Malnutrition kills pronghorn

[WesternWyoming]

In the valley and in the mountains, dry, dry, dry and no water in the creeks.

Malnutrition killed Wyoming pronghorn in peak summer as vegetation withered during record heat, severe drought - WyoFile

Stunted lowland vegetation in the Green River Basin doesn’t bode well for one of the state’s premier herd's survival the coming winter.

wyofile.com

 

[Bigjay73]

Interesting that the one doe died in a lush alfalfa field. Is alfalfa not a good food source for pronghorn?

 

[Hunting Wife]

Interesting that the one doe died in a lush alfalfa field. Is alfalfa not a good food source for pronghorn?

Actively growing/early flower alfalfa is super high in protein. It can cause rapid fermentation in the rumen resulting in excessive production of gas. It’s called bloat. If the animal can’t adequately expel the gas, it ultimately will compress the heart and lungs and they basically suffocate. The alfalfa in the photo looks like it might be in that stage. Maybe not a malnourishment case exactly, but if they don’t have a lot of alternative forage it might be more of an issue than normal. Just a hypothetical for that one photo.

 

[Bigjay73]

Actively growing/early flower alfalfa is super high in protein. It can cause rapid fermentation in the rumen resulting in excessive production of gas. It’s called bloat. If the animal can’t adequately expel the gas, it ultimately will compress the heart and lungs and they basically suffocate. The alfalfa in the photo looks like it might be in that stage. Maybe not a malnourishment case exactly, but if they don’t have a lot of alternative forage it might be more of an issue than normal. Just a hypothetical for that one photo.

Jesus, thats horrible!

 

[COEngineer]

Green River Basin is SW WY, which isn't even in the worst drought-affected area of the state. If we have even an average winter, there is going to be a another huge pronghorn die off (my prediction).

 

[El Jason]

Interesting that the one doe died in a lush alfalfa field. Is alfalfa not a good food source for pronghorn?

Ruminants need time for their gut microbes to adapt to changes in feed. This can also happen during wintertime when ruminants suddenly switch their diet to 3rd cutting alfalfa. It can be fatal.