Fescue poisoning in sheep

Authors: Simpson BH
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 23, Issue 8, pp 182, Aug 1975
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: Livestock, Production animal, Ruminant, Sheep
Subject Terms: Bacterial, Toxicology, Poisoning - plant, Fungal/yeast, Mycotoxicosis, Pasture/crop
Article class: Correspondence

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Abstract: I wish to record the occurrence of gangrene of the lower limbs of sheep grazing tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea)-dommant pastures. Gangrene of the extremities of the limbs and tails of cattle grazing tall fescue is a well recognized condition (Cunningham, 1949; Goodman, 1952; Cowan, 1956), associated by some authors (Kosuri et al 1970)) with the ,ingestion of mycotoxins particularly from Fusarium tricinctum. No reports of a similar condition in sheep have been located in the literature. On a farm in the Manawatu region of New Zealand carrying up to 20 000 sheep but on which flax (Phormium tenax) production has been the major enterprise, pasture control was poor and tall fescue was the dominant pasture species in large areas of many paddocks…

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