The Beef Cattle Health and Nutrition Podcast

This week Dr. Murray Jelinski returns to the podcast for a 2nd week in a row, to discuss a completely different topic.  He will summarize some of his recent research on the value of deworming yearling cattle in Western Canadian pastures.  We discuss the basics of the life cycle of the internal roundworms of cattle and the impact they can have on productivity. 00:00 - 00:45 Intro 00:45 - 02:51  Why the interest in internal parasites? 02:51 - 06:00  Types of internal parasites of cattle 06:01 - 10:27  Life cycle of roundworms 10:28 - 15:54 Difference in species of roundworms and changes in distribution of species 15:55 - 17:50 How do the roundworms impact performance? 17:51 - 22:05  Limitations of the fecal egg count test 22:06 - 27:11 Factors that affect the level of parasite load 27:12 - 34:15  Summary of clinical trial on yearling cattle in Saskatchewan 34:16 -  35:50 Emergence of Haemonchus roundworms in Western Canada 35:51 -  38:31  Risk factors for higher parasite loads 38:32 -  44:23  Recommendations for when to decide if deworming is necessary 44:24 -   45:00 Wrap up

Dr. Murray Jelinski joins the podcast to discuss the syndrome of abomasal ulcers in calves.   Dr. Jelinski holds the Alberta Beef Chair at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine and is involved in a wide range of research projects from lameness to parasites and antibiotic resistance.  Although abomasal ulcers are not an exceptionally common problem, it is one of those syndromes that seems to affect the best calves in the group and can be frustrating for those herds that occasionally see it crop up.  Dr. Jelinski will describe his original research findings on this syndrome and helps to sort out the fact from the fiction in what factors may be involved. 00:00 - 8:00  Introductions 8:01 -  17:19  Description of the syndrome of abomasal ulcers 17:20 -  24: 12 Does it cluster by herd, what are the risk factors? 24:13 - 30:33  Hairballs aren't really associated with ulcers 30:34 -  36:09 The theories on the cause of ulcers 36:10 - 38:13 What to do if you suspect abomasal ulcers in your calves? 38:14 - 39:00  Wrap up

Dr. Gabriel Ribeiro from the Dept. of Animal and Poultry Science at the University of Saskatchewan is my guest this week.  He has been researching the impacts of ergot in feed sources on cattle performance and he will discuss the levels of ergot that are safe for cattle, their impacts on cattle health, welfare and performance as well as how to test for and deal with feeds that might be high in ergot. 00:00 - 01:50  Introduction 01:51 - 02:54  What is ergot? 02:55 - 04:55  How to identify ergot in feed sources 04:56 - 07:30  Ergot and climatic conditions 07:31 - 08:39  Clinical effects of ergot alkaloids 08:40 - 09:36  Fescue toxicity vs Ergot toxicity 09:37 - 11:04  Effects of ergot on rumen function? 11:05 - 15:20  A clinical trial on the effects of ergot on cattle 15:21 - 17:51  Effects on the animals in the trial 17:52 - 21:06  The heat stress effect 21:07 - 22:44  Effects on performance 22:45 - 23:56  What levels of ergot are safe? 23:57 - 29:22  Recommendations for dealing with ergot contaminated feeds 29:33 - 30:52  Wrap up and conclusions

Dr. Bart Lardner is my return guest this week.  He joins the podcast to discuss the implications of water quality on beef cattle. 00:00 – 01:45   Introductions 01:46 – 2:53   Why is water considered one of the most important nutrients? 02:54 - 04:35   How do we assess water quality? 04:36 - 07:11 Sulphates in water 07:12 – 10:20 Total Dissolved Solids 10:21 – 12:45   High Bacteria counts 12:46 - 13:50 Cattle preference for water sources 13:51 – 15:56   Impact of water quality on weight gains 15:57 – 17:12 What should producers consider doing if water quality may be an issue? 17:13 – 18:00 Wrap up  

This week I'm presenting a quick mini episode with a case from our disease investigation files.  This particular cow-calf herd had a disappointing pregnancy rate and we suspected a bacteria called Ureaplasma may have been responsible for the infertility.  Ureaplasma is a bit of a tricky organism as we can find this bacteria in completely normal animals and so it is difficult to determine when it is truly responsible for infertility issues.  Have a listen to learn what we do know about Ureaplasma diversum as a cause of reproductive failure.

Dr. Joe Stookey, professor emeritus from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine joins the podcast this week.  Joe has spent his career researching various aspects of animal behavior with a focus on beef cattle.  He joins me to discuss the problem of mis-mothering in calving cows.  It can be a frustrating situation and Joe gives some practical tips on how to deal with these situations.  Just a quick heads up, there were some technical difficulties in recording this episode and there are a couple of segments in the podcast where the sound quality is not great for my microphone.  Hopefully you can get the gist of the conversation, but apologies for the segments where the sound isn't great. 00:00 – 02:32 Introduction 02:33 – 3:37 How common is mis-mothering in cows and heifers? 03:38 – 06:28 How does the maternal bond form? 06:29 - 10:22 Risk Factors for mis-mothering 10:23 – 13:40 How does calf behavior contribute to maternal behavior? 13:41 – 15:32 Dealing with cows that claim calves from other cows 15:33 – 17:07 Genetic inheritance of maternal behavior 17:36 – 21:25 Cross-fostering calves 21:26 – 23:05 Minimizing mis-mothering behavior 23:06 – 24:00 Closing comments

Dr. Karin Orsel, vet expert, discusses digital dermatitis in beef cattle herds. She covers prevalence, bacteria involved, recognition, treatment challenges, and prevention strategies. Topics include foot baths, vaccines, and keeping the disease out of herds.

Dr. Emily Snyder is a veterinary clinician and professor at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan.  She has expertise in bovine respiratory disease, preventive medicine and antimicrobial resistance.  This week, she joins the show to discuss the risk factors of pre-weaning respiratory disease in calves and some tips on how to prevent it from occurring in your herd. 00:00 – 01:41   Introduction 01:42– 03:47 How commonly do we see BRD in pre-weaned calves 03:48 - 05:29 When does preweaning BRD occur and explanations for two peaks in disease incidence? 05:30 – 6:24 How host, pathogen and environment factors interact to cause disease 06:25 – 8:43 Calf factors that impact BRD 8:44 – 10:19 Environmental factors that impact BRD 10:20 – 11:52 Bacteria and viruses involved in pre-weaning BRD 11:53 – 12:33 Clinical signs of pre-weaning BRD 12:34 – 13:26 Treating calves with pre-weaning BRD 13:27 – 16:57   Risk factors associated with herds that have outbreaks of pre-weaning BRD 16:58 – 18:28 Prevention of pre-weaning BRD 18:29 – 19:50 Summary thoughts 19:51 – 20:34 Closing comments

Dr. Roy Lewis joins the podcast to discuss breeding soundness evaluations of bulls.  Dr. Lewis is an experienced bovine practitioner who has practiced for many years in the Westlock, Alberta area.  He has also worked as a technical service veterinarian for the pharmaceutical industry and he writes extensively for many producer publications.  Roy has a special interest in bovine preventive medicine and reproductive fertility of cow-calf herds.  He chats with me about how the breeding soundness evaluation of bulls has become more commonplace and what the various components of the evaluation can tell us about bull fertility. 00:00 – 01:51   Introduction 01:52– 04:07 How breeding soundness examinations have evolved over the years 04:08 – 05:31 Good facilities for bull testing 05:32 – 08:22 Seminal vesiculitis in bulls 08:33– 10:38 Measuring scrotal circumference in bulls 10:39 – 11:57 Testicular degeneration in bulls 11:58 – 13:28 Equipment improvements for obtaining semen samples 13:29 – 15:12 Penile frenulums, warts, and hair rings 15:13 – 16:37 Bulls that don’t protrude during collection 16:38 – 18:12 Evaluating the semen 18:13 – 20:06 Pass, Failure and Decision Deferred Categories 20:07 - 21:50 Testing pubertal bulls 21:51 – 24:29 Other factors that may impact fertility of the bull 24:30 – 25:24  Closing comments

Dr. Chris Clark joins the podcast to discuss foot rot and sole abscesses.  Dr. Clark is a faculty member and large animal medicine clinician at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine.  He has a special interest in lameness and discusses two of the common causes of lameness in cattle:  foot rot and sole abscesses.  We'll discuss the differences in how they develop and how they have to be treated in a very different fashion. 00:00 – 02:45   Introduction 02:46– 05:20 Costs and productivity losses associated with lameness 05:21 – 07:12 Importance of lameness in cow-calf industry 07:13– 09:33 General lameness categories 09:34– 11:02 The 90:90:90 rule 11:03 – 14:32 How foot rot cases develop 17:18 – 18:55 How to identify a case of foot rot 18:56 – 20:46 How to identify a sole abscess 20:47 – 29:30 Treatment differences between these conditions 29:30 – 31:09 Concluding thoughts 31:10 – 31:58 Closing comments