Newbie Questions-

[WolfLady]

My name is Kim and Im in Louisiana. Went to local auction last week and sold a pgymy goat - and took home a baby bull calf Jumped in with both feet not knowin what i was in for. So here we are a week later - And he has scours. Giving milk relpacer , electroites. As I am in a rural area Everyone has a peice of advice for me and im confused as fire now.
He is about 14 or so days old - some say start him on grain, some say baby cearal mixed with his milk, some say water left out some say no > even had one tell me to feed him oatmeal and he will be ok What is the truth? thanks to all

 

[Alice]

Kim,

The good news is that he's made it for 14 days. Here, we are always relieved when a sale barn calf lives to 2 weeks.

If he's drinking his bottle well and you are not having to tube him, thank your lucky stars...and keep giving him the milk replacer (20% fat and 20% protein) made from milk and milk and milk byproducts...no soy! Also continue the electrolytes.

Get some spectam...it's a red liquid that is for pig scours, but calf raisers use it a lot. Give him 10ccs in the a.m. and 10ccs in the p.m. Also, when you give him the spectam, give him a squirt of probios.

And, definitely, start him on dry calf feed...and don't take away his water. Just make sure the water stays clean and fresh.

Is your calf in an area that he can move around easily...I mean can he maybe run a little. Sunshine would be great for him, but make sure he still has adequate shade and doesn't get too hot. Scours and hot weather are lethal.

Also, right now especially, listen real closely when he drinks his bottle. If you hear any kind of rattle while he drinks, and/or he pulls off the bottle more than a couple of times and/or has a snotty nose, call the vet and ask if antibiotics are appropriate. Myself, if he exhibited any of those symptoms, I'd give him a shot of something like nuflor...I just want to stop something before it gets started. But, my suggestion to you is before you do that, call the vet. There are over the counter antibiotics like LA200, Tylan, Tylosin, but they don't pack the punch we need here when we have a lot of bottle calves exhibiting respiratory problems.

A lot of people swear by SMZ tablets...they are really broad spectrum antibiotics that are used for scours and a variety of other things. Like I said, talk to the vet about them. No point loading up a calf on the wrong thing. And always, always, always, when you give a calf antibiotics, give it probios.

Good luck, Kim.

Alice

 

[dj]

If the milk replacer is mixed to rich won't that cause scours?
In our efforts to do the right thing wouldn't it be tempting to mix just "alittle" more powder than it calls for, resulting in scours?

 

[WolfLady]

Reading over it I realize I forgot to put something -- he isnt drinking a bottle -- refuses it like it has the plauge. about 3 days ago he woudnt take the nipple so since then i have been putting it in a bowl for him and he sucks it down. And then I offer grain off my fingers. (talk about sticky fingers LOL )
I gave him probios this morn and vet said yesterday not to give him antibotics YET > (courisisty got the best of me can he eat oatmeal cooked?)

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Wolflady, Alice has given some good information here. Have you done a search of the old threads on this forum?

Go to the top of the site and click on search, put in the word "scours" (without the parentheses) and you should get many hits. This topic has been well covered, and lots of info available.

Good luck.

Katherine

 

[Alice]

If the milk replacer is mixed to rich won't that cause scours?
In our efforts to do the right thing wouldn't it be tempting to mix just "alittle" more powder than it calls for, resulting in scours?

Anything to excess is never good...and I'm certain a rich mix could cause problems. However, according to what I learned from working in the ag dept. at Tarleton State (yeah, I picked their brains whenever I could), it's actually worse to mix the replacer too thin... prevents the "curd" from forming in their stomachs.

I've had real good luck with mixing the full amount of replacer with 3 pints, rather than 4 pints of water. The calf gets the amount of milk replacer it needs without getting overfull. And, I noticed that the calves were more inclined to drink water...and it seems to make them start nosing around in their dry feed bucket. I put out dry feed when they are 3 days old. I had read about feeding this way on a Canadian extension service site and asked a prof at Tarleton about it...and she agreed with it. I decided, "what they hey, give it a whirl" and I'm really glad I did. No, it's not the "magic bullet" but it made a difference with our sale barn calves, I'm certain of that. And regular doses of probios, I think, makes a big difference, also.

Alice

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

Hate to be the "stick in the mud"; however,

Buying any "un-weaned" calf (aka less than ~205 days old) is asking for trouble, illness, etc.

Buying any un-weaned calf at a sale barn is asking even for more trouble...

Paying a minimum price for an un-weaned VERY young calf will probably end up costing a person at least as much as a normally weaned older calf, if not more...assuming it lives long enough to get to "weaning" age...

IMO....

 

[Alice]

Reading over it I realize I forgot to put something -- he isnt drinking a bottle -- refuses it like it has the plauge. about 3 days ago he woudnt take the nipple so since then i have been putting it in a bowl for him and he sucks it down. And then I offer grain off my fingers. (talk about sticky fingers LOL )
I gave him probios this morn and vet said yesterday not to give him antibotics YET > (courisisty got the best of me can he eat oatmeal cooked?)

Bottle or bucket...as long as he's getting what he needs.

Cooked oatmeal? I've never tried it, but I read on here some time back that someone gave their scoured calves oatmeal and said it worked out for them. Search this site...you'd be surprised what you can find out.

Alice

 

[bigbull338]

heres something an old dairyman told me to do for scours.
I tried it and it worked for me
Take milk away
1 pkg. of Sure Jell (I used store brand)
1 egg
2 tsp. of soda
2 tsp of Mortons Lite Salt I used just salt
Mix 2 qts warm water
1 quart at a time
1 that morning then the other 4 hrs. later

You can also use pencillin - I did not, but if you have it you can give recommened dosage.

 

[AngusLimoX]

Whatever you decide, and it is very good you are talking to your vet, stick with it.

Don't be all over the boards with what you feed him, his little innards need time to adjust to change in feed, so now that you have him be consistent in feed. Change or introduce new feed gradually. Go by instructions on the package for your replacer.

And good luck!

 

[msscamp]

If the milk replacer is mixed to rich won't that cause scours?
In our efforts to do the right thing wouldn't it be tempting to mix just "alittle" more powder than it calls for, resulting in scours?

Yes, it can......so can starting them on too much milk replacer, too soon.

 

[msscamp]

Hate to be the "stick in the mud"; however,

Buying any "un-weaned" calf (aka less than ~205 days old) is asking for trouble, illness, etc.

Buying any un-weaned calf at a sale barn is asking even for more trouble...

Paying a minimum price for an un-weaned VERY young calf will probably end up costing a person at least as much as a normally weaned older calf, if not more...assuming it lives long enough to get to "weaning" age...

IMO....

I disagree. I've raised too many bottle calves over the years and didn't have any major problems with them - I've even managed to successfully raise half-dead ones (and I do mean half-dead) from the dreaded sale barn! :shock: :lol: :lol:

 

[msscamp]

Kim,

Also continue the electrolytes.

Alice, the only thing I would add here is to make sure the brand of electrolytes being used is compatible with milk - not all of them are.

Also, right now especially, listen real closely when he drinks his bottle. If you hear any kind of rattle while he drinks, and/or he pulls off the bottle more than a couple of times and/or has a snotty nose, call the vet and ask if antibiotics are appropriate. Myself, if he exhibited any of those symptoms, I'd give him a shot of something like nuflor...I just want to stop something before it gets started. But, my suggestion to you is before you do that, call the vet. There are over the counter antibiotics like LA200, Tylan, Tylosin, but they don't pack the punch we need here when we have a lot of bottle calves exhibiting respiratory problems.

If one knows what to listen for and can catch a calf at the first signs of the rattling while nursing stage/pulling off the nipple thing, a lot of times 10ccs of long acting penicillin will knock it out - a lot less expensive for the owner and not quite as hard on the calf as the higher powered antibiotics. Just my experience.

Alice

 

[dj]

If the milk replacer is mixed to rich won't that cause scours?
In our efforts to do the right thing wouldn't it be tempting to mix just "alittle" more powder than it calls for, resulting in scours?

Yes, it can......so can starting them on too much milk replacer, too soon.

do you mean volume? trying to get three bottles down them instead of two?

 

[msscamp]

If the milk replacer is mixed to rich won't that cause scours?
In our efforts to do the right thing wouldn't it be tempting to mix just "alittle" more powder than it calls for, resulting in scours?

Yes, it can......so can starting them on too much milk replacer, too soon.

do you mean volume? trying to get three bottles down them instead of two?

Milk replacer is different than Mom's milk and it can cause scours if too much is fed at one time when they aren't used to it. I've seen calves scour with just 2 quarts at one sitting when being switched. It is impossible to tell the last time a calf from the salebarn has been fed, so I like to start them with a pint or two every 2 hours and build from there. Sure, it's a pain in the butt - but it's easier than having to treat for scours and it doesn't knock the calf back any further than he already is. Depending on the circumstances (very hungry, already stressed due to cold, rain, snow, etc.), I'll go ahead and give him one scour pill between feedings to just hedge my bet and help insure he doesn't start scouring.

 

[starbaby]

I THOUGHT THAT A CALF HAD TO SUCK A BOTTLE OR BUCKET SO IT WOULD DEVELOP ITS RUMEN OR SOMETHING ALONG THAT LINE