The Beef Cattle Health and Nutrition Podcast

This week I'm presenting another case from the files of our Disease Investigation Unit.  This case has particular relevance to those producers that have been dealing with drought conditions over the last year.  The case focuses on a cow-calf herd that has calves affected with neurological signs and blindness at birth.

00 - Introduction

Links to BCRC Webinar Series:  https://www.beefresearch.ca/webinars/

Dr. Andy Acton joins me this week in the podcast to discuss the impacts, treatment and prevention of coccidiosis in cow-calf herds.  Dr. Acton is a veterinarian and owner of a mixed practice in Ogema, Saskatchewan with lots of practical experience in working with cow-calf herds.  He is the 2022 recipient of the Western Canadian Association of Bovine Practitioners Veterinarian of the Year Award.  Andy recently sent me a message about a nervous coccidiosis case he dealt with and we begin the podcast with a brief discussion about nervous coccidiosis before moving on to discuss the more common presentation in calves which manifests as a bloody diarrhea.

Dr. Zach Johnson joins me to discuss an infertility case that he investigated a few years ago.   Dr. Johnson is the current president of the Saskatchewan Veterinary Medical Association and he is a veterinarian who owns a rural practice in Melville, Saskatchewan.  Zach has led  a number of these types of infertility investigations and we discuss the challenges with sorting out the cause of an infertility problem and the various diagnostics that might be used.

00:00 – 2:20   Welcome and Introductions 

02:21 – 04:17   Infertility case history

04:18 – 5:58 The challenges associated with investigating infertility problems

05:59 – 07:40   What diagnostics did we do?

07:41 – 09:32   Neospora caninum as a cause of abortion or infertility

09:33 – 11:45   IBR and BVD, Leptospira, Trich and Campylobacter

11:46 - 18:27 Discussing the diagnosis – Copper deficiency

18:28 – 19:43   What was recommended for the herd

19:44 - 21:33   The value of pregnancy checking the herd

21:34 – 22:35 Wrap up

Barry Yaremcio is a nutritionist from Camrose, Alberta who provides nutrition and management consulting to beef producers.  Barry spent years working as a nutritionist with Alberta Agriculture and has a wealth of practical experience.  He is joining the podcast to discuss the challenges associated with drought and to discuss the important things to focus on when trying to stretch your feed supplies when forage may be limited.  Here is a link to Barry's website where you can read his blog and learn more about his consulting services.  https://www.beefconsultant.com/

00:00 – 1:25   Welcome and Introductions 

01:26 – 05:09   Importance of maintaining body condition

05:10 - 07:28 Correcting less than ideal body condition scores

07:29 - 09:16   Drought impacts on feed quality

09:17 - 13:42   Importance of feed testing, bale weights and cow weights when feed is limited

13:43 – 24:44   Using alternative feeds that might be used to stretch supplies -Kochia, Green Feed, Screening pellets, Distillers grains, Canola regrowth, Cocktail mixes for grazing

24:45- 27:33 Rules of thumb for feeding straw

27:34 – 29:29 Dealing with tight feed supplies

29:30 – 30:55 Wrap up

Dr. Chris Clark is my guest this week.  Dr. Clark is an internal medicine clinician in large animals who also serves as the Associate Dean at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine.  We have a short conversation on the agriculturally focused seats at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and then take a deep dive into some of the causes of sudden death in cattle.  We also discuss the importance of getting a post-mortem diagnosis when deaths do occur in your herd.

00:00 – 1:25   Welcome and Introductions 

01:26 – 06:04   Agriculturally focused seats at WCVM

06:05- 08:23  Definition of Sudden death

08:24 -  13:42  Infectious causes of Sudden death in cattle – Clostridial Diseases(Blackleg)

13:43 -  23:33  Infectious causes of Sudden death in cattle – Anthrax

23:34 – 28:04  Traumatic causes of sudden death (Lightning)

28:05 – 34:27  Nutritional causes of sudden death (Bloat)

34:28 – 36:25  Other nutritional causes of sudden death (Lead toxicity, Blue green algae, white muscle disease, monensin toxicity, water deprivation, magnesium deficiency)

36:26 - 38:25  White muscle disease

38:26 – 41:45 The importance of a post-mortem diagnosis

41:46 - 42:30 Wrap up

Dr. Emily Snyder returns as a guest expert on the podcast to answer a listener question.  What are the best practices to follow when introducing animals to your herd?  It's an important aspect of biosecurity and Dr. Snyder gives us some of the diseases we worry about and what we can do to mitigate the risks.

00:00 – 1:54   Welcome and Introductions 

2:01 – 3:13   What do we mean by the term biosecurity?

3:14 – 5:01   The importance of source of incoming animals

5:02 –   6:57 Diseases of concern when purchasing new animals

6:58 – 9:17 Johne’s Disease

9:18 – 14:26 Salmonella dublin

14:27 – 17:30 Bovine Viral Diarrhea

17:31 – 19:32   Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis Virus

19:33 -  21:35  Timing of introduction and impact on calf scours and BRD

21:36 - 23:14   Minimizing stress for the incoming animals

23:15 -  25:00 Wrap up

Jayce Fossen recently completed his Masters degree at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine focused on antimicrobial usage in Canadian cow-calf herds.  Jayce joins me to discuss his results as well as a pitch for recruiting new herds for the Canadian Cow-Calf Health and Productivity Enhancement Network.

Link to BCRC website on antimicrobial use and resistance: https://www.beefresearch.ca/topics/antibiotic-resistance/

1:23 – 3:37   Why do we need to study antimicrobial use in cow-calf herds?

3:38 – 5:10 Description of herds that were followed in the study

5:11 –   7:01 Most common reasons for antimicrobial use

7:02 – 8:17 Proportions of animals being treated

8:18 – 12:22 Classification of antimicrobials based on importance for human health

12:23 – 14:53   Reasons for higher treatment numbers and mass medication

14:54 – 20:52   Antimicrobials and remote drug delivery

20:53 – 23:26   Differences between Eastern and Western Canadian herds

23:27- 26:00   General principles of wise antimicrobial stewardship

26:01 -  30:54  The Canadian Cow-Calf Health and Productivity Enhancement Network

30:55 – 31:54  Wrap up 

In this episode, I recorded a presentation by Dr. Anatoliy Trokhymchuk at the annual field day of the Livestock and Forage Centre of Excellence at the University of Saskatchewan.  Anatoliy is a veterinarian and epidemiologist who serves as the Chief Scientific Officer at our local veterinary diagnostic laboratory (Prairie Diagnostic Services).  Anatoliy will describe some of the new technology that may make it possible to learn what bacteria or viruses are present in a swab in a much faster manner than traditional laboratory techniques.  New technology might make it possible to perform DNA fingerprinting for bacteria and viruses on the farm or at your local veterinary clinic rather than sending the sample into the diagnostic lab and waiting 5-7 business days for an answer to come back.

Dr. Greg Penner from the Dept. of Animal and Poultry Science returns as my podcast guest this week.  Greg is discussing some of his latest research efforts on the effects of high sulphate water on cattle performance and how we can mitigate some of the subclinical effects such as copper deficiency in high sulphate water situations.

00:00 – 2:00   Welcome and Introductions 

2:01 – 5:21   Where and when do we see high sulphates?

5:23 – 7:01   Polioencephalomalacia – nervous disease caused by high sulphates

7:02 –   9:25 Subclinical effects of high sulphates

9:26 – 11:32 Current guidelines for high sulphate levels

11:33 - 17:18 Describing results of a trial where high sulphate water was given to cattle

17:19 – 24:25 An attempt to mitigate high sulphates with Bismuth subsalicylate

24:26 - 27:38   Evaluating mineral strategies to mitigate the low copper caused by high sulphates

27:39 – 30:07   Next steps in future research

30:08 – 32:42   Recommendations for producers with high sulphate water or feed

32:43- 33:52   Wrap up

Dr. Diego Moya joins the podcast to discuss some of his research on pain control for calves during painful procedures such as castration.  Dr. Moya is an assistant professor at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and his research focuses on beef cattle welfare and behaviour.  In this episode he provides us with some summaries of what we know about pain associated with castration and how to mitigate it.  In addition, he provides a glimpse into some of the new products that might be available in the future to help with pain control specifically with castration.

00:00 – 03:09   Welcome and Introductions 

03:10 – 06:50   How do we measure pain in calves?

06:51 – 08:25   The relationship of age of castration and amount of pain

08:26 – 11:27   Are there major differences in pain between methods of castration?

11:28 – 13:53  Drugs for pain mitigation for calves

13:54 – 16:11 Can we show benefits for using pain mitigation?

16:12 – 15:18 Combining local anesthesia with an NSAID

15:19 – 21:20 Potential of new castration band product infused with local anesthetic

22:21– 22:20   Wrap up