With spring calving season just around the corner, we will likely see some calves that develop diarrhea. Why do some herds rarely, if ever, have calves with scours while other herds seem to battle the disease frequently?
The keys to prevention of calf diarrhea are:
- separating heifers from cows 60 days before calving starts
- leaving first calf heifers and their calves separate from older cows and their calves until grass turnout time
- spreading out animals as much as possible during calving season (“the solution to pollution is dilution”)
- utilizing a calf loafing area with “calf huts” so calves stay cleaner and drier
- calve in the driest area of the farm
- calve in a season that fits your environment (less scours for calves born in May vs. February)
- vaccinating for E. coli, if that is a primary concern
- be sure calves nurse colostrum quickly and they receive sufficient quantity (2 quarts by 6 hours and 4 quarts by 12 hours)
- be sure cows are in adequate Body Condition Score at calving time
Many of the diseases that cause neonatal diarrhea occur at fairly specific times. The four most common causes of calf diarrhea and the time they occur are:E. coli 0-5 days
Rotavirus 4-15 days+
Coronavirus 7-30 days+
Cryptosporidiosis 8-16 daysIf you are having calves with diarrhea at two weeks of age, vaccinating your cows with E. coli is not likely to help.
Treatment of neonatal diarrheaIf you have calves with scours, formulate a plan of prevention with the assistance of your herd health veterinarian.
For treatment of the calves, the key is early intervention with oral electrolyte solutions. There are many products on the market and some are excellent while others are quite poor. Again, ask your veterinarian for the best products available.
A calf that is 8% dehydrated and weighs 100# has a fluid volume deficiency of 8# or 1 gallon. This calf also has a daily requirement of about 1 gallon; so, just to get this calf back to normal hydration, he needs 2 gallons of fluids.
A sample treatment schedule for this calf would be:
7am – allow calf to nurse dam or tube feed 2 quarts milk
10am – feed 2 quarts electrolyte solution and separate from his dam.
2pm – put calf with dam and allow to nurse (if unable or will not nurse, give 1-2 quarts milk via esophageal feeder)
6pm – feed 2 quarts electrolyte solution and separate from his dam
After two-three days of this schedule, most calves are back to normal. If, after this time, the calf is still listless, have your herd health veterinarian re-examine the calf.
A helpful technique for helping to slow down or stop a scours outbreak is to move the cows yet to calve to a new location if you are having a scours outbreak. The calving area becomes quite contaminated during a scours outbreak, and every new calf born adds to the problem. Move the cows that have not calved to a new, clean area, and, many times, the outbreak is over.
If you seem to battle neonatal diarrhea in your calves frequently, sit down with your herd health veterinarian and develop a plan of prevention. As the old saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”