Texas Agrilife article on Reconizing and managing some common problems of beef cattle by Floron Faries Jr. Article discusses multiple health conditions that sometimes affect Dexter cattle. I find that Dexters are much more disease resistant than other breeds but some of the following topics in this article hit all of our ranches at one time or anotherd.
I wanted to send yet another article on this topic. It is from 2008 but written for Texans, taking into account our weather and types of forage. Start on page 2 with the article titled “Update on Hypomagnesemia” http://aevm.tamu.edu/files/2010/06/VQR_Win0708.pdf
The article states “ In Texas, the disease occurs most often in thin, recently calved cows on a low-Mg diet (unsupplemented grass pasture or grass hay) during prolonged cold, wet and windy weather.” Another member and I were chatting about the prevention methods. One thing he does is adds Epsom Salt to their water tanks. Epsom Salt is Magnesium Sulfate and said he hasn't lost a cow to Tetany in a long time now. You may talk with your vet about what they recommend in your area. My farm has a lot of clovers, which my cattle love, so that helps to counteract the risk.
NCBA's Cattlemen's Webinar Series: Mineral Nutrition 101- Beef Cattle Basics ( A very very thorough webinar on Minerals for your cattle!) https://youtu.be/zEwP_PIdYKc
