Black leg

[daveydiesel1]

Lost 2 calves to black leg this week. Field was reseeded last year after being reclaimed after we bought the land so never grazed it before. Was wondering what causes blackleg? I know u can vaccinate for it but never knew what the cause is

 

[Sid]

Lost 2 calves to black leg this week. Field was reseeded last year after being reclaimed after we bought the land so never grazed it before. Was wondering what causes blackleg? I know u can vaccinate for it but never knew what the cause is

Clostridial disease
Septicaemia basically.

Vaccine is in short supply to.

Edit

Comes from the soil.
Grazing too tight.
Probably see a lot of it this spring.

 

[An Gof]

Lost 2 calves to black leg this week. Field was reseeded last year after being reclaimed after we bought the land so never grazed it before. Was wondering what causes blackleg? I know u can vaccinate for it but never knew what the cause is

Clostridial disease.
Vaccine is pence so always worth doing in my opinion. Makes me laugh when people ask me if I get trouble with Blackleg and that’s why I vaccinate I don’t get trouble because I vaccinate

If you have a bad go with Blackleg the losses in one year can be more than the vaccine cost for a farming lifetime.

 

[daveydiesel1]

Ok what does clostridal disease really mean or whats in a specific field that gives them it

 

[An Gof]

Australian version, but the principle is valid worldwide

https://www.zoetis.com.au/_locale-assets/faq/faqs-blackleg.pdf

 

[Sid]

Ok what does clostridal disease really mean or whats in a specific field that gives them it

Soil borne.
Grazing too tight.

IIRC 12 animal dose of vaccine is £6ish

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Ok what does clostridal disease really mean or whats in a specific field that gives them it

Soil disturbance

 

[Sid]

Clostridial disease.
Vaccine is pence so always worth doing in my opinion. Makes me laugh when people ask me if I get trouble with Blackleg and that’s why I vaccinate I don’t get trouble because I vaccinate

If you have a bad go with Blackleg the losses in one year can be more than the vaccine cost for a farming lifetime.

It's always the best animal as well.
The good doer

 

[milkloss]

I know black leg but considering clostridium covers a few diseases what would be the symptoms. Lost a couple of cows so far for no particular reason and they are grazing tight with straw for belly fill.

Had 7mm rain yesterday so hoping the grass will grow...... then it’ll be mag trouble!

 

[primmiemoo]

Generally, it's sudden onset gangrene, usually in a leg.

Blackleg - Generalized Conditions - Veterinary Manual

Learn about the veterinary topic of Blackleg. Find specific details on this topic and related topics from the MSD Vet Manual.

www.msdvetmanual.com

.

NADIS Animal Health Skills - Clostridial Disease in Cattle

NADIS is a unique online based animal health resource for farmers, vets and SQPs. The information is written by veterinary experts, peer-reviewed and presented in a practical format with a high visual clinical content to improve disease awareness and highlight disease prevention.

www.nadis.org.uk

Quick death, but horrible. Costly, obviously.

 

[An Gof]

Generally, it's sudden onset gangrene, usually in a leg.

Blackleg - Generalized Conditions - Veterinary Manual

Learn about the veterinary topic of Blackleg. Find specific details on this topic and related topics from the MSD Vet Manual.

www.msdvetmanual.com

.

Quick death, but horrible. Costly, obviously.

And rarely just one animal in a group

 

[Farmer Fin]

Ok what does clostridal disease really mean or whats in a specific field that gives them it

Clostridial are a family of bacteria. Within that family you have blackleg, tetanus, pulpy kidney, blacks disease. In effect lots of things that kill livestock suddenly. Most of the clostridial family live in the environment / soil. Vaccines like bravoxin / covexin are really cheap and as someone else said pay back in no time if you know you have an issue.

 

[goodevans]

We get it in bulls in sheds,normally when they are getting to maturity,(a week away from selling) it is said a bruise will set it off but cattle growing quickly seem to be most at risk.

 

[Buffalo]

As I’ve seen it shoulder or upper leg will swell fast, can be dead within hours, they’ll go of their leg/s very quickly. There will be a horrible coloured puss coming from any swelling, which might or probably is black. Nearly impossible to stop once they’ve got it. Managed to catch one early enough when we had an outbreak, after a week of a lot of meds, ended up with the same out come. Vaccinate everything now, always get the best one because the immune system can’t keep up with their growth.

 

[Werzle]

Once you have had an outbreak you will never turn any youngstock out again without jabbing them, awful. Brovoxin isnt in short supply and costs pence, had a bad outbreak once and got all the calves in and gave them a brovoxin jab plus a double dose of penstrep. Most would advise you not to risk bruising them but i didnt loose another after. Those that wait and see usually loose alot more. Outbreaks are usually set off by soil disturbance or warm rain on dry ground

 

[daveydiesel1]

So more likely on a new reseed? Was reseeded last year but was good grass covering and they were only put out to it so wasnt short of grass

 

[goodevans]

Once you have had an outbreak you will never turn any youngstock out again without jabbing them, awful. Brovoxin isnt in short supply and costs pence, had a bad outbreak once and got all the calves in and gave them a brovoxin jab plus a double dose of penstrep. Most would advise you not to risk bruising them but i didnt loose another after. Those that wait and see usually loose alot more. Outbreaks are usually set off by soil disturbance or warm rain on dry ground

Although we get it in the bulls we dont seem to have a problem with grazing steers and heifers so maybe coming in on soiled straw?

 

[Werzle]

Although we get it in the bulls we dont seem to have a problem with grazing steers and heifers so maybe coming in on soiled straw?

Never heard of cattle inside getting it tbh , its usually associated with grazing ground near watercourses and places that lie damp/flood. Any fields that you see mushrooms growing on would be candidates for blackleg. You sure the bulls are not dying from botulism, symptoms and rate of death are similiar

 

[Werzle]

So more likely on a new reseed? Was reseeded last year but was good grass covering and they were only put out to it so wasnt short of grass

Maybe, although its early for an outbreak, soil temp usually needs to be higher for the pathogen to kick off

 

[dairydurham]

Never heard of cattle inside getting it tbh , its usually associated with grazing ground near watercourses and places that lie damp/flood. Any fields that you see mushrooms growing on would be candidates for blackleg. You sure the bulls are not dying from botulism, symptoms and rate of death are similiar

We get it in one particular shed. Took farm on in 2000 all ok , cleaned out FMD 2001 ,ok for a few years and now we get occassional outbreaks in yearling dairy hefs