Calves dying

blackdog1 · 30-01-2020 6:44pm

Mach Two wrote: »

Just confirmed. Calves getting a really bad scour after a week. Dead after 24 yrs or so.

you need to test the calves dung with a quick test kit . your vet should have them

https://www.farmacy.co.uk/products/733-rainbow-calf-scour-diagnostic-test-x-5

in the meantime he should vaccinate his cows with rotavac corona to elimate that problem. i would't be surprised if hes getting a combination of both rota and crypto they're dying so quick.

Mach Two · 30-01-2020 6:45pm

Is Rotavec only for Rotavirus.

blackdog1 · 30-01-2020 6:51pm

Mach Two wrote: »

Is Rotavec only for Rotavirus.

yes you'll need a product called parafor for crypto. i wouldn't bother with halacur, in my experience it doesn't kill it just prolongs the onset of it

whelan2 · 30-01-2020 6:51pm

Mach Two wrote: »

Is Rotavec only for Rotavirus.

No for coronavirus too. I always found it also helped to lessen the impact of a crypto outbreak.

green daries · 30-01-2020 7:05pm

Yes it also covers k99 and e.coli plus any form of pneumonia attached to the above I think we are all familiar with the name Corona virus now! I also wouldn't rule out the other pneumonia virus talked about earlier and would recommend blood tests to rule in or out these treatments being advised and talked about here are going to be expensive upfront BUT its a very cheap solution in the long run because these viruses get deeply embedded in a herd unless nipped in the bud it's a really tough time for a farmer who is stuck in the middle of it but other posters advice here especially re hygiene is top notch and its great to see people be free with good quality advice

Mach Two · 30-01-2020 7:09pm

What do you do with the Parafor. For the cow or calf.

whelan2 · 30-01-2020 7:11pm

Mach Two wrote: »

What do you do with the Parafor. For the cow or calf.

Calf. Sheds have to be cleaned and disenfected if possible use different sheds than what's being used now for calves

gozunda · 30-01-2020 7:12pm

Mach Two wrote: »

Just confirmed. Calves getting a really bad scour after a week. Dead after 24 yrs or so.

24 yrs?

Mach Two · 30-01-2020 7:20pm

gozunda wrote: »

24 yrs?

Maybe a bit longer. Maybe 48 hrs. But dying quickly.

whelan2 · 30-01-2020 7:33pm

Another thing to try is iodine in the cows drinking water before calving. Lugols iodine 1cc per cow per day in their drinker for a few weeks before calving. Helps the calves to be lively after birth

Mach Two · 30-01-2020 8:24pm

whelan2 wrote: »

Another thing to try is iodine in the cows drinking water before calving. Lugols iodine 1cc per cow per day in their drinker for a few weeks before calving. Helps the calves to be lively after birth

No weak calves after birth. You can give too much iodine too.

wrangler · 31-01-2020 12:10am

Mach Two wrote: »

No weak calves after birth. You can give too much iodine too.

Local lab must be very poor if they can't diagnose.
Iused to spray tincture of iodine on the shoulder and the cows would lick it off as a way of giving them iodine

Base price · 31-01-2020 12:55am

wrangler wrote: »

Local lab must be very poor if they can't diagnose.
Iused to spray tincture of iodine on the shoulder and the cows would lick it off as a way of giving them iodine

Question - how do you know if cows are deficient? What are the symptoms?
TBH I've never heard of feeding Iodine in water or spraying it only from reading threads on F&F. I'm aware of copper and selenium deficiency.

wrangler · 31-01-2020 1:05am

Base price wrote: »

Question - how do you know if cows are deficient? What are the symptoms?
TBH I've never heard of feeding Iodine in water or spraying it only from reading threads on F&F. I'm aware of copper and selenium deficiency.

Big lazy calves at birth, some won't take the first breath,,
don't bother to suck then if they live,

green daries · 31-01-2020 2:09am

A lack of iodine Also causes fertility issues

orm0nd · 31-01-2020 8:21am

wrangler wrote: »

Big lazy calves at birth, some won't take the first breath,,
don't bother to suck then if they live,

Low iodine causes thyroid issues, when the calf tries to breathe the gland caves in, cutting off the air supply.

We had ibr a few years back, all initial tests showed nothing, eventually showed up after a detailed tissue culture test.

Not saying it's the issue with these calves but ibr is responsible for a lot more deaths and sickness than people realise, it can be lingering in an animal and kicks in if the immune system come under pressure.

Mach Two · 31-01-2020 2:01pm

wrangler wrote: »

Big lazy calves at birth, some won't take the first breath,,
don't bother to suck then if they live,

Exactly. I had this problem years ago. 1 cc/cow a day of Lugols iodine in the water and everything changed.

Mach Two · 31-01-2020 2:03pm

orm0nd wrote: »

Low iodine causes thyroid issues, when the calf tries to breathe the gland caves in, cutting off the air supply.

We had ibr a few years back, all initial tests showed nothing, eventually showed up after a detailed tissue culture test.

Not saying it's the issue with these calves but ibr is responsible for a lot more deaths and sickness than people realise, it can be lingering in an animal and kicks in if the immune system come under pressure.

How do you check for IBR.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 31-01-2020 2:13pm

To my mind, scouring after a week and dying within 24 hours would point towards Rotavirus or Corona virus. We had an outbreak of Corona virus last year and we had a rough 3 weeks till the immunity in colostrum kicked in.

A post mortem and samples of scour need to be done as quickly as possible. The vet should have a test kit for testing and will be able to give a diagnosis from that pretty quickly.

If it is Rota/Coronavirus, it'll take 3 weeks for enough immunity to build up to fully protect the calf but there will be increasing immunity from 2 weeks after vaccination. So vaccinate everything as soon as possible if it shows up.

As soon as any calf hits the ground from now on, take the cow and milk her straight away and feed the calf straight away. You need to feed at least 3 litres of the first milking into the calf, or more if possible. This will get the maximum protection into the calf.

The idea that you can wait for a few hours for the calf to suck and they'll drink what they want isn't going to work any more, I'm afraid.

But get the scour samples tested first

Reggiehammond · 31-01-2020 3:53pm

Friend of mine had a lot of calf deaths a few years ago he found a product called Locatim and it solved it for him.

Mach Two · 31-01-2020 4:30pm

Reggiehammond wrote: »

Friend of mine had a lot of calf deaths a few years ago he found a product called Locatim and it solved it for him.

What was causing the problem initially.

Reggiehammond · 31-01-2020 5:10pm

Calves dying with scour. I don't know what strain of scour it was.

Mach Two · 31-01-2020 6:02pm

Reggiehammond wrote: »

Calves dying with scour. I don't know what strain of scour it was.

Try and find out please. It might solve his problem.

gozunda · 31-01-2020 7:13pm

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

To my mind, scouring after a week and dying within 24 hours would point towards Rotavirus or Corona virus. We had an outbreak of Corona virus last year and we had a rough 3 weeks till the immunity in colostrum kicked in.

A post mortem and samples of scour need to be done as quickly as possible. The vet should have a test kit for testing and will be able to give a diagnosis from that pretty quickly.

If it is Rota/Coronavirus, it'll take 3 weeks for enough immunity to build up to fully protect the calf but there will be increasing immunity from 2 weeks after vaccination. So vaccinate everything as soon as possible if it shows up.

As soon as any calf hits the ground from now on, take the cow and milk her straight away and feed the calf straight away. You need to feed at least 3 litres of the first milking into the calf, or more if possible. This will get the maximum protection into the calf.

The idea that you can wait for a few hours for the calf to suck and they'll drink what they want isn't going to work any more, I'm afraid.

But get the scour samples tested first

So its you're to blame not the Chinese :eek:

Buford T. Justice XIX · 31-01-2020 7:56pm

gozunda wrote: »

So its you're to blame not the Chinese :eek:

While the rest of you are sinking in the Titanic of Coronavirus, my herd will go on:pac:

181 liam · 13-02-2020 8:45pm

Alot of different solutions there. But for me are cows vaccinated for salmonella. This is vital as if salmonella about scours pneumonia run riot.
So def vaccine for salmonella

Mach Two · 15-02-2020 6:09pm

Update on this. Rotavirus and/or Corona seems to be the problem. He is vaccinating for the Rotavirus and this covers Corona as well I think. The last bunch of calves seem to be ok. He is also giving a kind of booster injection to the calf. Main ingredient is vitamin E. So maybe a lack of minerals might be a problem. Tests for Rotavirus show a high level of Rotavirus/ Corona which results in the quick death. Corona virus seems to affect the lining of the gut which in turn results in a low intake of antibodies from the colostrum. Corona might be linked to silage.

Mach Two · 17-02-2020 1:56am

I will update this as soon as I get any more information.

greysides · 18-02-2020 12:34am

Mach Two wrote: »

Corona virus seems to affect the lining of the gut which in turn results in a low intake of antibodies from the colostrum. Corona might be linked to silage.

That doesn't tally. They should be getting colostrum soon after birth, say, 6 hours to get their requirement. They aren't born infected, they are picking it up from the environment. It would take a few days for the consequences of an infection to be seen. Coronavirus strikes later than Rotavirus in general too.

Mach Two · 19-02-2020 5:15pm

The cow might be picking up something from the silage that affects the absorption of the colostrum. The "hairs" (can't remember the proper term) that line the stomach don't form/grow correctly. Couple this with a high disease challenge and the calf is dead standing. A mineral deficiency would not help either. There is a lot of research being done in the U.S. on this.

"Corona virus seems to affect the lining of the gut which in turn results in a low intake of antibodies from the colostrum. Corona might be linked to silage".

"Corona might be linked to silage". I shouldn't have said that. My mistake. There might be something in the silage that affects the newborn calf.

Calves dying

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