Calf Medication

Reggie.

With many posters here rearing bucket fed calves like myself I thought it would be a good idea to have a thread on different medications/injections that there are for calves.

Info such as what injections are for what illness or vaccinate for what illness as god knows most of the time I haven't a clue what most of the medication/injections are for at times

Some of the more experienced posters might share what they deem to be essential medication for the little blighters

This might help people to put together a proper calf health plan.

lakill Farm

Reggie. wrote: »

With many posters here rearing bucket fed calves like myself I thought it would be a good idea to have a thread on different medications/injections that there are for calves.

Info such as what injections are for what illness or vaccinate for what illness as god knows most of the time I haven't a clue what most of the medication/injections are for at times

Some of the more experienced posters might share what they deem to be essential medication for the little blighters

This might help people to put together a proper calf health plan.

great idea.

isolation pen and a heat lamp are no1

The Cuban

Sulphur powders, penstip and liquid paraffin

Base price

I presume we can only suggest non POM medication.
Although vaccinations are POM I recommend that anyone buying in calves get them vaccinated. Consult your Vet as to which is the best product to suit your farm.
Glucose, salt and bread soda - to make up home made electrolytes.
Also handy to have in your cupboard - liquid parrafin, bran, a used whiskey bottle (half sized) for dosing, infra red lamp, stomach tube, a bottle of Milk of Magnesia, a thermometer, alymacin/blue spray, Iodine, Animalintex poultice and vet wrap, Bovicox or simular for cocci prevention/treatment, Bimastat for scour, and a gallon of Dept of Agri approved disinfectant that is "food friendly" for washing teat feeders etc.
Should have added - TIME. Never be in a rush to feed calves. Watch them while feeding as this can be your first indication that one is off.

Reggie.

Base price wrote: »

I presume we can only suggest non POM medication.
Although vaccinations are POM I recommend that anyone buying in calves get them vaccinated. Consult your Vet as to which is the best product to suit your farm.
Glucose, salt and bread soda - to make up home made electrolytes.
Also handy to have in your cupboard - liquid parrafin, bran, a used whiskey bottle (half sized) for dosing, infra red lamp, stomach tube, a bottle of Milk of Magnesia, a thermometer, alymacin/blue spray, Iodine, Animalintex poultice and vet wrap, Bovicox or simular for cocci prevention/treatment, Bimastat for scour, and a gallon of Dept of Agri approved disinfectant that is "food friendly" for washing teat feeders etc.

What is the paraffin for?

Base price

Reggie. wrote: »

What is the paraffin for?

For a blockage or hard dung. Say if a calf gorges on too much crunch/meal - give as an oral dose.

dzer2

Reggie. wrote: »

What is the paraffin for?

Constipation

Base price

dzer2 wrote: »

Constipation

If a calf is also boated with constipation I found that dosing with Milk of Magnesia is a great remedy.
For some reason Milk of Magnesia was not available in shops in Ireland earlier this year. You could only get it in the North of Ireland. I don't know if it is back on the shelves.

greysides

Advisory:

This is taken from the charter, so just to refresh memories..

Offering Treatment:

Discussion of over-the-counter medicines is fine. For the more day-to-day conditions treatments can be discussed, but specific (POM) antibiotics should not be prescribed. Mentioning previous similar experiences, particularly where veterinary help was sought, or suggesting supportive therapy or preventative methods is fine. For serious or uncertain conditions, suggesting a treatment is not allowed and will be subject to infraction.

Traditional Treatments:

Conventional medicines must undergo licensing and prove their safety and efficacy. A lot of treatments animals were given in the past are no longer needed, as better treatments of a higher standard are available. Safe ancillary treatments that compliment, or are part of, conventional therapy are allowed to be discussed. Treatments such as poultices, iodine, bread soda, glycerine and similar are safe for mention.

Specifically prohibited from discussion/suggestion as treatments are:

Waste/burnt oil, Creosote, Turpentine, White Spirits, Jeyes Fluid, Domestos. (this list will be amended in future)

Posts recommending such home remedies (or similar) will be removed, and repeat offenders may be infracted.

I'd rather point out the rules than have to take action later...

For the purposes of the thread, advice including preventative vaccine use, well-known preventative medications and husbandry would seem to fit the OPs requirements.

Base price

Two other things that are handy to have on hand are Stockholm tar for excessive navel sucking (mustard works too but only apply it to the hair tips as it can irritate the skin) and kaolin powder for excessive scour and a calf is shedding gut lining.

Milked out

Effydral for scour, it's the best one there as will help agsinst acidosis as well.

Capercaillie

The biggest enemy of a calf is another calf!

whelan2

Milked out wrote: »

Effydral for scour, it's the best one there as will help agsinst acidosis as well.

just stocked up on this today, magenta seem to be the cheapest

Base price

Capercaillie wrote: »

The biggest enemy of a calf is another calf!

Don't agree with you on that Capercaillie. I would say the biggest enemy of a calf is lack of hygiene, poor ventilation and bad (wet) bedding.
Oh and a dope of a dairy farmer who couldn't give a **** or can't be bothered looking after bull calves :mad:

Capercaillie

Base price wrote: »

Don't agree with you on that Capercaillie. I would say the biggest enemy of a calf is lack of hygiene, poor ventilation and bad (wet) bedding.
Oh and a dope of a dairy farmer who couldn't give a **** or can't be bothered looking after bull calves :mad:

Old neighbor always says it. You could have the best housing/ventilation, but if you put too many calves in a shed they will get sickness.

greysides

Reggie. wrote: »

Info such as what injections are for what illness or vaccinate for what illness as God knows most of the time I haven't a clue what most of the medication/injections are for at times

It may be to your credit that you are ignorant of the medication/injections.
By far the best approach is prevention and if you are doing that fairly well then you won't have any reason to be au fait with all the medicines.

Health Plans are individual, tailored to each farm. Bigger farms/outfits will face different challenges to someone buying in a few calves every year from the one source. Facilities that would be unsuitable for big numbers may work fine with small numbers.

The biggest concerns with rearing calves are pneumonia and scour. Husbandry plays a huge part in preventing these by keeping the animals health up, to overcome the level of challenge, and by hygiene, to keep the level of challenge within what a healthy calf can cope with.

Animal Health Ireland have some very good leaflets available here.

Base price

greysides wrote: »

It may be to your credit that you are ignorant of the medication/injections.
By far the best approach is prevention and if you are doing that fairly well then you won't have any reason to be au fait with all the medicines.

Health Plans are individual, tailored to each farm. Bigger farms/outfits will face different challenges to someone buying in a few calves every year from the one source. Facilities that would be unsuitable for big numbers may work fine with small numbers.

The biggest concerns with rearing calves are pneumonia and scour. Husbandry plays a huge part in preventing these by keeping the animals health up, to overcome the level of challenge, and by hygiene, to keep the level of challenge within what a healthy calf can cope with.

Animal Health Ireland have some very good leaflets available here.

Great link Greysides.

whelan2

Vet was here today doing the summing up on the johnes scheme, we were talking about calf health, he said the 2 most important things are adequate biestings soon after birth and a clean environment .

visatorro

vecoxan and halocur in press aswell. older generation mixes used tea bags in with lectate here, reckons it's great for re hydration

whelan2

visatorro wrote: »

vecoxan and halocur in press aswell. older generation mixes used tea bags in with lectate here, reckons it's great for re hydration

switched to bovicox instead of vecoxan, its 1 dose and less of it. Lectade or life aid are gone off the market

Queenalocin

Base price wrote: »

If a calf is also boated with constipation I found that dosing with Milk of Magnesia is a great remedy.
For some reason Milk of Magnesia was not available in shops in Ireland earlier this year. You could only get it in the North of Ireland. I don't know if it is back on the shelves.

It is in short supply again, so if you come across it anywhere, buy it!

Base price

If any of ye are buying calves directly ex farm then ask the farmer if they have any problems with cryptosporidium in their calves/herd.
2013 I bought 10 BWH bull calves from a farmer at €230 each. All the calves were healthy looking when I bought and collected them. Brought them home and put them into one of our isolation sheds. Fed them that night and no problems as they were used to 10 teat feeders. Next morning one of them was off, played with the teat and didn't suck. I separated him from the rest of the group and hand fed him with honey on the teat to encourage him. After his feed I knew he was really off as he lay down immediately and was not interested in nipping a bit of hay or crunch. Took his temperature (up the bum as I prefer to use a mercury thermometer) and as I was taking the thermometer out of his bum he spewed all over the place. His temperature was up a bit but he was not dehydrated, skin pluck was ok, eyes and nose were moist. I checked him again at around lunch time and he was laying flat. I phoned our Vet for advise. Vet talked me through a few general checks on the phone (skin pluck and sunken eyes) and then advised me to bring the calf to the surgery as there was no Vet available to come onsite. Put the calf into the back of the van and headed to the Vets. When I arrived to the surgery the Vet took a dung sample from his bum tested it and 10 minutes later said that he had Cryptosporidium yada yada something or another.....
Vet reckoned that the calf was beyond treating but we agreed to give him a chance and put in a line.
I had to buy stuff to treat the nine other calves who were in the same group and it was not cheap. Oral yellow liquid that you have to give 5mls?? per day for 5 days. I reckon that it cost me €70 per calf.

whelan2

Halocur?

Base price

whelan2 wrote: »

Halocur?

I don't have the remedies register here but I will check when I'm in Longford later on in the week.

Brown Podzol

Expert on calf rearing who is also a vet called today. He told me that an egg from a hen pecking around the yard given to a sick calf is like giving the calf a hand grenade of antibodies for the diseases prevalent on your farm. A tesco egg would be no good. Apparently eggs are infected in labs to generate antibodies for sale commercially. He said the old people knew eggs were good for sick calves just did not know how they worked.

CloughCasey1

Brown Podzol wrote: »

Expert on calf rearing who is also a vet called today. He told me that an egg from a hen pecking around the yard given to a sick calf is like giving the calf a hand grenade of antibodies for the diseases prevalent on your farm. A tesco egg would be no good. Apparently eggs are infected in labs to generate antibodies for sale commercially. He said the old people knew eggs were good for sick calves just did not know how they worked.

Thats what my vet told me. Said whisk a few in with the milk for a sick calf. Full of protein also.

greysides

Brown Podzol wrote: »

Apparently eggs are infected in labs to generate antibodies for sale commercially.

It's the hens that are vaccinated to produce the antibodies that go into the eggs.:)

mf240

Pucks of beastings.

Pucks of straw .

And your half way there.

orm0nd

mf240 wrote: »

Pucks of beastings.

Pucks of straw .

And your half way there.

+1
and good draught free airy housing is the other half

CloughCasey1

orm0nd wrote: »

+1
and good draught free airy housing is the other half

And a shake of lime before adding bedding is no harm either

Reggie.

CloughCasey1 wrote: »

And a shake of lime before adding bedding is no harm either

Normal building lime?

CloughCasey1

Reggie. wrote: »

Normal building lime?

Thats what I buy. Bought a few calves off a big farmer up near Ballinasloe and the place was pure white with it. All straw beds, passages and walls in calving pens and in calf shed done morning and evening.

whelan2

lime wont kill crypto though

CloughCasey1

whelan2 wrote: »

lime wont kill crypto though

Nope. Think he said all beds changed weekly and disinfected. Can't remember what he said he used.

farawaygrass

whelan2 wrote: »

lime wont kill crypto though

Whelan2, I remember you saying on here awhile back that you powerwashing all shed with some disinfectant for crypto. What is he product you use? And would it be on to do it say a month before calving?

whelan2

I use interkokask. Get it from vet. Apply with knapsack. Normally do it a few days before stock go in sheds. Don't know about leaving it a month

Base price

whelan2 wrote: »

Halocur?

Yep that was the stuff. Expensive as well.

Carrigogunnell

farawaygrass wrote: »

Whelan2, I remember you saying on here awhile back that you powerwashing all shed with some disinfectant for crypto. What is he product you use? And would it be on to do it say a month before calving?

I am nearly sure Kilcox extra to