Herd Illthrift & Poor Performance (Growth, Milk Yield or Fertility) in Cattle

CAUSES OF ILLTHRIFT: There are many causes of herd illthrift/poor performance/weight loss. MINERAL deficiency is NOT the most likely cause.

MAJOR CAUSES

1. Restricted water intake

2. Undernutrition



3. Parasitism



4. Infection









5. Severe mineral deficiency

6. Severe vitamin deficiency

LESS COMMON CAUSES

7. Poisoning/intoxication (especially chronic)











8. Pain/inflammation







9. Internal disorders (especially lesions present from early life)








RARE CAUSES

10. Anaemia





11. Allergy

12. Immunosuppression


13. Genetics


14. Fever

15. Cancer

COMMENTS

Poor supply, contaminated water

Poor grassland management (under or over-stocking); poor winter feeding; inadequate intake/quality of protein, energy; ketosis

Lungs (hoose); gut (Ostertagia, Nematodirus, Coccidia); liver (fluke); skin (mange, lice, ticks, keds, fly strike); brain (gid)

Current, or in early life, especially chronic infection: viral (influenza; BVD/Mucosal disease/IBR; rotavirus; Corona virus; parvovirus; adenovirus; orf); bacterial (Salmonella, Johne's disease, Listeria, Leptospira, Pasteurella, Haemophilus, TB, actinobacillosis, actinomycosis); protozoal (Coccidia, Cryptosporidia, Babesia, Eperythrozoon); mycoplasmal; fungal (Mucor, Aspergillus, ringworm, zygomycosis) etc

P, Cu, Co, Se, I, and rarely Ca, Mg, Zn, Mn, Na

B12, thiamine (CCN), and rarely A, D3, E



Bacterial (E. coli, C. pyogenes etc); fungal (ergot, aflatoxin etc); plant (cottonseed (gossypol), brassica, acorn, cyanogenetic glucosides, alkaloids (especially ragwort), bracken, oxalate, fescue); ruminal lactic acidosis (grain, molasses poisoning); chemical (herbicides, fungicides, pesticides, side effect of antibiotic or therapeutic drugs (especially if over-dosed), ammonia/urea, nitrate, petroleum products, antifreeze, mineral compounds (As, Pb, F, Mg, Na, Cu, Co, Se, I, Zn, Mn); water toxicity etc); algal etc

Lameness (foot rot, sole abscess, laminitis, arthritis, osteomyelitis, fractures, dislocations); pain / inflammation elsewhere (sore mouth / teeth / gum / tongue; pharyngeal lesions etc; pleuritis, peritonitis, reticulitis, endocarditis, pericarditis; mastitis, sinusitis, meningitis, encephalitis, castration, dehorning)

Lung (hoose, fog fever, abscess, infection, pneumonic lesions from early life); liver (abscess, liver disease); gastrointestinal tract (ruminal lactic acidosis, vagal indigestion, ruminal or omasal impaction; scour/gastroenteritis, winter dysentery, bloat, abomasal ulcer, bowel strangulation); kidney/bladder (inflammation, abscess, urolithiasis); abscess/sepsis (lungs, liver, kidneys, mastitis, peritonitis, pharyngeal injury)



Nutritional (deficiency of protein/energy, Cu, Co, Fe); parasitic (lice, fluke, worms etc); haemolytic (bacterial, protozoal, viral); aplastic / toxic (plant poisoning (kale, bracken etc); haemorrhagic (warfarin); immunomediated etc

Lungs, gut, skin, immunomediated

Toxic, viral; neonatal agammaglobulinaemia (insufficient colostrum in neonates)

Genetic defects, mannosidosis, poor genetic potential

See infection, intoxication, allergy

Lymphosarcoma, leucosis

REMEDIAL ACTIONS
1. IDENTIFY AND CORRECT THE CAUSAL FACTORS (see above), especially poor water intake/quality and basic faults of nutrition, poor control of parasites and infection.

2. MINERAL SUPPLEMENTS?: If herd levels of P, Cu, Se, I or Co are low or very low on blood test, it is advisable to increase their supply.

A quick way to check if mineral deficiency is involved is to give a good mineral supplement high in trace-elements. See the enclosed notes on mineral supplements. If the animals do not show a good response within 3-6 weeks, the cause is unlikely to be mineral deficiency.

If minerals are only marginally deficient in blood, further supplementation with those minerals is unlikely to improve growth rate.

Phil Rogers MRCVS, Lucan, Dublin, Ireland​
Fax: 353-46-26154 Tel: 353-46-26740 (Lab)
[email protected]  |  [email protected]
THE NYCAVMA IS HONORED TO HOST & MANAGE THE PHIL ROGERS ARCHIVE