calves & scours

[Larisa]

Hi,
I'm new to this & have started bottle raising Holstein calves. I have a question for all of you. What do you give for scours? I've got one that just started & a friend that used to run a dairy farm said she gave her's Amodium D. Also do you recommend any shots, pills, etc. when I first get them? I give then a shot now that is supposed to boost their immune system. They are from a few hours old to a few days old when I get them.
As you can tell I'm very new to this & appreciate any & all the help I can get.
Thanks!
Larisa
in NE MS

 

[Farmhand]

Use Protec for scours. 2 scoops mixed in with the milk replacer. Also Pepto-Bismal. Use a big syringe and put about 60 cc in their mouth. Here is my vet's recommendation for baby Holstein calves-

Day 1
TSV-2 2cc in the nose
Jencine 4 2cc in the neck
Vision 7 w/H.somnus 2cc in the neck
Bose 3cc in the neck
Pulmoguard 2cc in the neck

Day 14
Jencine 4 2cc in the neck
Vision 7 w/H.somnus 2cc in the neck

Day 21
Jencine 4 2cc in the neck

Hope this helps and good luck.

 

[Larisa]

That was quick. Thanks so much for helping me. I am going to see what she is like in the morning after the Amodium A-D.
I am so glad I found this group. I have been reading the messages for about an hour. Very good & informative people on here!

 

[jerry27150]

i use la 200 for scours, and if boughten at a sale barn ,i would give a shot of long lasting penicillan or la 200 soon as i got them home

 

[Crowderfarms]

There is also an excellent medication called Diaque, that actually mixes in with milk replacer,As far as I know, it's one of a few meds that don't have to be mixed seperately. Also don't pinch any pennies or buffalos on the quality of milk replacer you use, I always use medicated, that's made by a company called Milk Specialties, with at least 20% fat. A friend gave us a 3 day old calf last Wednesday, that was a little scoury, and between as Jerry 27150 said, with the slow realease LA-200, and what we used, the scours were gone in 24 hrs. Good Luck!

 

[denoginnizer]

How many cc's of La 200 do you use per pound in calves?

 

[Scotty]

I would use some sort of sulfa drug. SMZ's or Albon bolus.



Scotty

 

[Chuckie]

I use sulfa based boluses every 12 hours if they are beginning to feel bad and have a mess all over their backsides. It should come out like yellow paste, not a watery mucus flecked with green and yellow. I don't want them to reach the point that they are too weak to get up. Seems their bowel movement becomes more liguid as the start nibbling on the spring grasses and nibble on solid foods. I just keep a close eye on them at that point. When they seem to want to lay down more, and their walk is dragging, that is when I treat. I have seen them just get loose for a few days then clear up on it's own. I had rather be safe than sorry and lose one knowing I could have prevented it.

 

[jerry27150]

directions say 4.5 per hundred of body weight, but i usually give a little more

 

[Amanda Michelle]

Any of the calves I have treated for scours I would give them V-Lytes, it is a powder that you would mix with water. You can get it from your local farm store, ie: Co-op. The instructions are right on the package. Or there is Biosol, you would give them 2 to 3 ccs in their milk. They should be almost better in 12 hours. It's great stuff. You can getit from your vet. Remember it is best to feed them electrolytes rather than milk if they have the scours really bad. I have only lost 3 calves due to scours in my 6 years of raising them.

 

[steveaust]

I have been buying in 4 day old calves for a few years now and rearing them under the guidance of 3rd generation dairy farmers. On the day we bring them home we feed them nothing as they will scour from the stress of transport if we feed them on arrival.The following day we feed them an electrolyte solution (Vitrate). If once on milk replacer they start to scour we put them back on the electrolytes for a day.I know that if this doesnt cure the scours i will need a veterinary preparation, to date we have not needed a vet.We are only beginners having bottle reared 60 Angus calves.

 

[milkmaid]

I think I had a vet tell me re the SMZ's, that they should not be given to a dehydrated animal. I do remember you can give them to horses, cattle, dogs, etc... the instructions on the bottle are for human use. Multi-purpose drug.

I've used several different things for scours and I like the "Diawin" pills best so far. It's actually for dogs, but like a lot of animal drugs you can use it on different species. It's a combination of activated charcoal, bismu and kao-pec.

Then, of course, I use an antibiotic of some sort - penicillin or la200 or something similar.

 

[texhallMT]

There is also an excellent medication called Diaque, that actually mixes in with milk replacer,As far as I know, it's one of a few meds that don't have to be mixed seperately. Also don't pinch any pennies or buffalos on the quality of milk replacer you use, I always use medicated, that's made by a company called Milk Specialties, with at least 20% fat. A friend gave us a 3 day old calf last Wednesday, that was a little scoury, and between as Jerry 27150 said, with the slow realease LA-200, and what we used, the scours were gone in 24 hrs. Good Luck!

Larisa,
I've used that red Spectam that's made for pig scours, recommended by my vet. You can put it straight in the milk replacer or in the calf's mouth. Works great with no apparent side effects. Good point on quality of milk replacer. But remember if your normal replacer isn't available for some reason, keep the same amount of liquid and use less powder initially when switching.
I raised over 80 Holstein last year with only two losses (one the day he got here, replaced by the dairyman at no charge, one fully weaned that decided he liked black walnut tree--can't figure some of 'em out). Also keep your pens clean. Spray them down with bleach water between crops and put fresh bedding in there for the newbies.
See what you can do to get the colostrum from the dairyman and give that to those new babies. My dairyman feeds it to the calves I buy from him (some stay with him for a week or so!!!) since he can't use it all anyway.
Another "oldtimer" trick is to put an egg in the bottle (only had to do that once myself, but that was when I was using scours bolusses) if the usual scours treatments don't work. Good Luck and have fun

Tex