Check dugout quality to keep cattle healthy

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Published: July 4, 2002

Dry areas across the Prairies have received much needed rains in recent

weeks but dugout levels are still dangerously low, says a water expert.

Larry Braul told producers attending the Western Beef Development

Centre’s Termuende field day that when water levels drop as low as they

have, it can cause problems.

Moisture that has been sitting adjacent to the dugout for five or 10

years seeps in. That old water can be loaded with bad things.

“Almost overnight you can change from a dugout that’s really good water

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quality to one that’s quite high in salts and sulfates that can really

affect the cattle,” said the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration

water quality engineer.

If the salt level in the dugout gets too high, the cattle will decrease

their water intake and can become dehydrated. But the bigger concern is

the sulfates, which can cause “nutritional polio” or nutrient

deficiencies in the animals.

Excess sulfates cause valuable minerals to be flushed out of the body,

leading to a swelling of the brain.

“As a result the brain is kind of crushed up against the skull. With

that, the cattle are basically losing brain cells. They can become

blind, they can become disoriented, they star gaze and eventually they

can die from that.”

The condition is easily reversed if caught early. A veterinarian can

simply provide the cows with the minerals they are lacking and the

animal’s health will rapidly improve.

But there is something producers can do to prevent the onset of

nutritional polio.

“It’s very important to test the water, especially during drought,”

said Braul.

“If your dugout is low and you have no runoff, those are warning signs

and you want to test your dugout and watch your cattle.”

Testing for levels of dissolved solids and sulfates is inexpensive and

can be done at almost any water testing lab listed in the yellow pages,

he said.

A list of prairie labs is also available on the PFRA’s website at

www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/water/wqualite.htm.

Braul said producers should also test for blue-green algae because it

is more prevalent during drought, thriving on the thicker concentration

of nutrients in the water.

Most blue-green algaes don’t produce toxins, but some do and those

poisonous ones are easily identified through standard tests.

Identifying blue-green algae in dugouts is straightforward. Producers

should look for colouration of the water and if they see any algae they

should grab it.

If they can hold the material in their hand, it’s not blue-green algae,

but if it slips through the fingers, it likely is.

If that is the case, it should be checked to see if it is the variety

dangerous to cattle.

About the author

Sean Pratt

Sean Pratt

Reporter/Analyst

Sean Pratt has been working at The Western Producer since 1993 after graduating from the University of Regina’s School of Journalism. Sean also has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Saskatchewan and worked in a bank for a few years before switching careers. Sean primarily writes markets and policy stories about the grain industry and has attended more than 100 conferences over the past three decades. He has received awards from the Canadian Farm Writers Federation, North American Agricultural Journalists and the American Agricultural Editors Association.

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