Controlling Grass Tetany

Grass tetany is a nutritional disease that occurs in beef and dairy cattle and sometimes sheep. Deficient levels of magnesium in the diet cause the disease, which is responsible for the deaths of many cows in the United States and other countries. Grass tetany is sometimes called hypomagnesemic tetany, lactation tetany, grass staggers, or winter tetany. Cows are particularly susceptible to tetany when nursing a calf or producing milk. Sometimes pregnant animals die from the condition. Older cows are more susceptible than those with their first or second calves. Also, cows that are herded or worked may be more susceptible to the disease