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Understanding Facial Eczema

Facial eczema should really be called sporidesmin toxicity as the classic skin damage does not occur in all animals and is not always correlated with the real severity of the disease. Facial eczema is primarily a disease of the liver (i.e. sporidesmin is a hepatotoxin). The liver is the powerhouse of production in cattle and determines the health, productivity and quality of that life. Most things entering the system from the diet go to the liver first which puts it at significant risk. The skin...

Financial benefits of a good mineral supplementation programme

Some of the benefits of good mineral supplementation are easier to quantify, such as the value of reducing the incidence of milk fever (hypocalcaemia) or Magnesium staggers (hypomagnesaemia).The total cost of a case of milk fever is estimated to be about $500 when lost milk production, increased risk of other metabolic and infectious diseases, and loss from sub clinical cases are included.The cost of an incidence of clinical Magnesium staggers can often be the value of a cow (and usually one of ...

Finish the FE Season Strong

It is important to finish the season strong. Your herd has been producing all season and has dealt with a particularly severe facial eczema period. The addition of zinc into their diet, while extremely important to help reduce facial eczema issues, does take a toll on cows. It is now important to provide a boost with supplementation of important macro and trace minerals in their diet. Continued use of high dose zinc over a prolonged period can reduce copper intake in animals. Coupled with farm...

Staying Focused this Facial Eczema Season

It has been a tough season - keep focused. Lately, spore counts have been exceptionally high, so don’t lose focus: Keep up zinc dosing for as long as there is a possibility of high spore counts – stopping too soon carries more risk than continuing unnecessarilyDry stock are at risk – water intake will be insufficient if dosing zinc via water so boluses (zinc ‘bullets’) are a good optionBe wary of overdose Standard dose rate is 2.1g elemental Zinc/100kg liveweightCrisis dose rat...

Understanding and Beating Facial Eczema

Facial eczema should really be called sporidesmin toxicity as the classic skin damage does not occur in all animals and is not always correlated with the real severity of the disease. Facial eczema is primarily a disease of the liver (sporidesmin is a hepatotoxin). The liver is the powerhouse of production in cattle and determines the health, productivity and quality of that life.Most things entering the system from the diet go to the liver first which puts it at significant risk. The skin damag...