year. We have to replace water gaps at least once a year, so the rock would just wash away. We put in a culvert once, but it washed away the same year. Something more permanent would be needed. I will have to look up the pine tar... where do you get it?

 

[Boot Jack Bulls]

FSSR, it is in the horse hoof care section of most farm stores. Just get the plain tar, without any extras in it. IMHO, those expensive hoof conditioners are counterproductive. I keep a stash of cheap paint brushes on hand to smear it on with. And put the jar in a small bucket or something so you don't have to get it on your hands. Just paint a good glob on the hair line of each hoof, even the bulb. We live on clay and rocks here, so I feel you pain on this one. My horses have a perpetual minor case of white line. Tar really helps keep the hoof hard and healthy.