Panting

[Rod]

I ma mostly feeding them to train them to come when called plus we are not on pasture yet and my the hay I have for them is not that great.

Over fed and under worked is my problem also.

[Vicki]

This has happened with my ox team too. The fattest one was not panting, and the nigh thinner one was puffing. Mostly out of condition, and still carrying a lot of winter black coat that really sucks up the solar heat.

I’ve also read about nitrates and other stuff that can be in green grass which temporarily restricts the amount of oxygen the blood can carry, or something like that. (I’d have to refresh my memory on the details.) Spring is the time I notice this most often, which is also when they are beginning to get spring grass after a winter diet of totally dry hay.

Tim or others of you feed scientists might know more about the fresh forage effects, and if it could be happening in spring (as I understand nitrates are more a problem after droughty periods.)

It may make you worry less about anything permanent to know that later in the season, when worked consistently, my springtime-puffing ox was fine. But if yours had pneumonia, its lung capacity could be permanently diminished.

[Vicki]

Also, do you think that “hot feed” contributes to the panting? Maybe Green grass in the rumen in spring can cook up more internal heat than dry haY, and generate gas pressing against the diaphragm? Give them time to rumenate and burp away gas before working hard?

[Rod]

Hi vicki

Good questions and thoughts.

[near horse]

Hi,

I typed in a lengthy response and somehow lost it when I tried to expand the thread to see the earliest posts. So, I’ll take that as a sign to be short(er).

The amount of energy in a feed that is released or “lost” as heat is known as the heat increment. Although it is often viewed as a “loss” becuase it doesn’t add to production (growth, lactation, work), it is an important source of heat for maintaining body temp, particularly when it is cold – imagine a 55 gallon hot water bottle inside their body. That said, feeds we identify as “hot”, like grains etc don’t necessarily release the most heat. In fact, I think we call them hot because they are providing the most energy to our animal for activity. Some of the poorer quality roughages (like straw) actually provide the highest heat increments.

As far as why Rod’s one ox is panting, I don’t know but also tend to believe it will subside as he acclimates to both work and environment (temps).
You did mention that he has much of his winter coat still but the other one doesn’t(?). I’m just throwing out ideas here but – animals will be slow to grow hair/shed etc if they are protein deficient (kind of a conservation thing).

Also, heaven forbid, but hopefully he doesn’t have hardware disease (metal like wire in the rumen). In that case, it won’t subside with conditioning or season.

On a lighter and male chauvinist note – Rod, are you sure there’s not some cute little heifer in the next pasture? That would explain a lot.:)

Good luck.

[OldKat]

@near horse 8655 wrote:

Hi,

I typed in a lengthy response and somehow lost it when I tried to expand the thread to see the earliest posts. So, I’ll take that as a sign to be short(er).

The amount of energy in a feed that is released or “lost” as heat is known as the heat increment. Although it is often viewed as a “loss” becuase it doesn’t add to production (growth, lactation, work), it is an important source of heat for maintaining body temp, particularly when it is cold – imagine a 55 gallon hot water bottle inside their body. That said, feeds we identify as “hot”, like grains etc don’t necessarily release the most heat. In fact, I think we call them hot because they are providing the most energy to our animal for activity. Some of the poorer quality roughages (like straw) actually provide the highest heat increments.

As far as why Rod’s one ox is panting, I don’t know but also tend to believe it will subside as he acclimates to both work and environment (temps).
You did mention that he has much of his winter coat still but the other one doesn’t(?). I’m just throwing out ideas here but – animals will be slow to grow hair/shed etc if they are protein deficient (kind of a conservation thing).

Also, heaven forbid, but hopefully he doesn’t have hardware disease (metal like wire in the rumen). In that case, it won’t subside with conditioning or season.

On a lighter and male chauvinist note – Rod, are you sure there’s not some cute little heifer in the next pasture? That would explain a lot.:)

Good luck.

I doubt this is the issue, because you didn’t say anything about your ox doing this in past years; BUT if he has done this in past years it could be caused by the type of hair coat he has. If he still has more haircoat than the other and it has warmed up in your area he may just be hot, period. Some cattle just shed quicker than others and some have a type of haircoat that basically prevents them from shedding off to a slick hide. To test for this pull a little bit of the undercoat (not the guard hairs or the long winter hair), put it in your hand & spit into it. Then start rubbing the mass of hair in a circle. If the hair goes every which direction and remains a mass of loose hairs the animal will be an early shedding one and will shed off to a slick coat. If the hair rolls up into a ball the animal will be slow to shed and may not shed off to a smooth coat. The tighter the ball, the more the animal will hang onto its haircoat.

This may or may not be of concern to you depending on your latitude: below 35 degrees North be wary of keeping / buying animals that won’t test positive for early / full shedding. Below 30 degrees North, don’t even consider keeping an animal that won’t pass this test. This is the cause of the so called tropical degeneration of animals that fail to thrive in warmer climates. I suppose at some latitiudes it may even be desirable to select for animals that WILL retain their haircoat, but it would have to be fairly far north.

BTW: This process was developed by the late Jan Bonsma of South Africa, probably one of the most preeminent cattlemen of the last 100 years or so. It will work with any age of cattle. I use it because I have to select for slick haircoats in my area because of the heat. I have red cattle and have noticed at least some correlation between the lighter, yellowish red cattle being slick coated & the darker, cherry red cattle tending to not be slick coated. Not always true though.

[Rod]

The Vet was here today for a sick calf so I had him listen to both oxen,s lungs. He said the one that gets winded (Rock) has lungs that sound rougher than the other one. He doubted lung worms because no coughing and otherwise they both look the picture of health. I e-mailed the folks I bought them from to see if they had any similar problems. Will let you know if anything else develops, I hope it’s nothing because these are sure a nice pair of oxen.

[sanhestar]

Hello,

if he were a horse I would suspect an old case of bronchitis in his past, maybe even undetected while on pasture.

I would treat him with a herbal mixture for lung problems. Rough lungs suspect most likely “only” irritated, swollen lung tissue (or a scarred one) without mucus production. So the mixture should reflect on treating the irritation but not inducing coughing.

[Rod]

I think he is fine, talked to the previous owner and he had no health issues growing up or excess panting while working pulling logs. He is very healthy looking thats for sure.

[Author]

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