Magnesium Deficiency in Ruminants - Essay Example

Magnesium deficiency in ruminants (Insert Name) (Institution Affiliation) Magnesium is a crucial element that is essential for all ruminants and it is closely related to phosphorus and calcium in distribution and function in the body (Ahmed et al, 2010). Ingested forage is the primary source of magnesium for all ruminants. This paper discusses the magnesium deficiency in ruminants as well as importance of magnesium in the bodies of these animals. In addition, the paper discusses the major sources of magnesium and the sources of magnesium and the main signs of magnesium deficiency. Cattle, goats and sheep are the most common ruminants and have an ability to concert proteins and carbohydrates into forms that are suitable for human use, making it otherwise unproductive land usable. However, proper care of grazing animals often requires good understanding of ruminant nutrition. Apart from discussing effects of magnesium deficiency, this paper also provides the ecological aspects that impact the viability of grass base ruminant livestock operation. The main source of minerals for ruminants is forages. Forages are plants, either wild or tame, that are consumed as livestock feed. Grasses, clovers and other forbs, shrubs, and even some trees serve as forage for livestock, depending on the ecology of the region. Magnesium belongs to a category of minerals commonly referred to as macro – minerals. These are the major minerals that are usually required in large quantities in the diets of ruminant animals. Apart from magnesium, other macro minerals include sodium chloride or salt, calcium, sulfur, potassium and phosphorus. Ruminant animals like all other animals need minerals to remain productive and healthy (Vormann, 2003). The above mentioned minerals are however required in greater quantities than other that are commonly referred to us micro minerals which includes chromium, iron, nickel, manganese, zinc, copper and iodine among many others. Magnesium being closely related to phosphorus and calcium in function is known to activate about three hundred different enzyme in the animal body. Magnesium plays a crucial role in energy metabolism, membrane transport, nerve impulse transmissions and is also essential in transmission of the genetic codes from parent to offspring (Miller et al, 2010). Generally, magnesium is available in various common forms with the most abundant one being magnesium sulfate commonly known as Epsom salt and magnesium oxide. Ingested forage is the main source of magnesium for the ruminant animal, which can be lacking during the rapid growth period of plants. At this state, forages may sometime fail to transfer the right amount of magnesium to the animal that would enable them to maintain normal magnesium – potassium ratio in the animal body thus leading to magnesium deficiency. The magnesium nutritional deficiency especially in ruminants occurs throughout the world and is due to low blood serum levels of magnesium. According to church, the ruminant animal is about 0.05 per cent magnesium by total body weight (church, 1988). In cattle, the dairy breeds are more vulnerable due to high lactation and the accompanied loss of magnesium during this period. This puts more stress on animals that lactate at higher levels. There is also a substantial relationship between the forage quality and the propensity to become magnesium deficient. Some of the most common signs of magnesium deficiency include anorexia, excitability, profuse salivation, calcification of soft tissue, hyperemia, frothing at the mouth and muscular twitching and convulsions as well as grass tetany (Ahmed et al, 2010).. Among the most prevalent signs is grass tetany. Grass tetany refers to deficiency of serum magnesium levels. It usually occurs in ruminants especially during the early lactation period and it is more prevalent in older animals which are believed to be unable to mobilize enough magnesium from the bone reserves as compared to the younger ones. Various researches have been conducted regarding the subject of magnesium deficiency with the initial one dated about five decades ago. The emerging trends in these researches have shown that magnesium deficiency in ruminants, which is closely linked to grass tetany and can be attributed to soils and forages on which these animals rely on as the primary source of food. Scientific work has been done to modify a variety of forage base to provide more magnesium to the ruminant. The genetically superior forages are commonly referred to as high – mag forages. The propensity of ruminants to become hypo - magnesemic often varies from place to place and is closely linked with the climatic condition (Miller et al, 2010). During the winter months, there is usually a substantial reduction in the standing levels of magnesium concentrations in forages. Some animal producers particularly those dealing with beef cattle never have any kind of problems with it while others have to supplement their cattle during winter and spring growing season to avoid grass tetany. Grass tetany frequently occurs when ruminants are grazing small grains pastures or lush immature grasses and tends to be more prevalent during winter or periods of cloudy weather. Symptoms include lack of coordination, salivation, excitability whereby cows may charge humans and in its final stages, grass tetany, convulsions and eventually death. Grass tetany is occasionally encountered on fescue pastures but the incidence is much lower than seen on small grains pastures. It is also known that there are several other factors apart from low magnesium content in forages that can lead to magnesium deficiency in ruminant animals. High potassium levels in forages can radically decrease the amount of magnesium absorption and majority of lush, immature forages typically have high potassium content (Vormann, 2003). As a result, the incidences of magnesium deficiency on wheat pastures are common in several areas especially where the soils have higher potassium content. In addition, High levels of nitrogen fertilization have also been shown to increase the incidence of magnesium deficiency in ruminants and grass tetany. This is due to the formation of an insoluble magnesium - ammonium – phosphate in the digestive track which is excreted rather than absorbed by the animals into the blood system (Miller et al, 2010). Feeding pasture supplements that contains high levels of non- protein nitrogen to ruminant animals especially cattle which graze on lush forage would also increase the risk of magnesium deficiency. However, feeding oilseed meal - based protein supplements to the ruminant animals has not been shown to increase the incidence of magnesium deficiency, although this is likely contribute to the bloating problem especially with stocker cattle. When conditions for possibility of tetany or symptoms of magnesium deficiency are suspected, the animals should be provided with pasture supplement that contain between 6 and 30 percent of magnesium with a daily intake of minerals ranging from two to four oz every day (Brozos, Mavrogianni, & Fthenakis, 2011). It is best for the high - magnesium supplements be provided to the animals at least one month ahead of the period of risk of magnesium deficiency in order to ensure that proper intake is established. However, it is worth noting that magnesium supplementation does not in any way prevent or cure bloat in ruminant animals grazing on lush or wheat pastures. These are two different things with one affecting mainly older animals and bloat being prevalent in younger stocker ruminants. Thus, while magnesium and calcium may be very effective in preventing grass tetany, they are ineffective and unsuitable for preventing bloat. The ruminant animals cannot store excess magnesium ingested through supplements in order to utilize it when there is lack of magnesium in the forage. Whenever excess magnesium is ingested it will be urinated out or excreted through milk (Naik, Ananda, & Rani, 2010). The reason that potassium is an antagonist to magnesium is that it inhibits absorption through the digestive track. The key concept to the animal’s balance of magnesium is that if the inflow is greater than the outflow the animal will have sufficient magnesium to carry out normal activities. If the outflow is greater than the inflow there is a chance that they will become deficient and start to show symptoms of grass tetany. The main role of magnesium in the body is to help in the digestion of lipids, proteins and carbohydrates where it acts as a metallic cofactor for digestion of these vital nutrients. Over the years, researchers have shown that magnesium increases appetite and digestibility of various food substances especially during lactation (Ahmed et al, 2010). However, there are several processes in the digestive system of ruminants that effect the digestion and intake of magnesium. Different animals have a varying ability to absorb magnesium through digestive truck despite feeding on similar pastures and having similar nutrient requirements. As a result, there is no single rule that can be applied on all ruminants since each animal is different. For instance, cattle, sheep and goats are all ruminants but they have different nutrient requirements. Some animals can thrive with pastures containing lower magnesium content although it makes them more susceptible to grass tetany. Grass tetany is one of the nightmares to many ranchers that is caused by magnesium deficiency in the cattle diet. The symptoms which include uncoordinated gait, nervousness, staggering, unusually behaviors and eventual death are not usually clearly noticeable. This is primarily because they only give a window of around four to six hours from the onset of the symptoms to the eventual death and this is often catastrophic to majority of ranchers. However, several ways are available for treatment of grass tetany if it is diagnosed soon enough before death of the animal. One of the most effective methods is through a rectal infusion of magnesium in about 200 ml of sterile solution. Other methods include intravenous injection which is a risky procedure since rapid increase of blood magnesium can be fatal. Although this disease can be easily prevented or treated, it is associated with level of production of the animal, forage, season, and the type of genetic type of the ruminant. Some breeds of animals can easily absorb magnesium as compared to others and this explains why not all ruminants suffer from diseases associated with magnesium deficiency despite feeding from the same forage. Further research has also shown that sheep does not show signs of magnesium deficiency or grass tetany when subjected forage with lower magnesium contents or when the level of magnesium was experimentally lowered. This is probably because the blood serum levels are consistently related to the magnesium intake which can vary due to a number of reasons such as difference in absorption levels exhibited by different animals. Age also plays an important role in effecting the absorption of magnesium. Ranchers must thus understand that different animals in the herd have significant variations in mineral requirement and intake which means they should be treated differently. According to Schweigel and Martens in their article named Pathophysiology of grass tetany and other hypomagnesaemia, magnesium absorption into the body of ruminants is not in any way controlled by hormonal feedback system, but the uptake of this crucial element is simply by inflow and outflow of the magnesium (Martens, 2000). All the excess magnesium is usually excreted through urine as the body of the animals cannot store the surplus minerals for future use. According to this article, potassium level of forages has a negative impact on the magnesium absorption in the gut of ruminants and can lead to magnesium deficiency despite having enough magnesium content in the forages. The soil characteristics, topography, season and water availability in the ecosystems usually limit the type of pasture and consequently the type of wildlife as well as ruminant livestock performing symbiotic duties within the body of the animals. These animals usually occupy a niche in the ecological system and complete a nutrient cycle by returning up to 90 % of the nutrients they ingest through pastures and the supplement diets, by means of urine, feces and their own bodies after their death. Forage crops on the other hand remove minerals from the soil in varying amounts. Also, various parts of the plant will have different levels of various minerals and since this is a continuous cycle which starts from the soil to the forages which are eventually ingested by animals and majority of the minerals excreted back to the soil, deficiency of a mineral at one point of the ecological system will have a severe impact on the whole system (Miller et al, 2010). In addition, since forages obtains these nutrients from the soil through their roots, low soil mineral levels and poor mineral availability can limit the ultimate mineral content in the forage crops. If a grass or wheat pasture is growing rapidly, certain minerals may not be absorbed fast enough to keep leaf mineral levels adequate, as is the case with magnesium in the early spring. To avoid magnesium deficiency especially in ruminant animals, several steps ought to be taken to improve the forage mineral content. First of all, extensive soil tests should be conducted in order to allow the cattle farmers or rancher to apply fertilizers appropriately (Brozos, Mavrogianni, & Fthenakis, 2011). This is primarily because maintain the appropriate nutrient levels in the soil is crucial for quality forage production. As studies have shown, high levels of potassium in the forages can severely interfere with the ability of ruminants to absorb and appropriately utilize magnesium which eventually result in grass tetany or death. If potassium fertilizers are applied where they are not needed, the levels of potassium in the forage will increase without increasing the yield and this is an undesirable factor (Fardous et al, 2010). Generically application of fertilizers can also lead to imbalance in the mineral content of the soil which results in potential risks and problems in animals. For instance, it is usually convenient to apply 19 - 19 – 19, but without proper soil test, there are no other ways of knowing how much phosphate and potash are required for a particular field. Thus, soil testing is essential every 2 to 3 years in order to prevent various problems associated with minerals. Secondly, the soil pH should always be maintained close to neutral. Some soils tend to be naturally acidic and over time, the pH slowly drops. If nitrogen fertilizers are applied, the soils can experience a more dramatic decrease in pH and as the pH decreases, some minerals becomes more available while others decline (Fontenot, Allen, Bunce, & Goff,1989). The mineral which are considered to be macro or good such as potassium magnesium and phosphorus are more available at pH levels between 6 and 6.5 while those that are known to inhibit plant and root development are tied to soil particles at this level of pH. Consequently, forage crops can absorb the necessary minerals at this pH. In conclusion, numerous interactions of minerals exist to influence the availability of dietary minerals such as magnesium. The mineral concentration in forages varies considerably and is dependent on several factors such as forage species, fertilization, soil mineral concentration, climatic conditions, weathering and season of the year. Magnesium levels in pastures and forage crops are low in springs while potassium levels are high at the same period. Low levels of magnesium have been known as the most critical factor in grass tetany which is a deadly catastrophic disease that is linked to magnesium deficiency in ruminants. Also high concentration of potassium interferes with absorption of magnesium leading to deficiency of the latter. References Ahmed, H. A., Mattoo, F. A., Ganai, A. M., Bulbul, K. H., Hafiz, A., & Afzal, Y. (2010). Nutritional deficiency diseases in ruminants. North-East Veterinarian, 10(2), 8-13 Brozos, C., Mavrogianni, V. S., & Fthenakis, G. C. (2011). 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