SIMPLE TREATMENT ADVISED.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 16, 31 October 1935, Page 8

SIMPLE TREATMENT ADVISED.

GRASS STAGGERS

A MINERAL DEFICIENCY. Grass staggers is a disease of dairy cows in which the cow becomes aftected from two to six weeks after _ calving, and in which there is a very high death rate. The name grass staggers is a poor one, and others such as grass tetany, eclampsia, etc., have been used. It is only within recent; years that much has'been known of this serious condition, states the “New Zealand Journal of Agriculture.” Usually many cases are to be seen in August and September iii the Waikato and the Bay of Plenty. Sometimes cases occur in the Gisborne, Mhnawatu andAVairarapa districts. Taranaki is as yet frde, though it may not remain so always. There seems to be a reason why certain districts aro more frequently affected' than others. Usually they are rich areas heavily top-dressed-with superphosphate and .inclined to be deficient in lime and in magnesium. Milkfever is usually prevalent on the same farms as grass staggers, or in districts affected with grass staggers.

Symptoms Vary. The symptoms o£ the disease vaiy from miid to acute. In mild cases cows walk stiffly or stand about twitching qr-trembling slightly,, and are easily I frightened Such cases may, when being driven to the yard 01 duiing milking, drop down in a. fit, and may even die at that stage. The 'stage is acute when the-cow is found in convulsions and unconscious, eye turned hack and twitching, and .often showing paddling movements of the. limbs. To get such cows conscious*, and. on their feet Has been yery difficult in the. past, but .with,an increase in our knowledge results of treatment during the past two years have been better. lhe blood of such cbws is very deficient in magnesium and to some extent in calcium. There is an antagonistic action between calcium and magnesium in the blood in their action on the nerves. Calcium irritates nerves and magnesium has a soothing effect on' them. With too little magnesium the calcium has had the upper hand, and the cow. becomes irritable, nervous and highly strung, sufficiently so at times to charge the owner without much provocation. When the magnesium is replaced the cow once more regains its placidity. . .' Treatment then consists in replacing the magnesium. This can be dope by drenching with Epsom salts—i.e., sulphate of,magnesia—if the cow be lightly affected. There is, liovtever, always the danger of tlie cow taking convulsions during the act of drenching. It is better in np'ld cases for the' cows to drink water from a water-trough which is kept medicated with Epsom salts, say lib. to 20 gallons water. Should the cow be(affected acutely it requires, the injection of Epsom salts under the skin, and this should he done by a vet-, erinarian, who can gauge the amount the animal may take without causing death. Prevention Best. Prevention, however, is by far the best course to adopt. Many farmers know when to expect trouble, usually after the- hay and silage are finished, Aiid when the spring flush of grass appears, Actually the whole of the year’s; growth of uasture has been slightly deficient in magnesium and lime, but this is accentuated to a dangerous degree, one thinks, by the high phosphate content of the young grass. in . the spring. Experimental trials have been made with both the sulphate of magnesia and with a mineral known as dolomite, which contains much magnesium, and both have been found helpful. ' As soon as cases are noticed on the farm it is wise to add Epsom salts to the water-troughs, keeping the ballcock tied up—per cent, solution is tasteless and if kept constantly before the cows wards off the trouble. Where water-troughs are not available Epsom salts can he spread on silage or dampened hay for the cows during the latter part of the winter. Ground dolomite has also been used as a lick and spread on silage or hay. On two farms a trial is being made with dolomite, sprinkled throughout the silage while it was being stacked, so that magnesium is incorporated,from the start- and cows must get it. during the winter to store for the after-calving period. Considerable experimental work on assimilation'of magnesium by stock lias been and still is being carried out at Wallaceville, and an ull-the-year-round analysis of grass is being made from certain farms in the Waikato, where the disease is prevalent.