FARMING ISSUES: Retained placenta in cows

29 Nov, 2015 - 00:11 0 Views

The Sunday News

 Mhlupheki Dube

LAST week I got a call from Mr Dalumuzi Khumalo from Lupane who wanted to know how to address the problem of retained placenta in his cows.

He indicated that this year alone five of his cows had suffered the condition of retained placentas (ukusalela kwe ngqwatshi).

This week’s article is therefore meant to provide more details on this condition and help many other farmers who are also experiencing similar conditions in their herds.

The placenta or afterbirth is the name for the membranes that surround the calf and provide nutrition during gestation.

Normally the placenta detaches from the uterus within minutes and up to 12 hours of calving down. It is considered a retained placenta if it has not been expelled within 24 hours.

Retained placenta is also known as retained foetal membrane, retained cleansing or retained afterbirth. A cow with a retained placenta is seen with membranes which will be hanging on its behind after dropping the calf.

These are blood stained membranes and hence they are not usually a pleasant sight for many people.

Most communal farmers use traditional means of getting the cow to drop the retained foetal membranes.

These include some concoctions and herbs that are given to the cow to drink and they are said to work.

However, some of these herbs are not available during certain times of the year making it difficult for the farmers to administer them if the need arises.

It is important to note that a retained placenta usually drops naturally after about five days but the discomfort caused by the dangling membranes both to the farmer and the cow solicits for an action to ensure the cow drops the retained placenta as fast as possible.

While most cows eventually drop the membrane, it is a good idea to monitor the cow closely for illness. If the cow is running a fever antibiotics may be necessary to fight off an infection.

In itself the retained placenta is not a problem. However, the retention creates a number of potential problems. The retained placenta hangs out of the vulva and as the cow walks the placenta slides back and forth through the external opening of the vulva and sucks material into the uterus.

The vulva of a cow is located just below the anus, so feacal material and feacal micro-organisms are pulled into the uterus.

Also when a cow lies down the placenta will hang out further and lay in the dirt or mud which is loaded with bacteria.

The bacteria set up an active site of infection in the uterus and this can have serious consequences for the cow.

A retained placenta provides a means of entry of organic and inorganic material into the cow that contain a significant load of bacteria.

The bacteria may colonise the uterus and set up an infection and lead to the cow becoming ill or even die. The infection in the uterus may even cause significant inflammation and damage to the uterus leading to a significant delay before she can breed again.

There are a number of common causes of retained placentas in cows and these include a difficult calving (dystocia). A difficult calving may be due to a big calf or an incorrectly positioned calf. A dead foetus which is filled with gas (emphysematous foetus) can also make for difficult birth. There are also management conditions that can predispose an animal to the condition of retaining a placenta. These include stressing the animal through rough handling and transportation. Rough handling might be a common cause in communal farmers as it is common to find a heavily in calf cow being used as draught power.

The other major factors contributing to retained foetal membranes are to do with the nutritional plane to which in calf animals are exposed. A deficiency in energy or protein, vitamin A, selenium, Iodine and vitamin E can cause a retained placenta. A poor nutritional plane is probably the most possible cause for retained afterbirths in most communal herds. This is mostly pronounced in cows that are calving down during this time (October-mid December) as it is the time when most communal animals are in their worst condition.

Giving birth involves muscle contractions as the cow tries to eject the calf and hence a weak animal due to its condition has also weak contractions and may not fully complete the process. However, an equally heavy plane of nutrition which causes animals to be too fat can cause the same condition. It is important though to indicate that this is unlikely to be a cause in veld-fed animals and more so in our communal areas where grazing is always inadequate. Also the tendency for an animal to suffer from a retained placenta can be hereditary meaning this could have been inherited from the parents. If a link can determine that this is hereditary and probably the cow keeps having the same challenge you may want to consider culling it.

Infectious diseases such as Leptospirosis and Brucellosis are also known to cause retained after birth membranes.

Feeback [email protected], cell 0772851275

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