As always, if you suspect anything, contact your veterinarian. If staggers are suspected, remove the cattle from the area. They should recover if they have some shade and water and just relaxation. The staggers are caused by a fungus and poison that are found in the seed heads of the plant. In order to prevent this, the seed heads should be removed by mowing the pasture before grazing. The heads will subsequently fall to the ground, and ingestion, if any, will be a minimal dose and hopefully have no effect. If the grass is to be used for hay, you should mow the pasture that has mature seed heads, where the poison if formed. If, however, the pasture is constantly grazed, there is no need to mow the tops off because the cows will keep them from maturing.
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I had some cattle on Dallisgrass that started to exhibit symptoms such as staggering. Is this what is referred to as Dallisgrass staggers, and how do I prevent it?
Last Updated: February 19, 2008
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