I have treated more staggers cases in the last year than probably the previous four or five years combined. It has become a regular condition (or secondary to an underlying complaint) and I hope a reminder about low magnesium will be useful. Magnesium is essential to the nervous system and is only stored in small amounts in the body, so anything that disrupts the daily supply can have dramatic effects quickly. The last two dry summers have affected this supply, particularly through the high potassium that is present in forages during a drought, which interrupts magnesium control in the animal.
Clinical signs typically start with nervous or twitchy animals and progress to staggering about or being down. I will say that the vast majority of the cases
I have seen recently have presented more as a typical, unexplained down cow. Lab results have shown that it is low magnesium, and not low calcium,
that is to blame. Please keep magnesium on the radar when treating any down cows, even if it is not the typical time of year to see it.
It can be a very serious condition and treatment will not always be successful, particularly in seizuring cows, so the methods of prevention below are key.
But at the very minimum, cows should have a bottle of Magniject under the skin – keep some in stock! They will often benefit from Calciject given in
the vein but these cases often require veterinary intervention so please ring to discuss cases. Anti-inflammatories and occasionally even sedation are
required, as well as the ongoing after care of down cows.
Prevention centres around supplementing magnesium intakes. The simple solution is to add magnesium chloride flakes to drinking water. Make sure the trough is the only water source as it can make the water bitter and cause cows to seek out alternative sources. Sufficient flakes should be added to the ball-valve end to leave a reservoir of undissolved mineral; more should be added when all of this has dissolved.
You can also provide ‘high-magnesium’ lick blocks, which can be made more palatable if molasses are added. Bolusing cows with magnesium can also provide a source of magnesium within the rumen, which usually lasts for about a month. I would advise you supplement cows now, given the amount of staggers we are continuing to see, but particularly if any of you are autumn calving. Significant magnesium is lost into the milk.
Please speak to a member of the team if you have any further questions, and please keep staggers on the radar!
Tom Warboys, Veterinary Surgeon
Summer Beef Meeting – Performance and the low input suckler cow
October 1, 2026
Wow, what an evening! On the 29th July we held our summer beef farm walk at the Dorset Wildlife Trust at Lyscombe, where our vet
