Infobox: Cattle anatomy crash course
Cattle stomach - or rather ruminant stomach as cattle belong to this suborder - is divided into four chambers. They are called the reticulum, rumen, abomasum and pyloric stomachs.
Does that upset your stomach?
27 March 2024 — by Birka Kallenbach
"You have to come by, I have something to show you" - when a vet says that, of course we're already on our way! When we arrive in front of a cattle barn in Bavaria, Dr. Josef Beisl, M.Sc. is already there as his own practice is only a few kilometers away. he pulls something out of his car: A large paper bag that looks very familiar to us.
In young cattle, the stomach does not yet function the way it does in adults. When they start to eat solid food, the rumination process begins, which then takes place mainly in the rumen. In young animals, the rumen is not yet fully developed and the abomasum is particularly active - because it is responsible for digesting the fat and protein in the milk.
Ulcers in the abomasum are particularly common in calves. Although it is not yet conclusive what this is caused by, some factors promoting ulcers in the abomasum are known: stress (for example due to a change of stable, transportation or dehorning), too much milk at once (especially if the calves do not drink from their mother, but only large quantities once or twice a day) or switching from milk to solid food too quickly. Treatment is made particularly difficult by the fact that the ulcers are only really noticeable when they break and are already bleeding. Then even the vet can no longer help.
Going back to our visit, we first we go to the barn. Xaver Eder, the farm manager here, is also present and leads us into the compartment next to the large barn where his 70 Fleckvieh cattle live. And here we see what Beisl has just taken out of the car: A pack of VomiSan ... for horses? So Mr. Beisl, what are you and VomiSan doing here?
"The first thing you need to know is that 80 percent of fattening calves have abomasal ulcers," the vet begins. "From this we can conclude that a large proportion of calves that are used for further fattening also suffer from this problem." The animals we see here are not so young - they were born in another barn and then came together here.
With calves, there is one situation that is particularly critical - the so-called moving of calves. This involves moving the calves from different barns to a new one, which is an extremely stressful situation for them – the weighing, the change of location and the new barn, the other calves – everything is new and unfamiliar.
The moving of the calves is, therefore, where the attention of a vet is in particularly high demand. "A particularly high number of abomasal ulcers occur during this time due to the stress," says Beisl. If an animal is seen as suffering, the vet goes straight for the feed supplement. "We were already using VomiSan as stomach protection for horses when it occurred to me that we could also use it for abomasal ulcers, as the indications are exactly right for the product. And it convinced both me and the farm managers - it works very well and is still relatively inexpensive".
Even if every calf was given VomiSan without showing symptoms, it would still be cheaper than having some of them die from a perforated ulcer. In addition, it is of course practical that they do not have to wait for milking or slaughter, explains Beisl.
This is why almost all of the farms that Beisl looks after now have a can of VomiSan on site. "If a calf becomes conspicuous, the farm manager can soak a little and feed it a few hours later so that it is easier for the calves to absorb than the pellets," explains the vet. In particularly acute cases, however, the product is also available without soaking. "I also have one or two farms that now feed the VomiSan prophylactically to all calves because they have had such good experiences and are otherwise struggling with ulcers." He also gives VomiSan as a preventative measure when he has to administer painkillers to protect the stomach.
In addition to feed supplements, Beisl also uses other methods to prevent stress and promote the health of the cattle. For example, he has found that electrolyte solution, which is available to the calves on their first night in the new barn, helps them to overcome the stress situation more quickly and accept milk better the next day.
Beisl repeatedly discusses these options with farm managers. In the end, says the vet, many factors are responsible for a healthy calf. Working with livestock is close to his heart - keeping them healthy and working together with farmers and farm managers to improve conditions is a topic close to his heart.
"People are really open to trying out new things," Beisl explains. "Once they try things and they work, they stick with them." This was also the case with VomiSan. The vet now wants even more farmers and their animals to benefit from it.
