gray/yellow/white scours what do I do? Tired of this.

[BARNSCOOP]

Okay,


I have a calf that is out of a first time heifer that scoured at about three weeks old. It was gray then yellow then white. I gave him a two day bolis of oxytetracycline in pill form. He was fine. Now he is 2 1/2 months old and has these scours again along with a pasture mate who isn't as bad. I treated him the first day with a pill bolis oxytetracycline and then again the next day with injectable oxytetracylcline (LA200) bolis . He stands with the herd and acts a little off but not severe he however stills has no signs of getting better. This morning he also looked like his rectum is very raw almost bleeding. Today I thought i might need to buy different meds and just can't seems to find anything that tells me if I need a suffate drug or just need to keep giving La200. I am going to round up him, his momma ,pasture buddy and his mamma so I can quarintine them and give meds for longer period of time. I should also mention that I gave vaccs a month ago because I had new animals coming into the herd and want to make sure the calves were covered and then again at the due date this week just as the calves started scouring. I gave Traingle 9 type II BVD, UltraChoice 8, and Ivomec Plus injectable.
So can someone tell me what causes the white/gray scours and if I need to give penicillin, La200, SMZ,or something else? Is the flora off?

 

[KNERSIE]

Oxytetracycline won't help at all. At two months old its very likely coccidiosis, treat with sulfamethidazene or Sodium sulphadimethoxine for 4 consequtive days and it will be a thing of the past. Personally I never bother with electrolites if the calf is still nursing its dam.

Brandnames here are Disulfox, Maxisulf LA and various others. There are also sulpha bolusses, but I prefer the injection. The same drugs will also treat bacterial scours, as always Probiotics is always a good idea when treating scours with antibiotics.

 

[BARNSCOOP]

Knersie,

If It is coccidiosis,isn't that a protozoal infection? We did have to put our cattle in a two acre lot that has a shelter under which they had created mud due to excessive rain, last week as they got out of a main pasture and we had to refence for three days. We are going to put in sawdust under the shelter to dry it up. The two calves could have gotten overexposed in that lot. We have had them out of that lot since Monday. What is the best way to administer a probiotic?

 

[KNERSIE]

What is the best way to administer a probiotic?

I use one in powder form so I just dissolve it in a little water and give as an oral drench.

 

[topstock]

for these older calves that are obviously doing well otherwise, we use a product called Fastrack. It is a ruminant microbial gel (basically a probiotic loaded with all the good "bugs" they need -) our calves respond quickly to this and it doesn't take much.

 

[BARNSCOOP]

I went to the only source in my area on a Sunday and got Sustain II (sulfamethazine) 72 hr. sustained release bolus and a probios oral gel. This was all that was available but I am sure it will do the trick. Thank you Knersie. Tell me though where do you find information on scours with different colors? That was my problem. Lots of info on scours but not detailed except for blood in stool.

 

[BARNSCOOP]

Okay went out to give the meds and took a temp. He has a temp of 103.2. His stool is getting more green in color now and he didn't fail any of the dehydration tests. The other calf I was concerned about looked normal. Good news!

 

[larryshoat]

I'm thinking more along the lines of Salmonella, I would treat these calves with a mixture of Naxel and Tylan.

Larry

 

[regolith]

I'm thinking more along the lines of Salmonella

At two months old its very likely coccidiosis

If it's an ongoing problem, it'd be worth getting samples to the vet to find out what you're dealing with.
My experience with coccidiosis is that you need to get on top of it quickly because the calves dehydrate so fast. So if I suspected it I wouldn't be waiting for the vet's diagnosis before treating... but would have a better idea next time what to do.

 

[irked]

So can someone tell me what causes the white/gray scours

sometimes it's nothing more than overconsumption of rich milk.

 

[BARNSCOOP]

regolith,

Your correct. If it happens again I will take samples to the vet. It seems odd to me that is has happened to the same calf twice. But, I did read that the calves of first time heifers usually don't get enough colostrum which would contain antibodies and microbes to have a better immunity.

 

[KNERSIE]

regolith,

Your correct. If it happens again I will take samples to the vet. It seems odd to me that is has happened to the same calf twice. But, I did read that the calves of first time heifers usually don't get enough colostrum which would contain antibodies and microbes to have a better immunity.

Its not so much the quantity of the colostrum as the quality of the colostrum. First calvers hasn't been exposed to as many bugs in their short lifes as older cows hence they won't have all the antibodies in their colosutrum that older cows will have.

Scours in older calves suckling their dams isn't nearly as bad news as it is in bottle calves in a barn.

Use the sulfa bolusses you got, but do it a minimum of 4 consequtive days and continue to give the Probiotics while you're using the antibiotic, I am very sure that will cure your problem. A good dose of Valbazen to all the calves won't hurt either.

 

[regolith]

Not odd at all. I don't know if different pathogens have different effects on the gut, but some can cause serious longterm damage to the calf's ability to absorb nutrients and water. So possibly the calf wasn't robust enough to shrug off a second infection.

That makes sense Knersie. I've actually heard the opposite (heifer calves get better colostrum protection) but that's in dairy herds and probably related to the larger, often low-slung bags and dilution through large quantities produced in older cows.

 

[BARNSCOOP]

This calf had odds against him anyway. He was out of a "open" heifer I purchased and then she calved at 16 months old. I caught her in labor ,watched her as she had the calf normally but it was contained in the bag and I had to break the bag. I'm sure he would have died if I hadn't been their then. Lucky for me she has been an excellent mom. He had some bowed legs for the first few weeks but is fine now. Some of his problems could be that he was from such a young heifer and was sired by his grandfather?

 

[KNERSIE]

Some of his problems could be that he was from such a young heifer

The crooked legs that straightened is definately because he was cramped for space in his young dam's uterus.

 

[rockridgecattle]

http://www.pfizerah.com/health.aspx?cou ... 275&type=3

a good read all about scours

 

[buckny]

I had the same problem we treat him and he would kind of come around no problems with dehydration just wasn't gaining weight like the rest and slightly sluggish then one morning he just had a deteriated rapidly, finaly had taken a ear notch to the vet and found out he had BVD IP. So we put him down and tested the rest of the heard luckly no other problems.

 

[BARNSCOOP]

Rockridge,
Great site, Thank you very much! That was just what I wanted to see!

 

[rockridgecattle]

you are welcome