The content of dairy cattle requires the owner of the ability to properly balance the diet and timely provide veterinary assistance to the animal. Diseases in cattle can be both infectious and non-infectious. Acidosis in cows belongs to the second. In cows, milk yield starts to fall, it rapidly loses weight and weakens. If a cow is left untreated, it will die.
What is acidosis?
This disease is metabolic. Acidosis is an ailment that is characterized by a shift in the pH of the contents of the rumen to the acidic side. This is due to the fact that too much lactic acid accumulates in it. The cow’s stomach consists of 4 chambers; the scar is the first and largest of them.
Due to the excess of lactic acid, the digestion is disturbed in the burenka, which leads to the occurrence of other disorders. A cow is in pain, eating poorly and losing weight. In sick cattle, immunity decreases, it becomes more susceptible to infections.
The disease occurs due to inaccuracies in nutrition. For example, a farmer introduced too many apples or beetroot into the herd's diet. This is likely to lead to symptoms of acidosis in cows. Highly productive animals are more likely to get sick, which, due to excellent milk yield, tend to absorb as much food as possible.
Causes
Cow rumen acidosis always occurs due to dietary errors. For example, excess supply of sugar feed is very dangerous. To get maximum milk yield, farmers force cows to eat large quantities of molasses or sugar beets. The result is the occurrence of scar acidosis. Sometimes the owners simply planted too much fodder beet, and after a while it began to deteriorate. In order not to lose their harvested crops, such farmers give the cows an extra portion. The result of such actions is obvious.
It is very dangerous to feed ruminants with chopped food. Microscopic pieces do not linger in the stomach, so the bacteria that inhabit the scar are left without food. This leads to excessive release of lactic acid. The animal’s chewing gum will disappear, because the feed cannot be returned back to the mouth. As a result, the cow develops acidosis, tympanum, atony.
Particular attention should be paid to feed quality. In violation of the technology of harvesting silage and haylage, a lot of butyric acid is formed in them. Such feed is considered spoiled, it is dangerous to give livestock. Cows are ruminants, so they should always have enough benign hay or silage in their diet. Otherwise, acidosis cannot be avoided.
Disease development
When cow acidosis begins, symptoms and treatment can scare the owner. Due to the abundance of lactic acid, livestock lose their appetite. Digestion in animals is impaired, this weakens their immunity and leads to the fact that secondary infections begin to cling to cows.
Cattle practically ceases to eat, feed is deposited 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 number of conditionally pathogenic microflora is increasing, which contributes to the appearance of inflammatory mediators. Lactic acid is absorbed into the bloodstream and the cow develops metabolic acidosis.
Animals weaken, look tired and exhausted. Their ears are lowered, instead of chewing gum they process their own saliva. Food perversions can be observed: eating the earth or your own litter, licking the walls and inventory. The coat of diseased cows loses its luster, becomes dull, disheveled. Lameness may occur, which later becomes arthritis.
If you do not start treatment for cicatricial acidosis in cows, then the 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. Sexual function is impaired in animals of both sexes. Further possible cardiac arrest and death.
Acute form of the 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 concentrate delivery. There is more lactic acid in the rumen, which leads to a rapid decrease in pH to 6 or less.
The animal has the classic signs of poisoning: intoxication, lethargy, poor health. A cow lies almost all the time, can grit its teeth or breathe often. Then the cud disappears in the cows, the atony of the scar begins. The heart rate during acidosis in cows is elevated, tachycardia may occur. Sometimes in a sick animal cramps begin.
Subclinical form
This type of acidosis in cows is usually found with an increase in the rate of giving sweet foods: streams, beets and others. This form is also called a subacute, because it develops gradually. In this type of disease, affected cows may experience a drop in temperature. This is another difference between the subclinical and acute forms, in which hypothermia is impossible.
Sometimes acidosis occurs almost without symptoms, in this case, the owner may not even notice that the nurse is unhealthy. With subclinical form, prolonged diarrhea may occur. Often reduced milk yield, in some cases, even the termination of lactation is possible. A cow eats less feed, may begin to lose weight. The presence of these symptoms is a reason to suspect acidosis in the nurse.
Chronic form
This type of ailment at different periods of life can be observed in many young cows. Most often, chronic acidosis in cows occurs on farms where food is not monitored. At risk are the most highly productive animals. A disease on the farm is often not diagnosed for a long time, as the symptoms are not pronounced.
Owners can pay attention to reduced livestock productivity. The atony and tympanum are observed on the farm, which after treatment give a relapse. Cows can start eating less or procrastinate for a long time. After a few months, animals with problem hooves appear in the herd. Pregnant cows may experience miscarriages. Calves on the farm are born weak, without immunity to infections. This occurs, despite the timely drinking of colostrum.
Diagnostics
In case of acidosis in cows, treatment should be started quickly, so it is very important to make a correct diagnosis. Before the arrival of the veterinarian, the owner can conduct an independent diagnosis. It is necessary to track down the moment when the cow begins to chew gum. No need to scare the animal, the owner should stand nearby and not move. A cow has an average of 55 jaw movements per minute. If the burenka chews noticeably more often or much less often, then this may be a sign of the disease. The owner must report his observation to the veterinarian.
Arriving, the doctor makes a visual inspection of the cattle and takes the materials for examination. Typically, the diagnosis is made according to the content of the scar of the animal. The doctor can also take blood and urine of the nurse for examination.
First Aid Cow
If the veterinarian cannot come yet, and the owners suspect acidosis of the nurse, then first aid should be given to her. 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 cow is in satisfactory condition, then it’s 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 weakened, then you need to dilute half the packaging of ordinary table soda in 3 liters of warm water. This liquid is poured into the mouth of the cow. After they give up to 1 liter of warm vegetable oil. Then they produce a scar massage. The owners need to do this until there are movements of the feed masses 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 nurse will not recover. First of all, you need to limit molasses and beets. If animals go for grazing, 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 cattle in the morning and in the evening. This should be done before the cessation of diarrhea, usually 3-5 days is enough.
In severe cases, soda is administered intravenously. But this should only be done by a veterinarian, initiative is dangerous. Soda is mixed with glucose and saline. Fluids should be warm. Treatment takes about 5 days. In some cases, cows are prescribed drugs with enzymes, this is necessary to normalize the microflora in the rumen.
Veterinarian's advice
The owner must feed the cattle correctly. The diet depends on the duration of pregnancy, the phase of lactation, milk yield and weight of the animal. New products should be introduced gradually. For example, you need to transfer the animal from grain to feed. New food is added to the diet of the cow gradually, literally 200 g per day, while the old one is reduced by the same amount. So the cow will have time to adapt.
No need to overfeed cattle with concentrates in pursuit of high milk yield. At a time, you can not give more than 2.5 kg of feed or grain. If the diet contains a lot of concentrates, but not enough hay, then this is a direct road to acidosis in cows. Fodder beets should also be limited, as much as possible to give 25 kg per day. This norm must be divided into 2-3 meals.
For prevention, you can hang in the barn a feeder with baking soda, which animals can absorb as needed. Enzymes can be given in courses 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 cut, the minimum length of 3 cm. Live yeast and mineral licks can be introduced into the diet.