Iodophor

[Quirkysue]

I apologize if this has been asked countless times before. (A quick search for iodophor didn't turn up anything.)

I have a 250 ml bottle of Iodophor (meant for homebrewing) and was wondering if I could use this but at higher concentrations to dip our calf's navel?

This heifer is younger than the 3 bulls we brought home yesterday, and still has a partially dried stump attached. I'm not sure if it is infected since I haven't felt it (will at tonight's feeding) but I think some more disinfection of the area would be a good idea. If I can use the product I already have, even better. We had a handful of calves last year but none this young so this is new.

All I've found online is references to 7% solutions, 20% solutions, specific cattle tinctures and that it might be difficult to obtain iodine since it's used for crystal meth.

For reference:
1 ml of this Iodophor mixed into a L of water makes a solution for beer that doesn't need to be rinsed. (I believe it's 12.5ppm) There's no other real useful information on the bottle as to how concentrated it is. Hopefully someone here has cattle AND brews

 

[angie1]

Iodine is a cake walk to acquire ~ its cheap, and you can get it anywhere. As far as the calf, really no point in dipping her navel now, it needs to be done very soon after they are born if at all (I don't do this, but mine are born on pasture). There are several other things you can do though to protect your new calves and prevent issues from occuring. Tell us more about your calves!! :nod:

 

[Quirkysue]

Thanks for your reply!

I've read that they're supposed to be dipped right after birth, but she was an auction calf so I have no way of knowing if it was done. I guess I just want to do something, even if it's too little too late.

They're holsteins, meant for our freezer this winter as veal/baby beef. Yes, I know they're not a beef breed and have heard all the arguments against them but we're not picky. Our freezers are almost empty of angusXholstein and they're going to fill them.We just brought them home last night and put electrolytes and superbooster antibiotic in thier milk as suggested to us. The 3 bulls are at least 2 weeks old and doing pretty well - it's just the heifer we're worried about. She's younger, weaker, scouring, and our cattle farmer neighbour wasn't sure she'd make it. She was a last minute 5$ "ya ok why not" type purchase rather than let her go to the no sale area to be destroyed so it wouldn't be a huge loss financially. But we haven't lost an animal yet and don't want to lose her.

We're still newbs - these are #'s 9 thru 12 for us so it's still a new (and awesome) experience for our family. Our neighbour is very helpful and offers advice when we need it but we don't want to bother him too much either, so I'm online frequently trying to learn what I need to!

 

[backhoeboogie]

As far as the iodine goes, I'd just let her be.

The scours is another issue. There is a lot of info over in the Health and Nutrition threads on bottle calves. No need to go repeating things. You've probably already found that by now anyway.

I have eaten a whole lot of holstein, especially in my youth. Nothing wrong with it.

 

[Roadapple]

For the scours, get some Bio-sponge from a vet. Mix a tablespoon in a 50cc syringe with warm water and squirt it in the back of her mouth, slowly so she can swallow it, then stick a 500mg tetracycline tablet in back of throat. Watch to see she swallows it. Usually 1 dose does it.

 

[Quirkysue]

Her navel is definately infected.

It's hard, moist, and there's a distinct odor. She's still taking her milk replacer well, bowels have firmed up and weaker than we'd like to see but able to stand and walk around often.

We weren't sure what to do about it last night so my husband gave her a shot of nuflor (only injectable antibiotic we have on hand), and we saturated the area with the iodophor. Too late for prevention now, what do we need to do to clear this up before it spreads to her organs or joints? Can I douse her navel area multiple times a day with something like hydrogen peroxide?