Scours

[inyati13]

I wish I knew the secrets of scours in calves from birth to about 24 days old. About one calf in three or four get it in my cow/calf operation around day 12 to 15. I am good at treating it. I use a stomach tube and put them on liquid and electrolyte at first notice. I also have found bio-sponge and bio-absorbants very effective such as kaolin/pectin oral solutions and I also tube those into their stomach. So I am not wondering about treatment but am more curious about knowing how to disrupt the pathway that they get it. It takes a lot of time dealing with it and some cows don't like you putting their calves through the treatment regime. I first thought it was in the old barn where some of the calves were born. But I don't use the barn now and I see cases where the calf is born in the pasture. I have a creek running across the back end of the farm. The cows stand in pools of water when it gets hot. Usually, it stops flowing by the end of June. Then the wastes of the cattle build up and the pools are nasty. In late fall, I have seen the calves drink a swallow or two of the contaminated water and have thought that this is a probable pathway. What experience has anyone else had with water as a source of the organisms that can cause scours? As a side issue, I have wondered about the contaminated water being a source of the organism that causes foot-rot. There are sharp edges on the rocks so it could be an ideal set-up for the foot-rot pathway. Please provide comments and any experience you have had with this scenario.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

We used to have a high number of calves scour at about day 14 after birth, with the range being 10 to 16 days. We treated with sulfa by pill gun, and if they were really bad we drenched with electrolytes. Last spring, we gave the cows a shot of Scour Guard, and the calves got oral treatment before nursing (I can not remember what it was called, got it from the vet, but we had to mix and squirt it at the back of the throat). It was a pain and not every calf got the oral vaccine, but we had no scours last spring. This fall, we are calving in a different pasture completely, and out of 5 calves so far that are older than 2 weeks NONE have scoured. Our vet said it was viral, and living in the soil of the pasture we calved in previously.

 

[inyati13]

Thanks. Your response was excellent. If they are in the soil, then the vaccination is the only means to disrupt the cycle. I will talk to the vet.

 

[regolith]

The scours seems to follow my herd from farm to farm, in all cases the farm owner will swear they've never had scour problems on their farm before. I blame the adult cows - not sure if it's all of them or just the ones that have had it themselves. Vaccination is effective.
Of course, some of those farm owners were wrong. It's pretty obvious when you wet down the calf shed with disinfectant on arrival and the scour marks show up.

 

[Nite Hawk]

Ever Lime / bleach some of the calf sheds and then later wash it out and see if that helps??
Nite Hawk

 

[Nite Hawk]

Or Lime, disk or harrow your pastures?
We not uncommonly burn our field ( as long as it can be done safely) to get rid of some of the parasites, weeds etc.
Nite Hawk

 

[larryshoat]

The scours seems to follow my herd from farm to farm, in all cases the farm owner will swear they've never had scour problems on their farm before. I blame the adult cows - not sure if it's all of them or just the ones that have had it themselves. Vaccination is effective.
Of course, some of those farm owners were wrong. It's pretty obvious when you wet down the calf shed with disinfectant on arrival and the scour marks show up.

Rego, sounds like they may have selective memory ;-) .

Larry