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 1:36 - Herd background and presenting complaint 3:43 - Post mortem findings and lab results 4:40 - Details of on farm visit and continued cases 10:24 - Presumptive Diagnosis of Vitamin A Deficiency 12:54 - Other research results on impacts of low Vitamin A in calves and cows 13:52 - Concluding remarks on Vitamin A testing and supplementation Links to BCRC Webinar Series:  https://www.beefresearch.ca/webinars/

Dr. Andy Acton, a veterinarian with experience in cow-calf herds, joins the podcast to discuss coccidiosis impacts and prevention. Topics covered include a recent nervous coccidiosis case, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention strategies for calf coccidiosis. The effectiveness and concerns of using Tall Trazrel for prevention are also addressed. Additionally, the podcast explores the poorly understood condition of nervous coccidiosis in calves and the need for further research.

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, a Masters graduate, discusses his study on antimicrobial use in Canadian cow-calf herds, including reasons for usage and variations between Eastern and Western herds. Remote drug delivery methods and the Canadian Cow-Calf Health and Productivity Enhancement Network are also explored.

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