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jodywy
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Joined: 11 Feb 2005
Posts: 901
Location: western Wyoming easternIdaho... Star Valley
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 Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 11:24 am Post subject: Brisket disease |
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Wasn't just my area that noticed a increase in brisket disease,also called high moutain diease,dropsy, or pulmonary hypertension. Artical in Wyoming Livestock Roundup, about higher incidence of the disease this year. Saw alot of black angus with it this fall. Producers must be getting lax about buying bull that have been PAP tested.
Heck just about the whole state is over 5000 feet and alot of cattle summer pasture at alot higher elevation.
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WyomingRancher
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Joined: 07 Jan 2007
Posts: 373
Location: Wyoming
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Ned Jr.
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Joined: 18 Dec 2007
Posts: 90
Location: Colorado
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WyomingRancher
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Joined: 07 Jan 2007
Posts: 373
Location: Wyoming
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| Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:06 am Post subject: |
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Yes, I believe Traveler lines are famous for brisket problems. It has to be genetic, but to what extent? My friend who papped his herd observed that he could AI low papping bull A to low papping cow B multiple years in a row and got calves which never consistently papped.
You're right that higher performing cattle are the lines which don't do well at altitude. There is an angus breeder who bought a ranch near the Colorado/Wyoming border. I called to ask about his cattle and he informed me that "People around here really don't have good angus cattle, and that their goal was to show us all what good cattle could do." I asked about brisket problems in those high performing lines, and he said, "if we have a problem cow or bull, we just send them down to our Georgia division." I told him I didn't have a "Georgia division", instead I had a "bone pile" to send mine too 
Never bought from them ... wonder why! Perhaps once they get a high elevation herd established, and are raising bulls from those cows, I may take a look.
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Yanuck
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Joined: 10 Sep 2007
Posts: 628
Location: idaho
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| Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2008 9:24 am Post subject: |
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| WyomingRancher wrote: |
Yes, I believe Traveler lines are famous for brisket problems. It has to be genetic, but to what extent? My friend who papped his herd observed that he could AI low papping bull A to low papping cow B multiple years in a row and got calves which never consistently papped.
You're right that higher performing cattle are the lines which don't do well at altitude. There is an angus breeder who bought a ranch near the Colorado/Wyoming border. I called to ask about his cattle and he informed me that "People around here really don't have good angus cattle, and that their goal was to show us all what good cattle could do." I asked about brisket problems in those high performing lines, and he said, "if we have a problem cow or bull, we just send them down to our Georgia division." I told him I didn't have a "Georgia division", instead I had a "bone pile" to send mine too
Never bought from them ... wonder why! Perhaps once they get a high elevation herd established, and are raising bulls from those cows, I may take a look. |
WY. rancher, was the outfit called Mountain Meadow? or something like that? if so, I'm sure they had a dispersal of the "Colorado division" several years ago, and I think the brisket problem had come up.
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WyomingRancher
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Joined: 07 Jan 2007
Posts: 373
Location: Wyoming
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Kato
Rancher
Joined: 10 Feb 2005
Posts: 1439
Location: Manitoba - At the end of the road
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| Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 5:13 pm Post subject: |
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This is the first time I've ever heard of brisket disease.
What the heck is it?
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jodywy
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Joined: 11 Feb 2005
Posts: 901
Location: western Wyoming easternIdaho... Star Valley
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| Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Kato wrote: |
This is the first time I've ever heard of brisket disease.
What the heck is it? |
in this area it like herefords with pink eye, angus get brisket
http://oldfort.fortlewis.edu/brisket1.htm
The "Old Fort".......
Brisket Disease in Beef Cattle Research
High altitude disease (Brisket Disease), which causes cattlemen at high altitudes serious problems through cattle losses, has been thoroughly studied.
Pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) measures have been shown to be a very good indicator of susceptibility to brisket disease, and differences in PAP values have been shown to be highly heritable.
Cattlemen at high altitudes can use bulls with low PAP values to eliminate this problem from their herd. All bulls sold at the SJBRC are measured for PAP values.
BRISKET DISEASE - PULMONARY HYPERTENSION FACT SHEET
Brisket Disease, also known as High Mountain Disease or Pulmonary Hypertension, is one of the Rocky Mountain region's most costly diseases. The disease is the result of elevated pulmonary arterial pressures or pulmonary hypertension and generally affects animals less than one year of age residing at an elevation above 5000 feet.
Brisket Disease is caused primarily by an oxygen shortage; oxygen availability is 17% less at 5,000 feet than it is at sea level; 20% less at 6,000 feet, 26% less at 8,000 feet, and 31% less at 10,000 feet. The oxygen shortage at high elevations causes increased resistance to blood flow in small arteries in the lungs. The heart compensates for higher resistance by stretching and building up a higher pressure. The pressure can continue to build up until fluids leak out of the blood stream and collect in the chest cavity, the brisket, and other places. Eventually, the heart wears out and stops beating.
The losses from the disease can vary depending on the origin of the cattle. In cattle born and raised at high elevations, the losses tend to run from .5% to 5%. In imported or lowland cattle the losses can range from 30% to 40%.
Cattle differ in how they respond to oxygen shortage. Some cattle are able to tolerate high pressures for a longer period of time, while others die quickly. Brisket disease is not limited to one sex or breed. It affects both sexes and has been found across all breeds including crossbreds.
Research has shown that the heritability of Brisket Disease can be quite high, ranging from 42% to 77%. This indicates that cattlemen can successfully select against the disease by curing cattle with high pulmonary arterial pressures.
Pulmonary arterial pressures (PAP) are obtained by a procedure called "right heart catherization". In this procedure, a fine plastic tube is passed through a needle in the jugular vein, with blood flow into the upper right side of the heart (atrium), through a valve, into the lower right side (ventricle), through a valve, and into the pulmonary artery just short of the branches to the lungs. Pressure waves are observed on a heart monitor and the monitor gives a direct readout of the true average pressure.
The PAP test is the best indicator (tool) available to date for identifying animals predisposed to Brisket Disease. The test is not 100% and should not be used as such. Generally, cattle with PAP values greater than 50 are considered to be of higher risk and cattlemen should be cautious of using them at high elevations.
In efforts to cut losses to Brisket Disease, cattlemen should identify those animals, specifically bulls, with high pulmonary arterial pressures and cull them from the herd or if possible, move them to lower elevations. Many times cattle with high PAP measurements or even beginning to contract Brisket disease can be successfully relocated at lower elevations.
Created and maintained by Beth LaShell
Please send comments or suggestions to lashell_b@fortlewis.edu
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DOC HARRIS
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Joined: 04 Jun 2005
Posts: 782
Location: Ft. Collins, CO
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| Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 6:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Kato wrote: |
This is the first time I've ever heard of brisket disease.
What the heck is it? |
It is another name for "Pulmonary Hypertension" - or - "Dropsy". In plain English - it is heart disease, and the animal can swell internally, and close off the function of the lungs and the ultimate result is death. It IS an inherited characteristic, but it is difficult to ascertain it's derivation, and, of course, because it appears in high altitude areas where the Oxygen molecules in the air are less per cu/cm than lower altitudes, it makes it even more prevalent in susceptible individuals.
"Mountain Meadows Ranch" lies at an altitude of 10,000 feet, and I think that their summer pastures go higher than that - 11,000 to 12,000 feet, but that is just an estimate. I have not noticed their advertising in the Angus Journal for several months. They laid out a BUNDLE of bucks in the establishment of their facilities, and also spent a tremendous amount of money in their seedstock acquisitions. Their "Cattle Handling Facilities - pens, chutes, headgates, corrals, alleyways, gates etc. are absolutely eye-popping  ! I don't know what their current status is.
DOC HARRIS
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Faster horses
Rancher
Joined: 11 Feb 2005
Posts: 9400
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graybull
Member
Joined: 10 Mar 2005
Posts: 39
Location: Wyo
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| Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 8:10 pm Post subject: |
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There are ways to "genetically" alter the incidence of "brisket disease".............trouble is that they are not "politically breed correct"......so most ranchers won't consider them.
If you want more info......let me know.
graybull@tctwest.net
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WyomingRancher
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Joined: 07 Jan 2007
Posts: 373
Location: Wyoming
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| Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2008 10:03 pm Post subject: |
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| How else do you manage for brisket disease besides buying PAP tested bulls and culling any cow which has had a brisket calf?
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Hard to overcome death loss.
