What is Tetnus ? And is it different from grass tetany ? And is it to soon to start putting out a high mag mineral even though we are a couple of months away before the grass starts growing ? And is there a risk of causing tetnus from banding new born bull calfs ?
Tetnus/Grass Tetany
- Thread starter Stepper
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stocky
Well-known member
Stepper, Tetanus is different than grass tetany. I am not an expert on tetanus but I believe it enters through an open wound. I know when a calf is banded, if you dont give it a tetanus shot, it can get tetanus. Some areas have to give a booster shot, also. I dont know what area you are in, but in sw Missouri, I start putting the magnesium oxide out around Jan. 15 in order to have some built up in the system of the cows. We are supposed to have 55-60 degree weather next week and the grass will green up in a hurry and cows will eat less hay and there is risk of grass tetany. If you wait until you have tetany problems, it is difficult to get the mag in the system quickly, because they do not like the taste of it.
Stepper":1brrgzi6 said:
Tetnus (sp?), also known as lockjaw, is a bacteria that lives in the soil. It is called lockjaw because it affects the central nervous system and results in muscle paralysis I believe. It is different from grass tetnus, which is caused by magnesium dificiency. I could be wrong on this, but if the grass isn't growing you probably don't have to worry about grass tetny. Yes, there is a risk of banded calves developing tetnus because the bands cause open wounds, and the scrotal sacs come into contact with the ground where the bacteria lives, thus providing a way for the bacteria to invade the body. The risk is lower with newborn calves (as opposed to older calves), because their sacs are smaller and it doesn't take as long for them to slough off, but it is still there.
Stepper":1k9wylz2 said:
It's a little late now - ideally the vaccine would be given at the time of banding to provide optimum protection. This would be a question for your vet, because I have no idea how effective the tetanus vaccine would be under these circumstances, and I don't see the point in blindly vaccinating if it won't be effective.
Stepper":21laoaf8 said:
Introduction Extension Veterinarian The clostridial bacteria cause several diseases that affect cattle. The most common in beef cattle are blackleg, enterotoxemia, malignant edema, black disease and tetanus. They typically affect young cattle (less than two years of age) and are widely distributed throughout Arkansas. These bacteria are frequently found in the environment (primarily in the soil) as well as the intestinal tracts of farm animals. Clostridial bacteria produce long-lived structures called endospores. Endospores are forms of bacteria that are extremely resistant to environmental
conditions (heat, drought, UV radiation and chemical disinfectants). When endospores are introduced into an animal, they can develop into the infectious bacteria. Once the bacteria begin to grow, they cause disease by producing and releasing toxins into the calf's body. Clostridial diseases are typically infectious, but not contagious. In other words, cattle that become infected will not directly transmit the disease to other cattle. Animals afflicted with clostridial diseases usually die very quickly, sometimes without any prior clinical signs. Therefore, prevention of these diseases is often much more successful than trying to treat infected animals.
as others have stated it takes a while to build up magnesium in the cow. if you do have a problem its difficult to administer enough to do any good fast enough. better safe than sorry, especially with something so easy to prevent.
I am sort of dissapointed with my vet. I went by and ask him spicifily if i needed to do anything to my calfs before i banded them. And he said to just make sure i got both testicles when banding them. I ask if i needed to use any type of disinfectant later on or anything and he said that would not be necessary. I ask how long would it take for the sac to drop off and he said about 2 weeks. And he is a cattle vet. He works our local sale barn every Thursday. I am going to go by and talk with him in the morning.
I don't think you need to be disappointed in your vet, he gave good advice. My neighbors and I all band as soon as possible and have never had a problem. I would give tetanus shot if they are bigger tho such as weaning age. But their your calves, If you think they need it and will ease your mind, do it. You can give a lot of shots for 1 loss of a calf.
Cowdirt
Well-known member
Stepper":nssepzub said:
Stepper,
I think your vet is being realistic. I don't hold myself up as an example of a good cattleman but I've been banding young calves for fifteen yrs. To date I haven't given a tetanus shot. Hope saying that doesn't jinx me. I've never had the infamous problems of tetanus or had a band to break prematurely. My vet whose practice is about 50 yds from my pasture doesn't even recommend hi-mag minerals for our area. He did say if you have them on it before spring grass flush to not quit cold turkey. Take them off gradually when summer arrives. As I understand it, cows don't stockpile magnesium. Their system takes what they need and the rest is secreted as waste. Guess you've figured out by now. I'm a low input cow farmer. Some will have a different description of my methods.
Bullbuyer
Well-known member
Banding and cutting small bulls we have never used tetanus. However, if I were going to cut a yearling I would use it.
my vet explained to me that, the bigger the animal that is banded the more risk. 1 or 2 days old would be a very small chance of a problem. but the bigger they are the more risk, i had a friend band some at 600 lbs and i took them home and gave them 1 tetanus shot and two died from tetanus. that is when the vet told me give them two shots at 2 week intervals before banding that big. the vet said it is less risky to cut them than band them at that size.
i band mine at a few days old and have never had any problems.
i band mine at a few days old and have never had any problems.
ALACOWMAN
Well-known member
like beefy has said now is a good time too get it in their system. i like to start at the first of feb just in case of early green upStepper":1ak3gccc said:
ALACOWMAN":1mvkm20j said:
I'm being real optimistic and will be starting the hi-mag this week. Most years it may not be required, but sure as shootin if I skip a year, that would be the year that they need it. It only adds a little to the cost of a bag of minerals.
dun
Crowderfarms
Well-known member
cowboyup216":5t4bbyg8 said:
Blue Lotion or Furasol are the best antiseptics out there when castrating.
As far as Magnesium goes, Cattle can't store it, therefore it has to be fed with the Mineral Mix free choice.There is no building up of Magnesium. I've never had a case of grass tetany,so far but know fellers that did. Awful stuff.
TXBobcat
Well-known member
jcarkie":pmr0isk8 said:
I agree with this, and it seems to be what most people do around here.
We band some of our bull calves at 5-6 months old and I either give a tetanus toxiod shot a few weeks before banding and another at the time of banding or as I did to a couple of calves recently, I gave a tetanus antitoxin and a tetanus toxoid shot when I banded.
Tetanus anitoxin has immediate effect, but does not last very long. The tetanus toxoid takes 7-10 days to become effective in the calf's system.
