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CONSUMPTION OF TALL LARKSPUR (DELPHINIUM OCCIDENTALE) BY RESISTANT AND SUSCEPTIBLE CATTLE.
Author
Pfister, Jim
Green, Ben
Cook, Daniel
Welch, Kevin
Gardner, Dale
Stonecipher, Clint
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2017
Body

Larkspurs (Delphinium�spp.) are a major cause of cattle losses on western ranges in North America, especially on foothill and mountain rangelands.� Previous work in our laboratory has shown that there are substantial breed and individual animal variations in response to a standard dose of larkspur alkaloids.� Susceptible and resistant animals differ substantially in their response to larkspur alkaloids, and this response has a genetic basis as determined from DNA genotyping.� Within the Angus breed, we screened steers to provide groups of resistant and susceptible animals (n = 6/group). Steers were phenotyped by dosing with larkspur and measuring exercise tolerance. Phenotyped steers were grazed on a larkspur-infested rangeland (D. occidentale) in southeastern Idaho during summer for 2 years (2015 and 2016). Different steers were used each year.� Susceptible animals initially consumed about 2x more larkspur than did resistant animals both years, provoking serious symptoms of intoxication in susceptible animals. One susceptible steer died in year 2.� However, by the end of the year 1 trial, there were few differences in larkspur consumption between resistant and susceptible cattle.� During year 2, in the latter portion of the second grazing trial, resistant steers consumed about 2x more larkspur than did susceptible steers; resistant steers showed clinical signs of poisoning, but had no fatalities. �Serum alkaloid concentrations > 500 ng/mL always resulted in muscular paralysis and collapse.� Results to date suggest that selection of larkspur by steers with different responses to poisoning is dynamic and may not be predictable based on phenotype.� These results also indicate the increased risk of fatal intoxication in susceptible cattle compared to resistant animals while grazing larkspur-infested rangelands.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM St. George, UT
Collection
SRM Annual Meeting Abstracts