A disease outbreak investigation was conducted in western Queensland to investigate a rare suspected outbreak of pyrrolizidine alkaloid (PA) toxicosis in horses. Thirty five of 132 horses depastured on five properties on the Mitchell grass plains of western Queensland died in the first six months of 2010. Clinical-pathological findings were consistent with PA toxicosis. A local variety of Crota...

Tall fescue pastures cover extensive acreage in the eastern half of the United States and contribute to important ecosystem services, including the provisioning of forage for grazing livestock. Yet little is known concerning how these pastures will respond to climate change. Tall fescue's ability to persist and provide forage under a warmer and wetter environment, as is predicted for much of th...

OBJECTIVE To determine the contribution of 7,8-methylenedioxylycoctonine (MDL)-type alkaloids to the toxic effects of tall larkspur (Delphinium spp) consumption in cattle. ANIMALS Sixteen 2-year-old Angus steers. PROCEDURES Plant material from 3 populations of tall larkspur that contained different concentration ratios of MDL-type-to-N-(methylsuccinimido) anthranoyllycoctonine (MSAL)-type a...

Toxicosis was induced in pregnant Holstein heifers by feeding FireMaster BP-6 (polybrominated biphenyls) in daily oral doses of 25 g/head/day for 33--60 days. The individual heifers were dosed until each became moribund (days 33, 36, 39, 40, 41, or 66), at which time they were necropsied. Gross findings included dehydration, subcutaneous emphysema and hemorrhage, atrophy of the thymus, fetal de...

To evaluate treatments purportedly beneficial for livestock grazing locoweeds (LW), growing rats were fed diets containing 10 or 20% whole-plant Oxytropis sericea (LW) with and without Silent Herder mineral mix (1.5% of diet) or bentonite clay (1.5% of diet). Pregnant female rats fed 10% LW were treated i.m. with Banamine (a prostaglandins suppressor) or saline. The LW contained swainsonine (43...