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Pea mania: deranged behaviour in cattle grazing a pea crop (Pisum sativum var arvense)
Author(s) -
REARDON CJ,
McKENZIE RA
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
australian veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1751-0813
pISSN - 0005-0423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-0813.2002.tb10965.x
Subject(s) - sativum , pisum , biology , grazing , pasture , crop , agronomy , field pea , horticulture
Hypersensitivity to external stimuli, progressing in some animals to manic behaviour, occurred in a cattle herd that grazed a crop of field peas ( Pisum sativum var arvense ) in the pre‐flowering stage. Haematological and biochemical analyses eliminated hypomagnesaemia and ketosis as diagnoses. Other than two steers euthanased due to injuries sustained during manic episodes, all affected animals survived, recovering over 3 days when moved to alternative pasture. No necropsies were conducted. No microbial pathogens or endophytes were found on or in the plants. A previously reported incident in Victoria in 1987 in cattle grazing peas appeared to be of a similar nature. Environmental factors leading to these incidents were not clearly identified.