Common Deficiency Disease of Cattle & Buffalo

MAJOR MINERALS

Calcium

Temporary hypocalcaemia may occur in high yielders of cattle and buffalo, cereal rations due to vitamin D deficiency or due to wide difference in dietary calcium & phosphorous level.
This calcium deficiency prevalent in areas where soil is suspected to erosions or leaching caused by high monsoon rains and floods.
Prolonged calcium deficiency that may occur in young animals may results in rickets, osteoporosis in adults making them prone to fractures.
General symptoms include stunted growth, delayed maturity, reduced fertility, lowered milk yield, unthrift ness, fragile bones and paralytic syndromes.
This can be rectified by feeding of good quality roughages and including mineral mixtures in ration of young and producing stocks and by use of salt bricks.

Phosphorous

The deficiency noticed majorly in the pregnant & lactating cows as well as in growing stocks.
The deficiency of phosphorous is noticed in the areas where cereals and milks straws are mostly fed to animals and also noticed in areas where soil erosion or leaching is common.
The diseased animal shows retarded growth, fertility and also reduction in milk and meat production.
The affected animal also exhibits loss of appetite, craving for bones, licking and graving at inanimate objects known as ‘Pica’. Stiffness in gait and fractures also common.
The deficiency is rectified by including mineral mixture in the concentrate mixture and including wheat bran and bone meal in the ration that are rich in phosphorous.

Magnesium (Grass tenany, grass staggers)

Magnesium deficiency noticed mainly in adult and young cattle and sheep
Noticed mainly in animals which graze on a bush growth of grass in monsoon, associated possibly with less intake of energy.
The deficient animal shows abnormal gait, hyper irritability, hypersensitivity, tremors and convulsions
The deficiency can be rectified by supplementing magnesium oxide in the rations and also including mineral mixture in rations.

Sodium Chloride (Salts) and Potassium

Deficiency noticed in animals in taking ration not supplemented with salts in regular diet and also noticed during excessive vomition, diarrhoea and sweating.
The deficient animal shows lack of appetite gives haggard appearance, lusterless eyes, rough coat.
The lactating animals exhibit rapid loss in weight and milk production.
The deficiency can be rectified by including salt at the rate of 50g for lactating and 28 for dry cows daily.
Apart from mineral mixture, common salt should be included in concentrates at 1% level, rock salt blocks can be provided in mangers for animals to lick.

TRACE / MINOR MINERALS

Iron

 It is noticed in the dairy animals with severe parasitic infestation and calves which fed only with milk diet and also in cases of long standing diarrhea.
 The calves/young stocks which are reared without access to the natural fed roughages (or) soil are mostly prone to the deficiency condition
 The affected animals shows anemia with pale mucous membrane / reduction in milk yield and general emaciation.
 Including proper mineral mixture in the diet, and allowing the animal access for grazing and regular deworming avoids the condition.

Copper

Mostly noticed in the herbivores daisy production animals which are grazing on the soil deficit in copper.
Since the copper is necessary for the formation of hemoglobin, the deficiency of it causes anaemia. The affected animals are unthrifty, related weight loss, diarrhea and anaemic.
The affected sheep shows ‘steely wool’ condition, in which the wool loses its crimp and become hair like and also loose its colour.
The sheep which are grazing on molybdenum rich grasses, gives, birth to lambs, which shows ‘copper deficient nervous syndrome’ known as ‘sway back’
The condition can be rectified by including mineral mixtures in the ration and feeding adequate quantities of legumes and hay and also including copper in the ‘salt –licks’

Cobalt
 Cobalt deficiency noticed mainly in ruminants  Noticed in ruminants which are fed on cobalt deficient diet  The affected animals shows anemia, loss of appetite, progressive emaciation, rough hair coat and paler mucous membranes and eventually death.  The deficiency can be rectified by including 0.1 mg of cobalt salt to sheep and 1 mg to cattle

Iodine

 Majorly noticed in the animals of cattle, buffaloes and sheep
 Noticed in areas where there is lack of iodine in salt and water and also in sub mountainous areas of Himalayas in India
 The affected animal shows enlargement of thyroid gland known as goitre. Loss of hair and affected calves shows high mortality rate and adult cows exhibits dullness and digestive troubles.
 Daily feeding of Iodised salt (25 of powdered potassium iodide added to 100kg of salt) @ 25 g to calves and sheep and 50 g to adult animals
 The above mixture should be prepared fresh and some stabilizer calcium are added to prevent degeneration of Iodine.

Zinc
The zinc deficiency may be noticed in the animals which are fed on excessive calcium and phosphorous rich diet. In case of sheep, the deficiency of zinc causes loss of wool and thick wrinkled skin. The disease can be rectified by including zinc enriched mineral mixture in the diet

Molybdenum Toxicity
 Noticed in animals with intake level of molybdenum more than 20 mg / kg in forage diet.  The condition of toxicity includes Teart pasture and toxicity  Chronic molybdenum poisoning includes scouring, unthrift ness, rough hair coat, loss of hair colour, dehydration, emaciation and death eventually.  Providing copper rich diet corrects the condition

Selenium
Selenium deficiency noticed in animals which are grazed on fodders in alkaline soils and areas which are using excess of sulphate fertilizers. The deficient herd shows neonatal mortality and unthriftiness in weaver calves lambs, and goats, chronic diarrhoea noticed in calves. Infertility noticed in adult cattle. By including diet rich in selenium, rectifies the condition.

VITAMINS

Vitamin – A

 The deficiency noticed mainly in the areas where there is scaring of rainfall & draught condition with scarcity of green fodders.
 The deficient animal shows rough luster, corneal opacity, lacrymation, night blindness, xerophthalmia (dryness of cornea), loss of vision.
 The nervous symptoms includes convulsions and inco – ordination in gait and also anoestrum condition, persistant diarrhoea also noticed
 The rectification is by providing colostrums for at least 3 days to calves and lambs. Since colostrums is rich in vitamin A
 Animal should get at least half to one kg of green fodder daily, rich in carotene. In the absence of green fodder, synthetic preparations of vit-A can be given orally or by injection

Vit – E deficiency

Vitamin E deficiency occurs in the animals which are fed only on concentrates (millets), without green fodder
Also noticed in calves, fed only on milk, which is deficient in E and with ration containing high percentage of fatty aid
The affected calves and lambs shows stiffness in the gait, known as white-muscle disease in calves and ‘Stiff-lambs disease’ in lambs.
Infertility is the one of clinical manifestation noticed in the male animals with Vit –E deficiency

Vitamin –K
Noticed in the ruminants consuming mouldy sweet clover. The disease is referred as Itaemorrhagic sweet clover disease or bleeding disease Vit-K deficiency associates with delayed clothing of blood

Thiamin (Vit – B1)
The ruminants, thiamine deficiency are noticed when there is decrease in the ruminal synthesis of thiamin. Polio encephalomalacia is the condition which is noticed in thiamin deficient ruminants characterized by listlessness, circling, muscular in co-ordination and head pressing, sometimes leads to blindness, convulsions and death. Lack of appetite and impairment in digestion also noticed.