Ask The Nutritionist: Distillers' Grains & Ca To P Ratio
11/23/2009 06:22PM
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We recently increased the level of distiller's grains we are feeding to our finishing steers, and we have run into some problems with water belly. What can we do about this?
Urinary calculi or "water belly" can occur in feedlot steers fed a high-concentrate diet without the proper calcium to phosphorus ratio. This can be a problem in diets containing distillers' grains because they are relatively high in phosphorus and practically devoid of calcium, therefore supplemental calcium is needed. The condition is the result of mineral salts that are formed in the kidneys or bladder becoming lodged in the urethra of steers, thus blocking the flow of urine. Early signs of the condition include an animal looking at and/or licking its belly, stomping of the feet or kicking at its belly, switching the tail, and frequent attempts to urinate. Dribbling urine may also be present and it may contain blood. If left untreated, the bladder or urethra will rupture and the animal will die.
Call your veterinarian at the first signs of the conditions, as the animal may require surgery to bypass the blockage. In finishing diets the calcium to phosphorus ratio should be between 1.5:1 and 7:1 with the optimum being between 2:1 and 4:1. In your case you can add calcium carbonate in the form of feed grade limestone fairly cheaply to add enough calcium to the diet depending on what level you need. Some people will add 1 to 4 percent salt in the ration to increase water intake and thus urine output in these situations, but with what I presume are high levels of distillers grains in your diets there is likely adequate sodium levels anyway so I wouldn't suggest this. If adding calcium to the diet doesn't solve the problem you can add ammonium chloride at a rate of 1 to 1.5 oz per head daily to the diet as a means to acidify the urine.
Source: Mark Corrigan, Ph.D., Beef Technical Services Manager, Lallemand Animal Nutrition