Nurse Cow

[ag_business04]

I recently got a nurse cow, with 2 calves about 3 wks each. The cow has a weeping wound on its bottom. I am treating it. One of the calves has come down with lil scours, not bad yet, but I don't want it to get that way. Could the cows infection be giving problems to the calf. Any ideas on treating the scours. I lost 3 bottle calves this summer to it and I am out of ideas.

 

[ben171]

i raise lots of bottle calves. what i do when they arent quite scoured yet but it looks like the scours may be coming is put a raw egg in the bottle. this sometimes will keep them from getting full blown scours. if the calf does get scours i take them off of milk, use a good electrolyte (i use bounce back by manna pro) and give a terramycin bolus for three days. not guaranteed to work but it is what works for me. also isolate the calf from other stock. hope it helps, good luck

 

[ag_business04]

i raise lots of bottle calves. what i do when they arent quite scoured yet but it looks like the scours may be coming is put a raw egg in the bottle. this sometimes will keep them from getting full blown scours. if the calf does get scours i take them off of milk, use a good electrolyte (i use bounce back by manna pro) and give a terramycin bolus for three days. not guaranteed to work but it is what works for me. also isolate the calf from other stock. hope it helps, good luck

I have tried the egg in the milk before and seen it work. These last 3 calves that i lost, I tried everything. This new calf is on a nurse cow and I am not sure about interupting his nursing with a bottle. I might screw something up. I think I might try the terramycin.......I can't afford to keep loosing calves. thanks

 

[Beefy]

you should have them tested when you lose that many. could be something nasty.

 

[ctlbaron]

I give spectam Scour halt for pigs.10cc morning and night. Also two scour bolus'. I can't remember the name.They are good for three days. Also cut the milk to half recomended powder with all the water for bottle calves. Clears most of them up in 24 hours. I give a dose of probios the next day or two.

 

[Brandonm2]

you should have them tested when you lose that many. could be something nasty.

With this new type 2 strain of BVD, a lot of people are losing calves they wouldn't previously of lost. I wouldn't go anywhere near bottle calves right now(unless I had a good relationship with the source) .

 

[milkmaid]

you should have them tested when you lose that many. could be something nasty.

With this new type 2 strain of BVD, a lot of people are losing calves they wouldn't previously of lost. I wouldn't go anywhere near bottle calves right now(unless I had a good relationship with the source) .

Out of curiosity - why wouldn't you want bottle calves? Is it because you're afraid they'll die due to...what cause? scours or BVD related or?? or because they might carry the BVD virus and spread it to some of your other stock?

 

[ag_business04]

you should have them tested when you lose that many. could be something nasty.

With this new type 2 strain of BVD, a lot of people are losing calves they wouldn't previously of lost. I wouldn't go anywhere near bottle calves right now(unless I had a good relationship with the source) .

Out of curiosity - why wouldn't you want bottle calves? Is it because you're afraid they'll die due to...what cause? scours or BVD related or?? or because they might carry the BVD virus and spread it to some of your other stock?

Bottle calves are higher risk. If you can get them to live without spending a fortune on meds.....you can make a decent profit. unfortunately, you can get a set and have not one problem and turn around and lose the entire next set. I don't have the money or land to start out with good breeding stock, so I am having to go at it the hard way. Many of the bottle calves come from a feed lot where cows are given vaccinations which ends up causeing them to abort if they are pregnant, so the calves that are born may not be full term, or due to the high concentrates in the diet my what is called a hot calf. If they don't get that first colosterum in the first 24 hours, they have very little chance of making it. Calves from a dairy tend to have better luck, but of course dairy calves don't bring as high a price nor do they tend to make good steaks. For me it is expensive practice, until I can get more land and afford good stock. These two calves are actually on a nurse cow and most times do better. I am worried that something was left behind from the other calves that I lost which is infecting my new one. Then again, my nurse cow has an infected gash on her butt and I don't know if that is affecting it. The other calf seems to be fine.

 

[ag_business04]

I give spectam Scour halt for pigs.10cc morning and night. Also two scour bolus'. I can't remember the name.They are good for three days. Also cut the milk to half recomended powder with all the water for bottle calves. Clears most of them up in 24 hours. I give a dose of probios the next day or two.

I just gave him 3 cc of spectam earlier. I was unsure about how musch to give. I will give a higher dose in the morning. I also went ahead and gave some A&D and B12. Thank you for your advise......I am very appreciative....and if you can remember the name of that bolus.....Is it terrimycin?

 

[Texan]

....and if you can remember the name of that bolus.....Is it terrimycin?

http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html ... b0d0204ae5


Plus....


http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html ... b0d0204ae5

 

[Brandonm2]

you should have them tested when you lose that many. could be something nasty.

With this new type 2 strain of BVD, a lot of people are losing calves they wouldn't previously of lost. I wouldn't go anywhere near bottle calves right now(unless I had a good relationship with the source) .

Out of curiosity - why wouldn't you want bottle calves? Is it because you're afraid they'll die due to...what cause? scours or BVD related or?? or because they might carry the BVD virus and spread it to some of your other stock?

Yes, I had a taste of BVD type 2 about 3 years ago (before the vets understood what it was and back when I was just vaccinating for the type 1). NOT a good experience at all!!! A bad outbreak at about the same time finished off our county's last dairy. NOW, we have a MLV vaccine we can use on Bred cows (thank-you Pfizer) so the danger should be lessened some. I did bottle calves when I was a teenager saving up money for college and did ok; but bottle calves are a HUGE risk. IF they come from a herd with BVDV or they pick it up from the other 30 calves in the pen at the stockyard they will give it to your calves and from them to their mothers. Those immuno-challenged calves tend to get scours and later respiratory problems the likes of which nobody has ever seen and infected cows have greater reproductive failures. To me IF you own other stock, bottle calves are now no longer an acceptable risk. Now somebody with no herd to infect or with a known source for the calves (preferably one that is BVDV(PI) free can still buy and raise bottle calves (though the risk of losses is greater than it has ever been).

 

[milkmaid]

OK, now that makes sense. I personally have had good success with bottle calves over the years, both on a bottle and on a nurse cow. Only calf I've lost was this past summer due to scours; half-dead when I got her and she never recovered. I did acquire a book recently (thanks for the suggestion, Medic) and after reading it, I think I might well have been able to save that calf if I'd known before what I know now. (She needed dextrose & electrolytes at that point.)

Anyhow, to me, I'm not concerned about the risk of losing bottle calves but dealing with BVD in any way does concern me. I hadn't considered that aspect before.

Now...everything I have on the place at the moment is fully vaccinated with 5-way lepto and 8-way clostridium. I would hope even if I DID end up with a BVD/PI bottle calf I wouldn't need to worry about the rest of the herd. Or would I???

 

[Brandonm2]

I was vaccinating for everything under the sun that I knew of at the time including a 5 way Lepto, Parainfluenza, IBR, and BVD. I just wasn't vaccinating for the new type 2 BVD. I had a great bunch of cows, a great bunch of new calves, then ALL HELL broke out and I have never used so many antibiotics or seen them do so little. Here is a link to the BovishieldGOLD web site.
http://www.bovi-shieldgold.com/
and a link to an article on the type 2 BVD
http://www.albcia.org/BVD.html

 

[Ann Bledsoe]

A teaspoon of liquid rennet (for cheesemaking) to a scouring calf will usually clear him right up. Rennet is naturally produced by the stomach of a milkfed calf. Stress will upset rennet production and can lead to scouring. Giving rennet allows him to properly digest his milk during the time that his own rennet production is upset.

If rennet doesn't clear him up right away, then I'd give him an oral dose of Neomycin followed 1 hour later by a probiotic (kill the bad bacteria then repopulate with beneficial bacteria).

Ann B

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

fully vaccinated with 5-way lepto and 8-way clostridium.

Milkmaid, 5 way Lepto ONLY protects against LEPTO, 8-way clostridium ONLY protects agains clostridial diseases.
I sure would use Pfizer BoviShield5L5 - this covers IBR, PI3, BVD (both strains) & BRSV, and the 5 way Lepto. You need to give a booster shot for the BRSV & Lepto (first time in their live of vaccines). After that, Lepto in fall and BS5L5 in spring prior to breeding.
I also vaccinate for Pasturella and Homophilus Somnus (sp?)

 

[Ryder]

OK, now that makes sense. I personally have had good success with bottle calves over the years, both on a bottle and on a nurse cow. Only calf I've lost was this past summer due to scours; half-dead when I got her and she never recovered. I did acquire a book recently (thanks for the suggestion, Medic) and after reading it, I think I might well have been able to save that calf if I'd known before what I know now. (She needed dextrose & electrolytes at that point.)

???

What book?

 

[milkmaid]

Management, Nutrition and Medicine for Calves by Keith Jeffers. Lot of neat information, and it's an easy read.

I believe what I've been vaccinating with is the Bovishield Gold FP 5 L5...have to check to be certain though. Everything except one heifer has had first vacc + booster, and that calf just needs the booster now.

 

[Ryder]

Management, Nutrition and Medicine for Calves by Keith Jeffers. Lot of neat information, and it's an easy read.

.

Thanks for info.