Green Grass and Vitamin A
In our last letter we talked about the Vitamin A and it’s ability to be taken from different vegetables. Green grass is the number one source in our cattle and sheep in the spring.
Other animals also depend on this source. Notice the migratory birds often plan the time when their chicks hatch to coincide with the new green grass. Remember A,D, E are fat soluble. Fat is an energy storage container in nature.
In the northern US and Canada we see a remarkable plan of animal survival. The Canada goose and the ducks begin to arrive in the very early spring. At the time they arrive the climate is not very friendly. We can still get snow and the lakes are often still frozen over but the ducks and geese come anyway and begin their nesting process. In about a month later when the babies hatch lo and behold the new green grass is there to feed the babies. It is not only high in vitamins but is also high in TDN.
TDN is a term meaning Total Digestible Nutrients. The TDN is as you will remember the number we work with to ensure that our milking mother’s get so they can produce optimum production. Making milk and growing babies both need a similar diet profile.
They need a higher energy and protein level than maintenance of the adult. Energy is usually the limiting factor in milk production.
Vitamins A, D, And E are especially important in the diet of the newborn or the recently hatched chick. The vitamin A especially is responsible for the integrity of the epithelium. Big words that mean the lining tissues of the body need to be resilient and strong and able to not only carry the materials in the tubules but resist invasion of pathogens.
A closer look at the microscopic anatomy of the body or histology is the name of the scientific study is going to give us insight on the importance of giving health and integrity to the lining tissues or epithelium.
All the respiratory passages from the nostril to the bronchioles leading to the alveoli in the lung are epithelial in nature. The alveolus itself is that single wall through which oxygen must pass into our blood stream and Carbon Dioxide must escape.
In simpler terms, the lining tissue of the lung is exposed constantly to the outside air.
If there are germs or viruses in that air as there often is in a closed calving barn or lambing shed, we increase the exposure of bad things to our babies.
The air quality is the major reason we suggest we raise our baby dairy calves is separate outdoor hutches.
The integrity of the epithelium in respiratory passages is the major defense against respiratory pathogens. Vitamin A is in charge of maintaining integrity in epithelium.
Vitamin A and lining tissues
One of the most easily discernable lining structures we can see is the cornea of the eyeball. Animals with diets that are deficient in vitamin A often show signs of sore eyes or pinkeye. If we see a herd with lots of pinkeye, it should immediately act as a red flag and we need to be asking questions about why the eyes are bad.
Certainly pinkeye is also involved with bacterial infections but the reasons the bacteria can invade is the fact that nitrates in the grass or low vitamin A have rendered the animal incapable to repel the invading pathogens.
More about other diagnostic questions later but for now there are more lining or epithelial tissues to examine.
The gut or alimentary canal is a tube like structure that goes from the mouth to the anus and is directly connected with the outside even though it is on the inside of the animal. The lining tissues of the gut are assigned the task of absorbing nutrients from the gut into the blood stream. We don’t often stop to realize that every single thing we eat is of no value to us until and unless it is broken down into such small particles that it can pass through the gut wall and into the blood stream. The Blood Stream is the transportation system that delivers the nutrients to every muscle and organ in our body.
If the lining of the gut is not healthy and if the cells do not possess integrity, then pathogens can also invade the blood. Remember the gut is directly connected with the outside environment and if there are germs there they can find their way into the gut by the food we eat.
Maybe a good reason to wash your hands. Observe general cleanliness with any utensil that handles the food and keep foods that can spoil under refrigeration. But even with the best of care we are protected every day by a healthy gut lining and if there is a diet deficient in Vitamin A we have the diarrhea or dehydration and both these conditions can be fatal.
When we talk about the blood vessels the first thing we need to realize is that they are tissues filled with lining structures. The integrity of the lining tissues is dependent upon adequate vitamin A
There are still more organs to consider. The kidneys are totally made up of tubules and the linings of these tubules are concerned with removing wastes, balancing the intercellular and extracellular fluids by regulating the passing or retention of certain elements and minerals.
If those tissues are not operating at optimum capacity, it is just possible that there can be an elevated BUN or Blood Urea Nitrogen. A high BUN disrupts many functions but most commonly reproduction and milk production..
Imagine ewes on green grass that has too much NPN and no way to convert the carotene into vitamin A. Those ewes wont milk well, they will be poor mothers and the lambs will not do well.
Certainly one of the most important lining tissues of any female is the lining of the uterus. Poor conception can often be linked to giving birth without adequate attention to Vitamin A.
That in turn sets the animal up for retained placenta, endometritis, and a uterine lining that is incapable of sustaining the recently fertilized egg so pregnancy never even gets started.
Other factors can be Vitamins D and E and Selenium but more about them later. Good reproductive health is totally dependent upon good nutrition and good nutrition demands that we know what we are doing with nitrates and fat soluble vitamins.
I remember with great sadness the times when I condemned a fresh heifer and blamed he genetics and called her no good and sent her to slaughter. It was my fault because my well was poisoned with nitrates. Worse than that my haylage was high in nitrates for several reasons. I simply didn’t know how to produce haylage with low NPN.
How many good ewes have been culled and how many good men have failed with raising sheep becasue they thought the new green grass had everything the animals needed?
Diets that are deficient in Vitamin A are often the result of ignorance on the part of the farmer. Excess NPN causes Vitamin A deficiency. It is an expensive error.
Fortunately, ignorance is a condition that can be treated. Soil test and feed test can tell you in a few hours why your ewes are poor mothers. It is very expensive to make errors because you don’t know what you are doing.
Good use of a reliable laboratory and/or a good consultant can be the difference between success and bankruptcy. Often the good consultant needs the laboratory to be sure of his diagnosis. I know from helping literally thousands of livestock owners that those who will do the lab testing and follow good management are the ones who have the best black ink on their farm ledgers when they check to see if they made any money last year.
Now before you think that all you need to know is the nitrates and Vitamin A I need to tell you there is more to learn. I am afraid that will always be the case. Just as sure as you solve one problem another comes into view that you could not have seen before. I know from personal experience that I do not know enough yet.
Other Oil Soluble Vitamins.
The power of Vitamin A to influence lining cell health can be influenced by the other two oil soluble vitamins D and E.
Vitamin D is called the sunshine vitamin because it requires sunshine to be activated. When conditions are right the action of the Vitamin D is similar in a way to a traffic cop that directs the flow of traffic and the traffic in this case is the movement of Calcium atoms in the body.
Calcium is a critical element for the contraction of the heart muscle. All muscular activity requires adequate blood calcium levels. It is also the primary element in all bone formation. The storage area for Calcium is the skeleton and all bone is a living and dynamic organ in the body. Calcium is continually being deposited and withdrawn from the "bank" of the skeleton exactly like you make deposits and withdrawals from your checking account.
Availability of Calcium can restrict the body in several ways and of course if there is inadequate Vitamin D, the traffic and movement of the fewer Calcium ions becomes sluggish.
All body systems are dependent on each other and a slow down or restriction in one area will influence other areas.
Optimum production requires the same sort of teamwork that occurs in a winning team sport. All body systems function best if there is always adequate availability of all the needed raw materials in the factory of the body.
The ability to perform at the maximum genetic potential is always dependent on the availability of the raw materials of the body to function.
It is not wrong to repeat the advice that feeding a balanced diet is the primary goal of the animal husbandry expert. Being an expert requires that you know what you are doing.
One of the very best laboratory systems available to us is the cow herd or sheep herd itself. The Bible says the eye of the master fattens the ox. Astute managers notice if dietary changes affect production. The dipstick on the bulk tank is one of the best indicators of animal performance there is. If you keep a running record of amounts of milk produced per cow per day you know immediately if the change was doing what you want. If it helps, you know immediately, if you have the records. Without records you are only guessing. Bad guesses are very expensive.
One of the best tests of whether or not to buy a load of hay is to take a sample and see if the cows choose it over other samples. They have the ability to decide what they like and we need to watch to see what they do when offered a choice.
Vitamins can only perform the actions they instigate if the other elements of the chemical changes are also present. This means those dietary restrictions of the needed materials to
produce meat or milk or eggs may not be damaging to health but certainly can limit production.
If laboratory analysis of your diet reveals a potential shortage of the raw materials the factory of the body needs, prompt and economical corrections of the diet can have a profound influence on the profitability of the enterprise.
Simple changes like allowing animals free choice access to feed grade limestone for example can make a response in production that is reflected in the profit column.
Precise adjustments in dietary intake demand that we know what we are doing and that sort of information is only available if we know what is in the forages we are feeding.
The Wonderful effects of Vitamin A cannot be seen unless there is an adequate level of Vitamin E as well. That is the reason we must be sure that if we add A probably needs to be adjustment in the E as well.
One more interesting aspect o f the whole Oil Soluble Story is that fact that Selenium influences the ability of Vitamin E to work. If there is a shortage of Selenium there is a restriction of activity of vitamin E.
I have seen the addition of Selenium make profound changes in the calving interval of a herd simply because that addition allowed the reduction of retained placentas, better uterine health and increased breeding efficiency. In this case the Selenium deficiency restricted the action of Vitamin E and that in turn limited the ability of Vitamin A to do its job. The addition of a lot more vitamin A to the diet made no difference but a tiny amount of selenium was all that was needed.
All elements of the diet interact with others. A shortage of Copper can result for the presence of too much molybdenum. A Holstein calf with coffee colored hair where the black should be is probably suffering form a shortage of Copper. That could be the result of the fact that too much Molybdenum ties up the Copper and makes it unavailable to the animal. This shortage can occur in spite of the lab saying there is adequate Copper in the diet.
This means that when you check for Copper you also need to know if there is excess
Molybdenum.
And so it goes, there is always more we need to know. Water soluble vitamins are next.
The most important bit of advice I can give you is:
Believe in yourself with all your might
Until next time Doc Bob