Calf Talk

July, 2005

Volume 11, No. 7

SELENIUM -VERY IMPORTANT, BUT NOT TOO STRONG

By: Russ Schnepper, D. V. M.

This article will probably create more questions than answers. I am writing it to alert you to possible expensive errors that can occur. So if we can save the lives of some veal calves and avoid a huge financial loss, then we have accomplished our goal.

This article may be premature, as I do not yet have the diagnostic laboratory results. But none the less, selenium toxicity can occur. The only time I had seen severe selenium toxicity cause death had been when my neighbor mistakenly gave his lambs three ml of MuSe (he had remembered the calf dose of BoSe and did the same thing to his lambs). Since the lambs did not weigh 600 pounds, he eliminated his entire lamb crop. I am working through a feed representative and will not reveal the veal raiser. The calves were purchased from a calf dealer that kept them for a few days and put them through his own start up program, which apparently included heavy oral supplementation of selenium and a possible injection of selenium. The calf raiser received the calves and likewise put them through his own start up program. He also used at least two oral supplements containing selenium. The next morning 30% of the calves were dead. I do not believe the supplements that were used, are routinely available in the US. They attempted to give charcoal to absorb the toxic product, but that was too late.

This situation reminds me of my biggest pet peeve in the veal industry. Now that most of the veal calves are controlled by larger experienced operators, it is not as large a problem. But I see feeders supplementing the supplements that provide what is already in the milk replacer.

I would like to make a few points. 1. Be sure you know what is in the supplement you are adding to the mix. 2. If you are supplementing, be sure you know what is already in the feed. 3. Get some reliable advice, from your Veterinarian and/or your feed company nutritionist.

Sodium Selenite is the old form of selenium used in feed products. It was not very efficiently absorbed from the gut. Now most companies are using organic selenium which is much more readily available. The legal maximum selenium content in feed in the US is 0.3 parts per million. If this is on a dry matter basis, it has been proven inadequate. However, an interpretation of the rules is that 0.3PPM is on an as fed basis, which would include the water and would supply the selenium needed in the ration. There is also an opinion that the quantitative test used on feed for selenium, is only accurate to 0.3PPM, so the content could be 0.6PPM and regulators would not know the difference. It is easy to see how a combination of errors could compound the problem.

I realize this article proves nothing. I just want to alert you to some possibilities. When a situation goes wrong it is often difficult to get true facts.

Contact information for ordering information and questions about our products:

Schnepper International, Inc.

3210 County B, Platteville, WI 53818

608-348-6141, Fax: 608-348-6146