Acidosis in cows: symptoms, causes, treatment

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The maintenance of dairy cattle requires the owner to be able to properly balance the diet and provide timely veterinary care to the animal. Diseases in cattle can be both infectious and non-infectious. Acidosis in cows belongs to the second category. The milk yield of cows begins to fall, she is rapidly losing weight and weakening. If left untreated, a cow will die.

What is acidosis?

This is a metabolic disease. Acidosis is an ailment that is characterized by a shift in the pH of the contents of the rumen to the acid side. This is due to the fact that too much lactic acid accumulates in it. The stomach of a cow consists of 4 chambers, the scar is the first and largest of them.

Due to excess lactic acid, the cow's digestion is disturbed, which leads to other disorders. The cow is in pain, eating poorly and losing weight. Sick cattle have reduced immunity and become more susceptible to infections.

The disease occurs due to errors in nutrition. For example, a farmer introduced into the dietflocks too many apples or fodder beets. This will most likely result in symptoms of acidosis in cows. More often, highly productive animals, which, due to their excellent milk yield, tend to absorb as much food as possible, fall ill.

Reasons

Acidosis of the rumen in cows always occurs due to errors in the diet. For example, the excessive supply of sugar feed is very dangerous. To maximize milk yield, farmers force cows to eat large amounts of molasses or sugar beets. The result is the occurrence of rumen acidosis. Sometimes the owners simply planted too much fodder beet, and after a while it began to deteriorate. In order not to lose their hard-earned crop, such farmers give the cows an excess portion. The result of such actions is obvious.

It is very dangerous to feed ruminants with heavily crushed food. Microscopic pieces do not linger in the proventriculus, so the bacteria that inhabit the scar are left without food. This leads to an excess release of lactic acid. The chewing gum will disappear from the animal, because the food cannot return back to the mouth. As a result, the cow develops acidosis, tympania, atony.

Special attention should be paid to the quality of feed. If the technology of harvesting silage and haylage is violated, a lot of butyric acid is formed in them. Such feed is considered spoiled, it is dangerous to give it to livestock. Cows are ruminants, so they should always have enough good-quality hay or silage in their diet. Otherwise, acidosis cannot be avoided.

Development of the disease

When acidosis sets in in cows, the symptoms and treatment can frighten the owner. Due to the abundance of lactic acid, cattle lose their appetite. Digestion in animals is disturbed, this weakens their immunity and leads to the fact that secondary infections begin to cling to cows.

Cattle practically stops eating, feed is stale in bowls. Often after diarrhea begins, tachycardia increases. The microflora inhabiting the scar soon dies. As a result of this process, endotoxins are formed, they poison the body of the animal. The amount of conditionally pathogenic microflora increases, which contributes to the appearance of inflammatory mediators. Lactic acid is absorbed into the blood and the cow develops metabolic acidosis.

Animals get weak, look tired and haggard. Their ears are lowered, instead of chewing gum they process their own saliva. Food perversions can be observed: eating the earth or their own bedding, licking walls and equipment. The coat of sick cows loses its luster, becomes dull, disheveled. Lameness may occur, which later progresses to arthritis.

If ruminal acidosis in cows is not treated, toxins will continue to affect the internal organs of animals. Abscesses form on the liver, kidney dysfunction occurs. If the cow is pregnant, then a miscarriage occurs. Violated sexual function in animals of both sexes. Further possible cardiac arrest and death.

Acute disease

The disease can develop in different types. There are 3 forms of the disease:acute, subclinical and chronic. The first signs of acidosis in cows most often occur after a significant increase in the rate of giving concentrates. There is more lactic acid in the rumen, which leads to a rapid decrease in pH to 6 or less.

The animal shows the classic signs of poisoning: intoxication, lethargy, feeling unwell. The cow lies almost all the time, may grind her teeth or breathe frequently. Then the chewing gum disappears from the cow, the atony of the scar begins. The rhythm of the heartbeat in acidosis in cows is increased, tachycardia may occur. Sometimes a sick animal will have seizures.

Subclinical form

This type of acidosis in cows usually occurs with an increase in the rate of giving sweet feeds: streams, beets and others. This form is also called substory because it develops gradually. In this type of disease, affected cows may experience a drop in temperature. This is another difference between the subclinical form and the acute form, in which hypothermia is impossible.

Sometimes acidosis occurs with virtually no symptoms, in which case the owner may not even notice that the wet nurse is unwell. In the subclinical form, prolonged diarrhea can be observed. Milk yield is often reduced, in some cases it is even possible to stop lactation. The cow eats less feed and may begin to lose weight. The presence of these symptoms is a reason to suspect acidosis in the nurse.

Chronic form

This type of disease at different periods of life can be observed in many cows. The most common chronic acidosis in cows occurs onfarms where nutrition is not monitored. The most highly productive animals are at risk. The disease on the farm is often not diagnosed for a long time, as the symptoms are not pronounced.

Owners may notice a decline in livestock productivity. Atony and tympania are observed in the farm, which, after treatment, give a relapse. Cows may start to eat less or procrastinate for a long time. After a few months, animals with problem hooves appear in the herd. Pregnant cows may experience spontaneous abortions. Calves on the farm are born weak, without immunity to infections. This happens despite the timely feeding of colostrum.

Diagnosis

Cow acidosis needs to be treated quickly, so it's important to get the diagnosis right. Before the arrival of the veterinarian, the owner can conduct an independent diagnosis. You need to track down the moment when the cow starts chewing the cud. There is no need to frighten the animal, the owner must stand nearby and not move. A cow has an average of 55 jaw movements per minute. If the cow chews noticeably more often or much less often, then this may be a sign of a disease. The owner must report the observation to the veterinarian.

After arriving, the doctor makes a visual examination of the cattle and takes materials for research. The diagnosis is usually based on the contents of the animal's scar. Also, the doctor can take the blood and urine of the wet nurse for examination.

Cow First Aid

If veterinarythe specialist cannot come yet, and the owners suspect that the nurse has acidosis, then you need to give her first aid. There are folk remedies that were used in villages in such cases. But you need to understand that these methods can have side effects. If the veterinarian arrives in a day, and the condition of the cow is satisfactory, then it is not worth the risk. If there is no doctor within a week, then you need to help the cattle yourself.

If the nurse is completely weak, then you need to dilute half a package of ordinary table soda in 3 liters of warm water. This liquid is poured into the cow's mouth. After give up to 1 liter of warm vegetable oil. Then the scar is massaged. Hosts need to do this until there is movement of food in the rumen.

Treatment

It is very important to balance the diet of the animal. If you do not remove the food that caused the problem, then the wet nurse will not recover. First of all, you need to limit molasses and beets. If the animals go to pasture, then in the morning you need to feed them with hay or straw. How to treat acidosis in cows? In mild cases, 100 g of baking soda is diluted in half a liter of water and fed to livestock in the morning and in the evening. This should be done until the diarrhea stops, usually 3-5 days are enough.

In severe cases, soda is administered intravenously. But only a veterinarian should do this, amateur performance is dangerous. Soda is mixed with glucose and saline. Liquids should be warm. Treatment takes about 5 days. In some cases, cows are prescribed drugs with enzymes, thisnecessary to normalize the microflora in the rumen.

Vet advice

The owner must feed the cattle properly. The diet depends on the period of pregnancy, lactation phase, milk yield and weight of the animal. The introduction of new products should be gradual. For example, you need to transfer an animal from grain to compound feed. New food is added to the cow's diet gradually, literally 200 g per day, while the old food is reduced by the same amount. This will give the cow time to adjust.

It is not necessary to overfeed cattle with concentrates in pursuit of high milk yields. At one time, you can not give more than 2.5 kg of feed or grain. If there is a lot of concentrates in the diet, but little hay, then this is a direct road to acidosis in cows. Feed beet should also be limited, the maximum can be given 25 kg per day. This rate must be divided into 2-3 meals.

For prevention, you can hang a feeder with baking soda in the barn, which animals can absorb as needed. You can give courses of enzymes that will improve the functioning of the scar. If molasses is introduced into the diet, then its amount should not exceed 500 g per 100 kg of live weight of cattle. Hay and straw should not be finely chopped, the minimum length is 3 cm. Live yeast and mineral licks can be added to the diet.