Chronic copper toxicity
Are you seeing cows ‘going down' or dying suddenly? They may look like a metabolic problem or nitrate poisoning. The cows are tending to fall over when stressed - e.g. a feed change. Calving would obviously be a high-risk event. In some instances cows ‘going down' may follow copper treatment.
These cows may have accumulated too much copper from mineral supplementation and often feed supplements such as tapioca/palm kernel. On a dry matter basis, palm kernel has up to double the copper of pasture. Animal health labs have reported a number of chronic copper toxicities in the North Island in the last few weeks and they are worried it may be a large problem.
If you have not had an autumn liver test for copper or even blood tests around calving, it would pay to arrange for some if you thought there is a risk of chronic copper poisoning. Dead cows can also be tested for high copper levels.
