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Beginning her observation of animals in their natural
environment in the early 1930s, long before harsh, toxic chemicals
were used on our soils and our animals, Pat Coleby’s experience
has given her a rich understanding of the complex connections between
the soil quality, food and the health of animals. Coleby has raised
stock on her farm in Australia, and successfully cared for her own
animals while also acting as a resource on animal care for farmers
all over Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. In
"Natural Cattle Care" she brings us her encyclopedic knowledge of
cattle and their health care needs to North America. Through the
use of vitamins and herbs, she teaches us how to prevent, and if
it is too late for prevention, then how to treat any number of ailments
that afflict the cattle population. Coleby’s prescribed treatments
for the following "Top Ten" cattle ailments are just an example
of the depth and breadth of her understanding of the needs and requirements
of the bovine world.
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Pat
Coleby’s Natural Treatments
for the Top Ten Cattle Ailments
Common Ailments
and Remedies
With
experience and knowledge of cattle ailments and remedies, one should
need to seek veterinary treatment only for really serious conditions.
In the event of serious illness, it is always good to be doing something
to help the beast while the vet is on the way. Additionally, illness
always seem to strike at inconvenient times, such as weekends and
holidays, when the vet is unavailable. But often, with a bit of
knowledge, you can care for your own animals.
Prevention is always better than cure and knowing your animals
and their behavior will go a long way toward warding off illness.
The alert farmer realizes when animals are off color before they
show definite signs. The cow that kicks unusually when the cups
are being put on should always be regarded with suspicion; her udder
is likely causing her trouble. Similarly, the beast that lies away
from the others and is slow to go out or come in should be watched.
It is no good to wait until they are down with their legs in the
air and then expect a hard-worked vet to pick up the pieces. The
vets with whom I worked in the early days used to complain that
I spotted an incipiently ill animal so early that it was cured before
they found out what was the matter — surely a desirable way to go.
When
an animal is sick, sensible care and attention — keeping it sheltered,
quiet, well fed and watered — is all important. Good nursing has
helped many an animal survive that had no apparent hope of living.
The more you are able to diagnose and care for your animals early
on, the less illness and trauma they will suffer overall.
Mastitis
Mastitis
is quite easily controlled by ensuring that all the animals get
the right amount of minerals in their either their hand-fed or on-demand
licks. Bail-fed milkers will need a three tablespoon (30 grams)
per head per feed minimum. Generally feed is grown with artificial
fertilizers and is low in the necessary lime minerals and copper.
The protein levels in Chapter 6 should be adhered to since too much
protein in the food is a potent cause of mastitis and overly rich
diets should be adjusted.
If
the pH of the ration is correct and the lactating animal is receiving
its lick ration, the type of the mastitis organism seems to be immaterial.
Even a torn udder will not produce instant mastitis. Naturally,
in this case, the farmer will treat the tear and give the animal
extra vitamin C and dolomite to prevent any infection.
An
infected cow should be given an extra tablespoon of dolomite and
the same of vitamin C night and morning until the infection clears—usually
three to five days. In the United Kingdom a teaspoon (five grams)
of copper sulfate has to be added to that mixture as the basic pasture
is higher in protein than in Australia.
We
now have a new or ancient modality according to how one looks at
it. Hydrogen peroxide; 10 ml squirted straight into the affected
quarter has cured black mastitis in hours. We used to take ten days
curing it with massive amounts of vitamin C. Additional vitamin
C could be given by mouth for a day or two as well. The advantage
of all the above methods is that the quarters are not lost as is
so often the case when ordinary drugs are used.
Metritis
The
signs are usually an evil smelling discharge from the vulva following
calving, often after the calf has been born dead or taken away in
pieces. If a vet is attending, he will insert a pessary, otherwise
give a washout of a teaspoon of salt to liter of water to remove
the worst of the infective material. If an animal sheds the afterbirth
cleanly, this should not be necessary.
Metritis
and other conditions affecting the uterus are mainly caused by a
lack of vitamin A. In a bad year with much dry weather there are
often quite a few affected animals, as they will not have had enough
green grass to obtain the necessary vitamin A. There will be a predisposition
to metritis in stock on chemically manured paddocks as the chemicals
interfere with the synthesis of vitamin A, and the cattle do not
receive as much as they should.
Any
animal with metritis should be put on a course of vitamin A in some
form or other. Vitamin A, D and E injections are suitable as prescribed
on the bottle, or an A and D (cod liver oil) drench, 20 ml twice
a week if possible, will work. Cattle usually take the oral dose
quite well on feed. Vitamin C will also help clear up the infection;
use either 7.5 to 10 grams by injection every other day for a cow
or 12 grams orally every day in the feed for a week.
Acetonemia
(Ketosis)
This
is a problem in dairy herds, especially those run intensively for
high milk production. Signs can be a preference for hay and coarse
feed, a sweet smell on the breath and milk, and excessive licking
and chewing. This condition does not occur in cattle who are fed
a diet where the carbohydrates and protein are in the right balance.
They must, of course, receive their correct amount of minerals (see
Chapter 8). Work done in the United States suggests that the copper
in the lick is all important in preventing ketosis.
Years
ago a dairy farmer asked me if I had any bright ideas on how to
deal with acetonemia and I suggested he add a tablespoon of dolomite
per head per feed. The next time we met he was delighted to tell
me that it had worked and that there had not been any new cases
since he started using it. Again, the lick would be a preventative,
as would lowering the protein in the diet
(see Chapter 6).
Milk
Fever
Milk
fever occurs when the cow’s calcium reserves are too low for it
to sustain life. This occurs shortly after calving. As with lactation
tetany, the animal has put all it has into the milk and left too
few minerals for herself. The signs are exactly like snake bite,
curiously enough, lethargy, slow movements and the pupil of the
eye appears much dilated as the eye muscle relaxes. Death will follow
if treatment is not started immediately (in either case). The magnesium/calcium
injection for the relief of milk fever is obtainable from any feed
store and the amounts are given on the bottle. For best results,
put the injection in each side of the shoulder and rump, four places
in all. This way it is dissipated as fast as possible.
Stock
that has been fed on properly balanced paddocks and/or been receiving
the basic lick, will not be prone to milk fever. I have found that
even confirmed milk fever sufferers will not have a recurrence as
long the necessary minerals have been provided. (Often if a cow
has had milk fever once, she seems to be more likely to contract
it again.)
Bearing
in mind that snake bite and milk fever present exactly similar signs,
this alternative should always be considered. It sounds unlikely,
but if there is any doubt treat as for snakebite as well; it will
do no harm. (In the middle of a cold winter I was once confronted
by a horse in an unlikely advanced state of pneumonia and suffering
from snakebite, luckily the same treatment worked for both.)
Grass Tetany
This
condition is caused by a deficiency of magnesium in the paddock,
so it is not really a disease. Professor Ivan Caple, of the University
of Melbourne, stated that "In dairy breeds, the risk of grass tetany
is increased when potassium and nitrogen fertilizers are applied
in autumn and early spring to promote pasture growth in late winter
and spring." Organic methods of improving the pasture are far safer
and more reliable in the long term.
Cattle
will show signs much like lactation tetany which usually appears
in spring with the rapid growth of grass, especially on paddocks
that have had superphosphate applied and are, therefore, short of
magnesium (and copper). The cattle will go down and die struggling,
except in extreme cases where they die as if asleep. On that occasion,
the vets called it superphosphate poisoning — not grass tetany.
The
treatment is injections of magnesium and calcium which are available
from the vet or fodder stores. The injections should be given as
soon as the first signs are seen. If they’re given in four places,
each side of the neck and each side of the rump, they will act faster.
On farms where bore water is used for drinking, the cattle on the
bores do not seem to succumb, while those in a next door paddock
on dam water will go down very rapidly. This is likely because most
bores are high in magnesium.
This
condition only strikes when the animals are on magnesium deficient
paddocks. A soil analysis of the farm is a fairly reliable guide
to paddocks at risk for grass tetany. Once again, a good soil analysis
can alert the farmer to many potential health problems on the farm.
Foot Rot
This
is another highly contagious disease in animals at risk through
copper deficiency. The organism lives in most pastures and copper
deficient animals will very soon pick it up. The winter and spring
of 1992, which was incredibly wet, produced an amazing number of
calls from people with foot rot afflicted stock, and an equal number
of thankful ones who, when supplementing with the stock licks, had
cleared it up very quickly. One lady who milked two very fine house
cows that became very lame with bad cases of foot rot, found that
a tablespoon of copper sulfate in the evening bail feed cured it
overnight. The cows were, of course, getting dolomite in their feed.
The
disease causes smelly, suppurating and very sore feet, sometimes
with large proud flesh growths forming in between the toes. If confronted
with that condition, a sprinkling of straight copper sulfate on
the growth after dipping the feet in the copper wash will help the
proud flesh to disintegrate. The wash should be made up of two pounds
of copper sulfate to two gallons of water and two pints of vinegar.
The vinegar acts as a water softener to make the mixture soak into
the lesions. Raising copper levels in the food, or giving the licks
and maintaining the cattle at the correct level, is the quickest
cure (and the best prevention), and there will be no recurrence
even on the same land. However, if the farm has had artificial fertilizers
used on it, the problem will be ongoing until the imbalances can
be corrected.
Keratin,
which depends on adequate sulfur and copper in the diet, is the
component that gives skin and hair its strength. When foot rot (foot
scald) starts, a thin, red line will be seen between the toes of
the cow. This happens when the skin has inadequate keratin and is
breaking down allowing the entry of the causative organism.
Bloat
Bloat
is sign of a sick farm, the cause being an imbalance of potassium,
magnesium and sulfur or it can follow a top-dressing with artificial
fertilizers. If the land has been farmed organically and remineralized
it will not occur. The stands of solid clover that so often cause
bloat only grow on unbalanced over-fertilized (using artificials)
and under- mineralized soil.
If
an animal is only mildly bloated, a drench of about a liter of cooking
oil (not liquid paraffin) will help lubricate the insides so some
of the wind can be dissipated from one end or the other. The oil
drench should be followed by enforced exercise. Then another drench
should be given consisting of a tablespoon of dolomite and the same
of seaweed in about half a liter of cider vinegar (do not try to
put that mixture through a drenching gun, shake it up in a bottle
and pour it in).
If
the bloat is acute and the animal is down, it will be necessary
to release the gas. If this is not done, the pressure will build
up to the point where the beast suffocates and/or the organs cannot
function. The gas is released with a pointed knife or a trocar;
the latter is a sharp, hollow instrument that allows the gas to
escape. The gut should be pierced on the left side about a hands-width
behind the last rib, halfway down the side. If using a sharp knife,
insert it and twist slightly, the gas will come out very fast. Only
put the knife or instrument in just as far as is needed to release
the pressure. Be sure to disinfect the opening before and afterwards.
Another drench of seaweed meal and cider vinegar will help the animal
recover. An injection of vitamin C would also be a good safeguard
(about 20 cc).
Diarrhea
This
is caused by an imbalance in the gut due to poor feed, lack of minerals,
or interior parasites, all of which can place the cow at risk. However,
Hungerford, the basic veterinary authority in Australia, suggests
that diarrhea is nearly always due to a shortfall in copper. Give
the lick by mouth — just put the powder straight in. Care must be
taken that the patient does not dehydrate. Drench in liquids if
necessary. Sometimes a tablespoon of vitamin C and the same of dolomite
works well; half this amount is very good in calf scours which is
usually caused by a lack of magnesium in the diet. However, as Hungerford
states in his Diseases of Livestock that a lack of copper is often
the cause in weaners and adults; it is also often the cause of worm
infestations as well.
A
beef cattle farmer I knew had 80 head that were in a bad way. He
rang me because one was down and he had tried every drench in the
book without success. He brought the ill one into the cattle yards
with the tractor. I suggested that he give it two tablespoons of
the lick and the same of vitamin C morning and night for two days.
I said that by then it should be well on the way to recovery. He
told me that it jumped out of pen the day after that. He then ran
the remaining cattle through the race and gave each their two tablespoons
of the lick. I asked him if it was difficult. He said he opened
their mouths with his left hand and with a scoop that held the exact
amount of the dose, he threw it into each beast’s mouth. The job
took him just over half an hour and the herd recovered completely.
Obviously the soil health had to be attended to and the lick made
available ad lib at all times. The lick must be kept dry or the
copper is lost by chemical action in half an hour.
Infertility
The
cause needs to be determined. If the cows do not come in season
fully, the most likely cause is lack of copper. See that the cows
have access to the lick in feed or ad lib or amend the diet if what
they currently receive is insufficient. Cows that fail to hold to
service (always assuming that the male is fertile) are, unless non-breeders,
suffering from a lack of vitamin A. An injection of vitamins A and
D, or A, D and E before the next heat will usually mean the failure
will not occur again. Otherwise, supplementation with some sort
of vitamin A coming up to service, or feeding the stock on a well-grown
green crop, would ensure they hold.
This
sort of infertility is apt to occur after or during a long drought
(which is probably how the native fauna are regulated). Particular
care should be taken of the bulls in that case as vitamin A related
infertility is usually irreversible in males. A lack of selenium
is another reason for poor or complete infertility in bulls. The
sperm will be weak and few in quantity, and those that are there
will tend to drop their tails. Luckily seaweed contains selenium
in an organic form and making sure that stud animals receive their
ration of the lick regularly will go a long way to ensuring sperm
quality and quantity.
Worms
and Liver Fluke Drench resistance strikes fear into everyone these
days, but it seems to be a fact of life. The worms adapt to drenches
faster than we can make new ones. Even the Ivermectin group, which
was supposed to be proof against drench resistance, has now succumbed.
Each new drench has a limited life as long as it is of a chemical
composition.
The
answer to worms lies in good husbandry which has been outlined in
earlier chapters. We shall never be able to beat the worms, so we
must use an organic system of farming that lets the dung beetles,
earth worms and soil fauna do it for us. This must be allied to
a diet high enough in the necessary minerals to stop the worms from
becoming a scourge. Dr. William A. Albrecht says in his works that
animals who have the right amount of copper in their systems do
not have worm problems. Farmers who have fully remineralized their
land and have it in good heart have, in many cases, given up drenching
on a regular basis. Most of them also see that their cattle have
licks available when they want them.
Given
the information in Chapter 8 in the section on copper, where it
is pointed out that Dr. Albrecht found worm infestations (of any
kind) only occurred in copper deficient animals, the section below
on different kinds of worms is academic. It has been noticeable
with all stock that fluke, tape worm and coccidia are the first
and easiest to prevent with even quite small amounts of copper.
Those farmers with cattle on the lick described in Chapter 8 will
find that drenching becomes a thing of the past. A worm count of
200 or below is not a concern in properly supplemented and fed animals;
in fact, a "wormless" beast usually is not very well since worms
do not live in unhealthy animals. Not only actual worms, but all
protozoa-type infections also appear to be caused by a lack of copper
in the diet. It took me and other farmers a few years to realize
that many of the conditions, such as coccidia and possibly toxoplasmosis,
just were not occurring once the ration was in order.
As
the copper in the lick prevents the worms from staying in the gut
of the cattle, they will surely die out fairly soon as they have
to live inside a beast to complete their life cycle. It is interesting
that worm counts done soon after beasts arrive often show a quite
high count of eggs, but no adults either mature or immature. Another
week or two on the lick is probably enough to see that the animal
is fully clear. When hatched worms just do not stay in an animal
whose copper reserves are correct.
Copper and
worms
I
have not used any proprietary drenches for just on 30 years now.
Copper sulfate, with various additions, was used for many years
prior to the advent of artificial chemical drenches in the late
1950s. The copper was mixed with either carbon tetrachloride (a
very poisonous cleaning fluid), lead arsenate (another dangerous
poison) or nicotine sulphate, which was possibly the safest of the
three. I very much doubt if the reported deaths were often due to
copper poisoning.
Copper
toxicity causes liver damage which, if not treated, is fatal. We
found out that when copper is administered with dolomite, there
is little risk unless the cattle have been grazing heliotrope or
some other weed high in copper like Patterson’s curse or St. John’s
wort; however, if they had, the chance of a worm burden would be
virtually nil, because of the high copper content of all three.
According
to the Department of Primary Industry in Queensland, the blood serum
levels of copper in a bovine should be between 500 and 1,100 milliliters
per liter, at which levels worm infestations would be unlikely.
In all cases of suspected worm infestation, a count should be taken
either by the vet, or as many farmers the world over these days
do, examining the manure with a microscope (a school quality microscope
will do).
Long
standing copper overload can apparently be corrected by giving the
affected cow dolomite on a permanent basis. This can be given with
an injection of vitamin B15 (10 cc), Pangamic acid (10 cc) and vitamin
C (20 cc) in the same syringe once a week. This has been tried in
the field on farms where too much copper has been spread on the
land. For immediate copper poisoning, give the beast a tablespoon
of dolomite and vitamin C powder by mouth every few hours, and 10
cc of vitamin B15 with 30 cc of sodium ascorbate (vitamin C) in
the same syringe by injection. This can be given every few hours,
although a calf that I first did this work on recovered fully in
an hour and a half and further doses were not necessary. Signs of
copper poisoning are misery and a hunched up appearance — in effect,
acute belly ache due to liver pain.
According
to Justine Glass, black animals need about six times as more copper
than white ones. Consult
the section on copper for deficiency signs.
Initially
several friends who ran cattle, horses, sheep or goats experimented
using copper instead of proprietary drenches, with very satisfactory
results. The only controlled experiment was performed with goats
and the Depart ment of Agriculture did the tests. Half were given
the latest state-of-the-art drench (not Ivermectin), and half were
given the copper sulfate/dolomite/vitamin C dose. The results were
equal — 100 percent clear in both cases.
When
I first started using copper sulfate instead of proprietary drenches,
I could not find any guidelines and Dr. Albrecht, whose works show
that copper prevents worm infestations, does not mention dosage
quantities. A retired vet lent me a copy of the British Veterinary
Codex (1952) and I was able to work out amounts from that source.
I had reckoned that monogastrics need about half the amount on body
weight that ruminants require; however, work done by the University
of Minnesota on ponies and copper requirements suggests that equines
actually top the list as far as copper requirement or tolerance
goes.
I
have discussed running copper through the diet with various vets
and at least one did not have apoplexy, but was genuinely impressed
and interested because to use his exact words, "We have come to
the end of the line with proprietary drenches." That was 18 years
ago and the situation has not improved with the years.
Modern
strategy
I
found that telling people to drench their animals with copper and
dolomite, etc., was not a success, but what does work is prevention
as underlined many times in this book.
Working
with various farmers we evolved the lick mentioned in Chapter 8.
It has been eminently successful and it is no longer necessary to
think about the old strategic drenching. It takes a full year to
build up the copper reserves in an animal and only then does the
coat stay a good strong color the whole year through. The cattle’s
continuing good health on the regime seems to be the only consequence.
Past
strategy
What
follows is purely academic and a relic of the drenching days. That
said, there are a few things farmers should know about the types
of worms that used to lie in wait for their stock.
Barber’s
Pole Worm (Haemonchus Contortus)
Without
a doubt the most insidious and dangerous worm on the list. This
is a blood-sucking worm that can be picked up and carried in encapsulated
form until the time is right for it to emerge in the animal’s gut
and wreak havoc. It is particularly deadly in calves and kills by
totally robbing its host of red blood cells. It is not active when
the weather is cold, but waits for a really hot spell to emerge,
when it causes almost total anaemia very quickly. Drenching when
it is in the encapsulated form does not work, so it is necessary
to drench the moment a young animal’s lower eyelids become pale;
by the time they are white, it is usually too late. Another case
where prevention in the form of good farming practice is the best
strategy.
Brown
Stomach Worm (Ostertagia)
Another
blood-sucking worm, but this can be hit whenever the animal is drenched.
Quite often two drenches are needed on successive days, as the worm
burrows into the stomach walls, and does not come out until those
at large have been destroyed by the first drench. One very badly
infested animal that I leased needed drenching for four days in
succession before he was clear.
Lung
Worm (Meullerius Capillaris and Dirofilaria Immitis)
These
are two distinct sorts of lung worm that used to need two different
drenches. It was also thought that they did not cover more than
one sort of livestock, but this does not appear to be correct.
Signs
are coughing and ill thrift. A worm count will be needed to determine
which kind of lung worm is causing the trouble, unless using the
Ivermectin group of treatment. Lung worm, if not dealt with, causes
lasting damage. Quite often really healthy looking animals with
a slight cough do not have lung worm, but have scarring from a previous
infestation. Doses of vitamin E, as for pneumonia scarring, could
possibly help.
If
calves are badly infected with lung worm, using a severe drench
can be fatal because all the worms in the lungs will be killed at
once. This will mean there will not be enough room left for the
animal to gain the oxygen it needs, so it is virtually dies of mechanical
pneumonia. Better in this case to use a mild drench that deals with
the worms in the intestines (part of the lung worm cycle is spent
there), and then a day or two later use something that will kill
those left in the lungs, some of which will have migrated by then.
Liver Fluke
Fluke
has a six-week life cycle from a small conical snail whose larvae
infect the stock. These can infest very wet land or dams and, once
they have been ingested, grow into a full-grown (about a centimeter
wide) fluke in the host’s liver.
Signs
of liver fluke are anaemia, ill thrift, occasionally a swelling
under the jaw and a capricious appetite. Liver fluke drenches are
very expensive, and rather severe. Raising the copper in the ration
until the eyelids become a deep pink usually gets rid of fluke.
This could mean a flat dessertspoon per cow for a few days, after
that make sure the copper levels are correct and the fluke will
not re-infest the animals. If they do, the beasts are not getting
enough copper.
The
drenches for fluke are very expensive and often difficult to get.
However, it is the easiest to prevent; a fairly small amount of
copper run through the ration is enough to prevent it. I did not
realize this when I first went onto an irrigation farm (the fluke
come in with the water), but wondered why I was the only person
on the system that was not losing animals with fluke. The animals
were on a small maintenance ration of copper in those days. Farmers
have since told me that they put a thick canvas bag of copper sulfate
by the water outlet onto the farm so that small amount is washed
into the water at all times. That was their way of preventing fluke.
Treating dams for fluke with copper sulfate is not always the answer,
because the snails can and do migrate across damp paddocks. It is
not necessary to have a dam to have problems with liver fluke infestations.
Pin
worms (Nematodes)
These
are not often a problem in cattle, but occasionally they can infest
a calf that would pick them up from licking the ground. Examining
the calf around the anus will reveal them squirming. A Piperizane
drench will be needed to get rid of them, the normal drenches (barring
the Ivermectin group) do not usually touch them. Piperizane powder
is used for chooks and the dosage can be determined from the container.
I found that pea hay was a potent source of pin worm infestation,
the eggs must have been scraped off the ground with the pea straw.
Again the lick is the answer.
Tapeworm
(Monezia Expanza)
There
is some controversy on tape worms. Some authorities say they are
species specific, in other words, cattle could not pick up tapeworms
from a dog, but others say this is rubbish. Tapeworms in stock are
not very common, so perhaps they really do not cross between species.
The white segments sometimes can be seen in manure. If tape worms
are present, often the animal is very potbellied. A special drench
is needed, on which the vet will advise. Apparently they are not
killed by the Ivermectin group. One sheep farmer who had been regularly
dosing them with this group decided to try a copper drench. He gave
each of them two grams of copper sulphate per head in a large teaspoon
of dolomite. To his amazement, many of them passed quite long tapeworms.
He was unaware that they had them and had thought that the drench
he used would have kept them worm-free. Copper is regarded as being
a very old specific against tapeworms.
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