regolith
Well-known member
This is a new farm to me, and I know several never-drenched calves died here, loaded with ostertagia before I took over (I'd seen a couple of calves die for the same reason the previous year, which had been examined by the vet so I knew what *that* looked like). So I've been a bit wary of putting the calves out behind the calf shed as there's no doubt in my mind that the whole area where calves were last year is likely to be loaded with worms.
Normally I drench the calves quite young - six to ten weeks, then every two or three months after, and normally see very few signs of worm infestation. On this farm - I can use drench because the livestock aren't certified organic, but then I would have to hold the calves on a quarantine area.
So I guess the question is - if you have young calves on grass and you don't drench them, how fast would you expect to see loose dung?
I've got a group of twenty calves three to six weeks old that have been out of the calf shed full time for about three days, days only in the shed at night since about a week ago. Shortly after letting them access to grass I saw a calf with a white smear on its side - obviously picked up from some-one else with loose dung - so cut the milk back slightly from 4.5 litres daily to 4, and waited to see what would happen. Normally I'd be seeing the first signs of rotavirus going through the mob by now. Now - about half the mob have dirty tails, but it's not milk scours, it's pasty grey like worm scours.
I moved them this afternoon onto better grass away from the buildings. Will be turning the next group out onto grass in a few days.
Normally I drench the calves quite young - six to ten weeks, then every two or three months after, and normally see very few signs of worm infestation. On this farm - I can use drench because the livestock aren't certified organic, but then I would have to hold the calves on a quarantine area.
So I guess the question is - if you have young calves on grass and you don't drench them, how fast would you expect to see loose dung?
I've got a group of twenty calves three to six weeks old that have been out of the calf shed full time for about three days, days only in the shed at night since about a week ago. Shortly after letting them access to grass I saw a calf with a white smear on its side - obviously picked up from some-one else with loose dung - so cut the milk back slightly from 4.5 litres daily to 4, and waited to see what would happen. Normally I'd be seeing the first signs of rotavirus going through the mob by now. Now - about half the mob have dirty tails, but it's not milk scours, it's pasty grey like worm scours.
I moved them this afternoon onto better grass away from the buildings. Will be turning the next group out onto grass in a few days.
