Cause of calf deaths?

[Anonymous]

I have lost the last eight bottle fed calves I have tried to raise. The first seven were Holsteins & the last was a Hereford / Angus mix. I had raised about 15-20 prior to this without losing a one. They all follow the same pattern: - They eat fine and have solid waste for about 2-3 days after arriving. They then begin to scour and continue to scour for about 2-3 more days. They then appear to get better for a few hours and then die suddenly. I tried numerous scours tablets, blood serum & penicillin injections and giving store bought and homemade electrolytes from the time I noticed them scouring (This last calf I gave electrolytes every 2-3 hours & she still died). This last calf was especially strong at first , but still died. I have moved them to areas where there have never been calves and they are still getting sick. The only possible link I can think of has been my Border Collie. We got her last August and about the time she was old enough to go in the calf pens, the calves began to die. I did not make the connection earlier and do not even know if it is likely she is spreading it. Can anybody give me an idea of what I might be dealing with and suggestions for stopping it? Thanks!

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[Anonymous]

Read the message under calves dying a couple posts down.

Jason

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[Anonymous]

> I have lost the last eight bottle
> fed calves I have tried to raise.
> The first seven were Holsteins
> & the last was a Hereford /
> Angus mix. I had raised about
> 15-20 prior to this without losing
> a one. They all follow the same
> pattern: - They eat fine and have
> solid waste for about 2-3 days
> after arriving. They then begin to
> scour and continue to scour for
> about 2-3 more days. They then
> appear to get better for a few
> hours and then die suddenly. I
> tried numerous scours tablets,
> blood serum & penicillin
> injections and giving store bought
> and homemade electrolytes from the
> time I noticed them scouring (This
> last calf I gave electrolytes
> every 2-3 hours & she still
> died). This last calf was
> especially strong at first , but
> still died. I have moved them to
> areas where there have never been
> calves and they are still getting
> sick. The only possible link I can
> think of has been my Border
> Collie. We got her last August and
> about the time she was old enough
> to go in the calf pens, the calves
> began to die. I did not make the
> connection earlier and do not even
> know if it is likely she is
> spreading it. Can anybody give me
> an idea of what I might be dealing
> with and suggestions for stopping
> it? Thanks!

Hello, I just joined and was reading the posts. We had a small bottle fed calf last year that developed the scours. We took him to the vet and he asked what we were feeding. We told him that we were using milk replacer and following the label directions. He told us that oftentimes feeding milk replacer at the strength indicated on the bag will cause scours. He told us to mix the replacer at 1/2 strength and feed twice as often. We did this and the scouring stopped. Also we found that switching to a soy based replacer improved his performance. Have a good day, William Parris

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[Anonymous]

> I have lost the last eight bottle
> fed calves I have tried to raise.
> The first seven were Holsteins
> & the last was a Hereford /
> Angus mix. I had raised about
> 15-20 prior to this without losing
> a one. They all follow the same
> pattern: - They eat fine and have
> solid waste for about 2-3 days
> after arriving. They then begin to
> scour and continue to scour for
> about 2-3 more days. They then
> appear to get better for a few
> hours and then die suddenly. I
> tried numerous scours tablets,
> blood serum & penicillin
> injections and giving store bought
> and homemade electrolytes from the
> time I noticed them scouring (This
> last calf I gave electrolytes
> every 2-3 hours & she still
> died). This last calf was
> especially strong at first , but
> still died. I have moved them to
> areas where there have never been
> calves and they are still getting
> sick. The only possible link I can
> think of has been my Border
> Collie. We got her last August and
> about the time she was old enough
> to go in the calf pens, the calves
> began to die. I did not make the
> connection earlier and do not even
> know if it is likely she is
> spreading it. Can anybody give me
> an idea of what I might be dealing
> with and suggestions for stopping
> it? Thanks!

Hello, I just joined and was reading the posts. We had a small bottle fed calf last year that developed the scours. We took him to the vet and he asked what we were feeding. We told him that we were using milk replacer and following the label directions. He told us that oftentimes feeding milk replacer at the strength indicated on the bag will cause scours. He told us to mix the replacer at 1/2 strength and feed twice as often. We did this and the scouring stopped. Also we found that switching to a soy based replacer improved his performance. Have a good day, William Parris

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