Scours

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Terri9630

Internet Princess
Neighbor
HCL Supporter
Joined
Dec 3, 2017
Messages
10,091
Location
Central NM.
Hubby and the neighbor brought home a pair of Holstein bull calves Sat. One has developed a bad case of scours and isn't eating. They are about a week old. We've been drenching him with electrolytes and milk replacer to keep him fed and hydrated and he's been on Oxytetracycline (pill not shot) for 3 days now with no effect. He's starting to sound congested. Our "local" vet is closed for the next 4 months and the next closest is in Cali for the next 2 weeks.

How would y'all treat this?
 
Sounds like you are doing the right things... Did you check the
Merck Veterinary Manual?

https://www.merckvetmanual.com/
A word of wisdom from my neighbor. His dairy farm joined against our farm. He had a sayin' about holsteins I've heard most of my life.

"Holsteins are born looking for a place to die"!

I can't explain it but its true. As a breed they are more prone to sickness and death than any breed I know of. So, be prepared for loss.
 
Under feed them is the first thing I would do. “Over feeding” is a huge cause of scours in them. Any blood in the stool? How much are you tubing them? What’s their temperature?
Probiotics and vitamin B complex injections is the first step for any new calves that seem off or have scours. This will help the gut flora especially if your giving antibiotics. Also will help with appetite. Most of the time we’ve found it worse to use antibiotics than to support and treat the calves health itself. Changing antibiotics isn't usually recommended.
Have raised probably a few hundred bottle calves over the years. Holsteins and jerseys are a pain. Most issues I see (when I’m contacted about sick calves) is feeding far more than “necessary“.
 
We've been offering 1qt 3 times a day. This one hasn't finished a single feeding . No blood visible in the stool. We've been tubing 3/4 qt of milk replacer 3 times a day and with Bounce Back electrolytes 3 times a day a couple hrs apart. I don't know about his temp. My thermometer is missing since the move and I haven't been to town yet. He was COLD this morning. His mouth felt like he had been sucking on an ice cube. We tubed him with electrolytes mixed up with not quite "to hot" water and got him wrapped up. I really expected him to be gone when I went back out to check on him. I am expecting some probiotics and B 12 to be here tomorrow. They were supposed to be here yesterday but the tracking said they were delayed due to "unusual" circumstances. We are using the antibiotics because of the congestion/cough. I was concerned about pneumonia (shipping fever).

I've raised kittens, puppies and goats on a bottle but not calves. Not real happy with hubby and neighbor right now....
 
@Terri9630 For a one week old 1 pint 3 times a day is all i ever do. Some seem fine with more but ive had far to many who didn’t. Have cleared up many calves I’ve gotten with scours or been in contact with just by following that amount of milk. A wise vet many years ago taught me this. Years ago I would buy practically dead calves from the auction for a couple bucks and that vet would set me out a box of stuff to pick up. He got tired of seeing lost causes I’d drag home. He never did understand my willingness to buy 1/2 dead calves and spend weeks with them in the barn hooked up to fluids etc. Saved a lot of them over the years. Don’t give up on him. Cold mouth is a bad sign but I don’t give up until they do. Have had ones come back from it.
OH!!! ABSOLUTELY NO SOY! Milk based replacer only. If it’s soy based it’s darn near a guarantee for scours and unthrifty calves.
Edited to add: When my bottle calves go through market the buyers can’t even tell they were bottle calves. No pot bellies etc. Figured out a lot of tricks over the years. Hope maybe some can help you too. Bottle calves are a lot of fun. I hope you can get it straightened out so you can enjoy them too
 
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Sadly calves are taken off milk cows before they get any chlorostrum and sold at auction. Anytime I have bottle fed a baby calf we give it cholostrum if it is under 24 hours. I also add a raw egg to the bottle for the next few weeks of feeding. I try to get the calf back on the cow as soon as possible if I can.
 
Ya'll keep writing... talked to dad about this yesterday. We agree, it's been about 15+ years since we had a calf with scours. It's amazing how much you can forget in that amount of time. I'll be copying these pointers into a document for keeping.
 
Sadly calves are taken off milk cows before they get any chlorostrum and sold at auction. Anytime I have bottle fed a baby calf we give it cholostrum if it is under 24 hours. I also add a raw egg to the bottle for the next few weeks of feeding. I try to get the calf back on the cow as soon as possible if I can.

Your the second one that's mentioned adding eggs. What do the eggs do for the calf?
 
@Terri9630 might also try giving it some plain natural yogurt. Ruminates need the gut bacteria. Sorry I just saw this.
I don't have any yogurt but I have given him probiotics and calf mate. I found out that here is another vet in our area but he won't help. He will only work on horses...:mad: I called our old vet and told her the issues and what we have done. She said to keep pushing the fluids and change to a sulfa bolus and give pen-g for the next 5 days because of the cough/congestion. She's thinking shipping fever/pnemonia.

The vet 50miles away won't help but our old vet 200+ miles away didn't hesitate.
 
I don't have any yogurt but I have given him probiotics and calf mate. I found out that here is another vet in our area but he won't help. He will only work on horses...:mad: I called our old vet and told her the issues and what we have done. She said to keep pushing the fluids and change to a sulfa bolus and give pen-g for the next 5 days because of the cough/congestion. She's thinking shipping fever/pnemonia.

The vet 50miles away won't help but our old vet 200+ miles away didn't hesitate.

How is the calves doing now? :confused:
 
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