Calf scours :(

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cowlady1123

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North-Central Arkansas
I'm worried my 3 month old heifer calf may be developing scours. I've been monitoring it, I think she had slight diarrhea about a week or two ago but it passed and has been normal, until this morning when I went to feed her I noticed some irregular poop. It was more liquid than usual and it was a yellowish light brown.

My concerns are that my chickens and ducks like to come into her pen all day, and will drink out of her water as well. She is currently on a milk-based diet, but I provide heifer ration and hay as well. She currently stays in a pen with a hay bed and I take her out to graze often, but I don't have a properly fenced area yet where I can leave her to graze all day. (I am working on it lol)

I'm new to keeping cattle, though I've been around them many times before, and I'm not sure what healthy calf poop is supposed to look like or how to treat scours. Any advice?
 
"Normal" milk poop.
Once they start eating grass and grain, the color will change a bit. But shouldn't be liquid/water
Screenshot_20220815-104944_Gallery.jpg
Scours are easily treated with Sustain lll calf pills. (How bout that @TCRanch i remembered the name!) I get mine from the vet. They go in a tube "thingy" that you insert down the throat of the calf and pushes the pill down.

Coccidiosis is treated with corid or simular in the drinking water of said animal.
 
Last edited:
Hi, the best thing to do with the water is if it's a tank, put a piece of plywood on top and cut out a hole big enough for her head to fit,. I have done that in the past and it helps keep fowl out of the water. Another thing, depending on the size of her pen, you could wrap it in chicken wire. Or if it's a bucket or mineral tub set it up on blocks to keep the ducks and chickens from reaching into it. Dirty water, when that is the Only source, is going to cause lower water intake and it can cause them to get sick. ... A picture of the calf's poop, would help determine what it is. Do you have a vet? That's my recommendation for someone starting out with animals. Get a good relationship with a vet, if there is one in your area.
I'm worried my 3 month old heifer calf may be developing scours. I've been monitoring it, I think she had slight diarrhea about a week or two ago but it passed and has been normal, until this morning when I went to feed her I noticed some irregular poop. It was more liquid than usual and it was a yellowish light brown.

My concerns are that my chickens and ducks like to come into her pen all day, and will drink out of her water as well. She is currently on a milk-based diet, but I provide heifer ration and hay as well. She currently stays in a pen with a hay bed and I take her out to graze often, but I don't have a properly fenced area yet where I can leave her to graze all day. (I am working on it lol)

I'm new to keeping cattle, though I've been around them many times before, and I'm not sure what healthy calf poop is supposed to look like or how to treat scours. Any advice?
 
Murry, please tell us why you have that pic. Was it intentional or just an accident?
Well.....

There was a prior post on here about calf scours and what normal calf poop looked like. I just happened to have that mama penned up, pairing up a 2nd calf for her. I check on em pretty regular. Fed twice a day etc.
Caught the lil calf in action with my phone in my hand.
🙂
 
Scours are easily treated with Sustain lll calf pills. (How bout that @TCRanch i remembered the name!) I get mine from the vet. They go in a tube "thingy" that you insert down the throat of the calf and pushes the pill down.
Well done!!! They can also be ordered online (Valley Vet, Jeffers, etc) and the "thingy" is a balling gun (in case you want to order one of those as well).
 
Hi, the best thing to do with the water is if it's a tank, put a piece of plywood on top and cut out a hole big enough for her head to fit,. I have done that in the past and it helps keep fowl out of the water. Another thing, depending on the size of her pen, you could wrap it in chicken wire. Or if it's a bucket or mineral tub set it up on blocks to keep the ducks and chickens from reaching into it. Dirty water, when that is the Only source, is going to cause lower water intake and it can cause them to get sick. ... A picture of the calf's poop, would help determine what it is. Do you have a vet? That's my recommendation for someone starting out with animals. Get a good relationship with a vet, if there is one in your area.
i don't currently have a vet but i'll definitely work on keeping the fowl out. her stool is looking a little better, it's no longer light but it is still runny. i'll also see about getting a vet appointment set up. thank you!
 
Well done!!! They can also be ordered online (Valley Vet, Jeffers, etc) and the "thingy" is a balling gun (in case you want to order one of those as well).
i think i have one already for our goats? i'll check and i'll definitely watch her and see if anything changes and i need to treat her. for now i'm doing extra water changes and keeping birds out lol. this helps a lot!!
 
Well.....

There was a prior post on here about calf scours and what normal calf poop looked like. I just happened to have that mama penned up, pairing up a 2nd calf for her. I check on em pretty regular. Fed twice a day etc.
Caught the lil calf in action with my phone in my hand.
🙂
I didn't know if you had a hobby that we did not know about..... :sneaky:
 
i don't currently have a vet but i'll definitely work on keeping the fowl out. her stool is looking a little better, it's no longer light but it is still runny. i'll also see about getting a vet appointment set up. thank you!
Highly recommend getting a good working relationship with a vet. Never know when you may need to call him out for a emergency and he's more likely to help you out if he knows you and knows you pay
 
Well.....

There was a prior post on here about calf scours and what normal calf poop looked like. I just happened to have that mama penned up, pairing up a 2nd calf for her. I check on em pretty regular. Fed twice a day etc.
Caught the lil calf in action with my phone in my hand.
🙂

...and here I thought you would post it when you wanted to curse...as in oh sheet
 
Scours are easily treated with Sustain lll calf pills. (How bout that @TCRanch i remembered the name!) I get mine from the vet. They go in a tube "thingy" that you insert down the throat of the calf and pushes the pill down.

Coccidiosis is treated with corid or simular in the drinking water of said animal.

Any idea what's in these sustain pills? Or other scour pills? I can't find anything in my country to treat scours in pill form except something called Bi-pill (which is bascially just sodium bicarbonate) everything else is a powder form to dilute with water which is often difficult and time consuming to administer. I'd like to keep a stock of scour pills to catch any scour problems to deal with it quickly and easily. I've not had any trouble with scours for awhile but I did have a calf born a few days ago that struggled to feed from the cow due to a low udder which now has some signs of scour, an easily administered pill would be great to use.
 

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