another dead jersey bull calf

[ben171]

i posted earlier today about a baby bull calf that ended up dying, i had another brother of his that took sick with the same symptoms and died about 5-6 hours later. i have raised and treated about a million of these little boogers but this was the first time any had died so soon. i feel ripped off because i didn't have time to treat them it was like they decided they were going to die and within a few hours they did. after doing some research i have settled on clostridial emterotoxemia. if any of you know anything about this please chime in and fullfill my interest in which i am vested now

 

[Medic24]

Well ben............................I don't know what it is, maybe a sign or something, you are losing some, I lost one yesterday for no obvious reason, and my friend who has a Jersey dairy is having trouble keeping ANY calves alive these days..............wut up wit all dat I wonder?

A jersey virus or something goin around? :?: :cboy:

 

[ben171]

ive never had much luck with jerseys, i have kept them alive in the past but they always seem stunted. like i said in my other post i got them for a good price and thought id try, if these stupid things get my other calves sick i will be really angry

 

[Medic24]

Up side is that it taint no big loss eh? :cboy:

 

[msscamp]

Ben, this sounds a lot like what we called Death Scours. The calf would be ok, then one day he/she would start scouring with a white, watery, almost sour milk looking diarrhea. That calf would be dead in a day or so. Does this sound like what you are trying to deal with?

 

[ctlbaron]

If you remember I had that problem back in the early part of the summer. Symptoms just as you described. I cleaned the barn with bleach from top to bottom and it seems to be going well now. I would let them out if I had any healthy ones left. I don't even put my baby calves up anymore unless its raining for a couple of days.(havn't had that problem lately) I seem to have better luck with jerseys than anything else. I've had more holstines to die than anything else. Good luck and don't give up.

 

[ben171]

i only put mine up to feed then they are let out of the stalls and roam freely on about a half an acre with a creep feeder and free choice hay, along with whatever grass they can pick. ctlbaron: i dont think we had the same thing, mine never got completely scoured with white or clear stools, they had a yellow green stool very watery but didnt live a day, they were dead within 12 hours of being up and running playing with the other calves, almost like you hit them in the head with a hammer, up one minute, an hour later couldn't hold their head up. im taking one of the deceased to the vet today to see if he will do a culture on it and tell me for sure. ill let you know how it goes

 

[ben171]

went to the vet today at noon. a quick autopsy and he said it was a toxen of some sort. he said i probably killed him indirectly with the shot of baytril. the baytril kills the bacteria almost instantly, when they are killed they release a toxen, sends them into shock and walla dead calf. the vet recommended a slower acting antibiotic such as la200, once every 3 days or 2 shots of pennicillen a day for four days.this would paralyse the bacterium and allow the calves immune system to take over and gain strength fighting an immobile opponent.

 

[SPRINGER FARMS MURRAY GRE]

went to the vet today at noon. a quick autopsy and he said it was a toxen of some sort. he said i probably killed him indirectly with the shot of baytril. the baytril kills the bacteria almost instantly, when they are killed they release a toxen, sends them into shock and walla dead calf. the vet recommended a slower acting antibiotic such as la200, once every 3 days or 2 shots of pennicillen a day for four days.this would paralyse the bacterium and allow the calves immune system to take over and gain strength fighting an immobile opponent.

This is good information,thank you for passing it along.I think we tend to go with the newer antibiotics and things first almost as a reflex when something else and older would actually do better. ;-) :cboy:

 

[Medic24]

Hmmmmmmm. learn something new every day! Thanks for the follow up Ben!

 

[ctlbaron]

Good info Ben, I finally decided my problem was roda corna or ecoli. I supplied the dairy with vaccine for the two possibilitys and have had no more problems after sterilizing the barn. He is giving all his calves the vac now so I don't have to supply it anymore. He isn't losing heifer calves like he was. I guess we both benefit from it. He cut the price of his calves for the advice. :lol:

 

[joe]

mscamp, your death scours sounds like cryptosporidium.

 

[msscamp]

Thanks! While we haven't had a problem with death scours for some time now, they sure gave us hell then. I will certainly check out cryptosporidium. Thank you very much!