Spring Calfing Suckler - Scour

risers

folks,

having awful probs with calf scour this year.
we spring calf 100% but considering Autum calfing now. Cost to keep cow over winter was main reason from staying clear of Autum in the past.

treating with lectate but very time consuming and can only adminster via bottle.

Just wondered if anyone out there was currently expereincing same problems and if there was anything to give cows precalfing to help prevent this in addition to precalf minerals which we always use?

keep going

first thing take a sample of fresh scour( animalNOT TREATED) and get it cultured

whelan1

keep going wrote: »

first thing take a sample of fresh scour( animalNOT TREATED) and get it cultured

i second that and if they are indoors maybe clean out shed and powerhose and disenfect

RobinBanks

risers wrote: »

folks,
anything to give cows precalfing to help prevent this in addition to precalf minerals which we always use?

No good to you now! but I vaccinated all my cows this year about 4 weeks before calving with rotovec. Last year every calf I had got scour. This year not a single one got it....yet! but it seems to have been worth it.

Might be no harm to treat you're calves with vecoxxin but it may be too late for this as well if they already have scour

tismesoitis

RobinBanks wrote: »

No good to you now! but I vaccinated all my cows this year about 4 weeks before calving with rotovec. Last year every calf I had got scour. This year not a single one got it....yet! but it seems to have been worth it.

Might be no harm to treat you're calves with vecoxxin but it may be too late for this as well if they already have scour

+1 rotovec is the only job!! the odd calf wil get scour now and again but its easy treated.10 cc primadoxine ,a bimadine powder and 30 mls vecoxan and d jobs oxo:D

Bizzum

Same as the last 2 posts. Our heart was broken pre vacc with Rotovec C.
We spent more on Synulox tablets and the like than would have vaccinated them twice.

whelan1

rotavec is very expensive best to know what the problem is before using it , its probably too late for this year anyway as it has to be given at least 3 weeks before calving

pakalasa

What kind of scour is it? What does it look like?
If it looks like milk, it could just be nutritional.
If it has blood and clear mucous type stuff, could be Coccidiosis.

As said above, you need to find out what it is before you can tackle it.

MrKerry

whelan1 wrote: »

rotavec is very expensive best to know what the problem is before using it , its probably too late for this year anyway as it has to be given at least 3 weeks before calving

other pre-calving injection, 2 to 4 weeks before calving is trivactin 6.

good results, six euro per cow

risers

Thanks folks, great help there,
vet took sample for analysis and turns out it's a nutritional problem.
scour was just pure milky/water.

Will consider vaccinating with Rotavec or Trivactin 6 next year.

pakalasa

Vaccinating wont help you at all with Nutritional scour.
Do you know what brought it on, did you let the cows out to grass or something? A sudden increase in milk can do it. That's my experience anyway. Lectade or similar is all that is needed. Just to stop them getting dehydrated.

whelan1

bimastat is a brilliant product also

risers

No, cows in the whole time on silage. your right pakalasa dehydration is main problem that affects them initially.
Calves were scouring 3- 4 days after birth. I guess one option next spring would be to get more hay/straw into cows to bring down milk during first week or two.

whelan1

we have the same problem with our sucklers , its just too much milk , we milk the cows out in crush and stomach tube calves with lectade and then give them bimastat for a day or 2 afterwards, its all work , have to watch them like a hawk

risers

We bottle feed the lectate and it works ok.
Bottom line, for all this work you would want to be getting paid for them well at other end!!!!!