CattleQueen
Member
This article was in the Wyoming Livestock Roundup this week. As the drought continues, this is something we producers need to be aware of.
---------
Cattle Killed by Same Lichen that Killed Elk
By Echo Renner
The ground lichen (Xanthoparmelia chlorochroa) toxicity that killed about 500 elk near Rawlins in 2004 is thought to have killed several cattle on a BLM grazing allotment near Cody.
In November 2005, a rancher from north of Cody trailed 260 cattle to a grazing allotment in the northwest area of the McCullough Peaks, east of Cody. The cattle producer, who wishes to remain unnamed, said, "The cattle had just come off the mountain and were in good shape. We weaned the calves, then moved the cows to the Peaks. They were fine at first, then we found a couple of them staggering. We started gathering them up to see what was going on, and within three days, the cattle were really sick and dropping."
The symptoms included red urine, weakness, staggering, an inability to get up, paralysis and death. "These are the same symptoms exhibited by the elk in the 2004 situation," said Becky Dailey, Graduate Assistant at the Wyoming State Vet Lab. The elk deaths occurred on the Red Rim-Daley Wildlife Habitat Management Area 10 miles southwest of Rawlins during seven weeks beginning February 6, 2004. An estimated 400-500 Rocky Mountain Elk were stricken and died. Ground lichen was determined to be the culprit. Dailey said the redness of the urine is not caused from blood, but from die in the lichen. Native Americans use ground lichen to dye wool and cotton a warm brown or rust color for weaving.
When the cattle were stricken, no one knew what was causing their sickness and death. Dr. Melvin Fillerup, a Cody veterinarian said, "The symptoms were like those of grass tetany, so we treated the cattle for that. I've seen grass tetany in the fall and even in the spring before cows calve. The toxicology reports weren't back yet from the lab, but when the cattle didn't respond to the treatment, I knew we were looking at something else," he said. The producer gathered the cattle and fed them hay for a few days, then put them on beet tops. "The cows filled up on beet tops, and because many of them already had a compromised liver from eating the lichen, they bloated and died," said Fillerup. A total of thirty-one cattle were lost. "Every year we have a few cows die from bloat on beet tops, but not in these numbers. These cattle were already compromised from the lichen, and the beet tops further compromised their systems."
The cows started calving in January and suffered a higher loss of calves than normal. "That was just 60 days after the poisoning, and we were still having some problems," commented the producer. He added, "They are all fine now."
Dailey said, "It probably was the lichen that caused this, but we can't yet conclusively say that it was. We don't know yet what in the lichen is causing the illness." She is continuing to run tests and will have a more definitive answer in May.
"The lichen looks like green popcorn," said Fillerup. "There was a lot of it on the allotment. I've seen it before on the YU Bench out of Meeteetse and in the Greybull area." He continued, "These cattle were belly deep in grass, and they had a molasses mineral tub available, but they still ate the lichen."
Tricia Hatle, Range Management Specialist in the Cody BLM office said there are no plans to close or restrict the allotments where the lichen is present. She said ground lichen is often found where there is bare ground or on recovering range, but it can be present in good grazing conditions as well. Drought appears to increase its presence. At this time, it is unknown how the lichen can be controlled, or if it can be. "It is a tumbleweed or vagrant lichen. It doesn't attach to anything, it just blows in the wind," Hatle commented.
The producer said he lost cattle who exhibited the same symptoms in the fall of 2002 and 2003 in the Big Sand Coulee area north of Cody. He said he will continue to utilize those pastures, but not in the fall.
Lichens are slow growing, long-lived organisms. There are approximately 14,000 lichen species known to exist. Several species of birds use lichens as nesting material, and squirrels and other small mammals incorporate a small percentage of lichen into their diet. Ungulates like reindeer and caribou depend on lichens for winter forage. Accounts of lichen poisoning in ruminants are rare. According to a technical paper by Dailey, there were reports of lichen toxicity in cattle and sheep in Wyoming in the 1930's. For a copy of the paper, or for more information, contact Dailey at the State Vet Lab at 307-742-6638 or email her at [email protected], or the Wyoming Livestock Roundup.
---------
Cattle Killed by Same Lichen that Killed Elk
By Echo Renner
The ground lichen (Xanthoparmelia chlorochroa) toxicity that killed about 500 elk near Rawlins in 2004 is thought to have killed several cattle on a BLM grazing allotment near Cody.
In November 2005, a rancher from north of Cody trailed 260 cattle to a grazing allotment in the northwest area of the McCullough Peaks, east of Cody. The cattle producer, who wishes to remain unnamed, said, "The cattle had just come off the mountain and were in good shape. We weaned the calves, then moved the cows to the Peaks. They were fine at first, then we found a couple of them staggering. We started gathering them up to see what was going on, and within three days, the cattle were really sick and dropping."
The symptoms included red urine, weakness, staggering, an inability to get up, paralysis and death. "These are the same symptoms exhibited by the elk in the 2004 situation," said Becky Dailey, Graduate Assistant at the Wyoming State Vet Lab. The elk deaths occurred on the Red Rim-Daley Wildlife Habitat Management Area 10 miles southwest of Rawlins during seven weeks beginning February 6, 2004. An estimated 400-500 Rocky Mountain Elk were stricken and died. Ground lichen was determined to be the culprit. Dailey said the redness of the urine is not caused from blood, but from die in the lichen. Native Americans use ground lichen to dye wool and cotton a warm brown or rust color for weaving.
When the cattle were stricken, no one knew what was causing their sickness and death. Dr. Melvin Fillerup, a Cody veterinarian said, "The symptoms were like those of grass tetany, so we treated the cattle for that. I've seen grass tetany in the fall and even in the spring before cows calve. The toxicology reports weren't back yet from the lab, but when the cattle didn't respond to the treatment, I knew we were looking at something else," he said. The producer gathered the cattle and fed them hay for a few days, then put them on beet tops. "The cows filled up on beet tops, and because many of them already had a compromised liver from eating the lichen, they bloated and died," said Fillerup. A total of thirty-one cattle were lost. "Every year we have a few cows die from bloat on beet tops, but not in these numbers. These cattle were already compromised from the lichen, and the beet tops further compromised their systems."
The cows started calving in January and suffered a higher loss of calves than normal. "That was just 60 days after the poisoning, and we were still having some problems," commented the producer. He added, "They are all fine now."
Dailey said, "It probably was the lichen that caused this, but we can't yet conclusively say that it was. We don't know yet what in the lichen is causing the illness." She is continuing to run tests and will have a more definitive answer in May.
"The lichen looks like green popcorn," said Fillerup. "There was a lot of it on the allotment. I've seen it before on the YU Bench out of Meeteetse and in the Greybull area." He continued, "These cattle were belly deep in grass, and they had a molasses mineral tub available, but they still ate the lichen."
Tricia Hatle, Range Management Specialist in the Cody BLM office said there are no plans to close or restrict the allotments where the lichen is present. She said ground lichen is often found where there is bare ground or on recovering range, but it can be present in good grazing conditions as well. Drought appears to increase its presence. At this time, it is unknown how the lichen can be controlled, or if it can be. "It is a tumbleweed or vagrant lichen. It doesn't attach to anything, it just blows in the wind," Hatle commented.
The producer said he lost cattle who exhibited the same symptoms in the fall of 2002 and 2003 in the Big Sand Coulee area north of Cody. He said he will continue to utilize those pastures, but not in the fall.
Lichens are slow growing, long-lived organisms. There are approximately 14,000 lichen species known to exist. Several species of birds use lichens as nesting material, and squirrels and other small mammals incorporate a small percentage of lichen into their diet. Ungulates like reindeer and caribou depend on lichens for winter forage. Accounts of lichen poisoning in ruminants are rare. According to a technical paper by Dailey, there were reports of lichen toxicity in cattle and sheep in Wyoming in the 1930's. For a copy of the paper, or for more information, contact Dailey at the State Vet Lab at 307-742-6638 or email her at [email protected], or the Wyoming Livestock Roundup.