There are alternative products, but their use may mean tweaking management. Another option might involve not vaccinating certain groups of cattle — such as older cows — saving a limited supply for where it’s most needed.

We all know that scours booster shots are given annually at a certain time before calving starts, but this varies with each product, so make sure if you switch vaccines that you pay close attention to the time interval. In my view, proper timing is one of the critical pieces of information.

Some pharmaceutical manufacturers will say if you switch companies, you need to start over, but that is simply not true. It is no different than if we switched to different COVID vaccinations.

The leading vaccine that is not available is Elanco’s Scour Bos 9. It provides comprehensive protection against up to nine antigens for broad-spectrum coverage against the leading causes of scours. It also has a flexible administration schedule. However, there are two pretty equivalent competitors such as Guardian from Merck Animal Health and Scour Guard 3kv from Zoetis .

With all productsm the proper timing to administer the vaccine and booster will vary. They always say so many weeks before calving starts. So when is that? Calving actually starts when the rush from the first cycle of conception starts. In my mind, the twins that come a week early or the premature calves or those cows with really short gestations are not technically the start of calving season, so keep that in mind. Then there is the variance in when you can actually vaccinate depending on weather, available help, the timing of external and internal parasite treatments and other management factors.

Proper management practices

I believe that with such things as better colostrum management, biosecurity measures such as boot dips in the calving barns, lots of bedding and making sure calves suck quickly after they are born are all preventative measures that help reduce the risk of scours.

My worry is it just takes that one colostrum-deprived calf to start a bad clinical case and the rest of the herd is highly exposed to infectious scour causing organism and a wreck develops.

On the management side, often in smaller beef herds, cows with calves aren’t separated from those about to calve can have consequences for spreading disease. Another ideal situation for disease development and spread is when a producer keeps adding cows with calves together in the same pen or paddock and they end up with increasing numbers of younger calves with older calves.

Those cows that calve on grass where lots of separation between animals may not require a scours vaccination.

In all the herds we still see outbreaks of cryptosporidiosis scours, which tells me biosecurity is not ideal. This is the type of scours that is not covered by any of the vaccines. It is very prevalent in dairy calves. It is a protozoa where millions of oocysts (eggs) are spewed out.

Also of concern is zoonosis (disease transmission between animals and humans). This is a type of scours that can cause severe intestinal infections in people as well. So when treating sick animals, one must use gloves and clean up very well after handling.

It is also important to isolate these calves in an area far away from any calving area or barn. The producer needs to change coveralls before entering a calving area, or have someone that doesn’t deal with the calving cows do the scour treatments to keep these one-off cases from spreading.

Clinics can test scours manure in several different ways to see if cyrptosporidiosis is the problem, and that is well worth knowing.

Treatment options

Getting back to the vaccine shortage, Elanco does have a supply of Scour Bos 4 for the prevention of disease in calves caused by bovine rotavirus and bovine coronavirus.

The vaccine does not cover the main bacterial cause of scours but that protection can be added in with use of a bolus product such as First Defense. First Defense is a pill given at birth or can be started when an outbreak occurs.

There are a few options if cows aren’t vaccinated and a scours outbreak occurs. First is to have the type of scours specifically diagnosed. Knowing the age of calves that are getting scours gives the clue to your veterinarian as to whether viruses, bacteria or protozoa (cryptosporidiosis or coccidiosis) are involved.

At the start of an outbreak, use a product such as First Defense that can give protection against the e-coli or the bacterial form of scours. There are also oral vaccines such as Calf-Guard by Zoetis or intranasal vaccines (bovilis corona) that will look after the main viral causes of scours. And then there is mass treatment with a specific treatment for cryptosporidiosis. This treatment for crypto is a specific treatment containing halofuginone. This is pretty labour-intensive but can stop an outbreak if acted on quickly.

Scours can be a scourge during calving season but if diagnosed and acted on quickly with the right treatment it can be stopped, and of course prevention is always the number one option.

If there is an outbreak, additional steps can be taken to prevent it from reoccurring next year. We have come along way over the years to properly prevent, manage and then treat if necessary, but outbreaks still happen each year. Your veterinarian is still your best source to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and get you headed in the right direction.

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If a second case arises it’s a good idea to get it diagnosed to know exactly what you’re dealing with. If more cases develop, have an investigation by either your practising veterinarian, or if warranted by a technical services vet with a pharmaceutical company that manufacturers the scour vaccine.

There is no doubt in my mind that administering a scours vaccination to pregnant cows before calving will really help on-farm scours prevention, especially in the larger herds that calve in the winter or early spring with cattle in close proximity.

There are three scour vaccines on the market in Canada. I believe all are pretty good at getting protection for the different common causes of scours into the colostrum. When the calf is born and begins to nurse, the protection is in that first milk.

Each vaccine has slight differences in its makeup, such as slightly better clostridial protection in one vaccine to a little broader E Coli protection in another. For the most common scour-causing organisms, they are all similar. The other difference worth noting is that one vaccine is given subcutaneously.

Timing is the key

The most important management decision involves choosing the best and easiest time to administer the vaccine. That to me is the most important decision when choosing which vaccine. Each product has its recommended timing, so select the one that fits with your herd management. Proper timing is necessary to get the maximum protection to the specific diseases in the colostrum.

The next item with any scours investigation is looking into whether the best colostrum is being made and if it’s consumed at the proper time. Body condition score and overall nutrition of the mother cow, including a balanced mineral and vitamin program, are necessary for production of good-quality colostrum. It is also important to consider if the cow has the genetic ability to produce enough milk (and colostrum) for the calf.

If the colostrum quality is poor or there isn’t enough, we get failure of passive transfer of important antibodies from the mother.

Other factors include the calf’s ability and vigour to nurse. If teat structure is poor, it can be difficult for the calf to grasp and suck what I call ‘large coke bottle-looking’ teats. Also, if the cow has twins, there could be a fight over the amount of colostrum produced and one calf may get there first and take most of the colostrum.

All the aforementioned reasons are excellent to support the use of powdered colostrum replacements. One product developed at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in the 1990s and marketed in Western Canada is called Headstart. It is essentially dehydrated colostrum collected from dairy cows across Western Canada.

The product has been around a while and has stood the test of time. Most producers do not hesitate giving a colostrum replacer such as this if there is any doubt whether a calf has sucked or if there is concern about if the cow or heifer has sufficient milk production. The decision to let the calf suck colostrum from the teat or receive it by tube feed must be made in the first few hours of life.

There are two main reasons to be ever-vigilant about colostral uptake. First, there is the health of the calf itself. And second, keep in mind the first calf that gets sick can spread the organisms and may cause overwhelming exposure to other calves.

That is why isolation of calf and mother and maximizing biosecurity by using boot dips to prevent disease spread is important. Changing coveralls and using a different esophageal feeder goes a long way to preventing the second, third, fourth and fifth case.

Prevention is key. Just be aware that disease organisms can be spread from the scours manure in the straw, or carried on your boots or coveralls. They can easily be spread, making newborns especially susceptible.

If only one person is responsible for checking calves, they should look after the newborn calves first and then proceed to look after the sick ones, making sure they clean up very well afterward. We are the custodians of care and can be the greatest spreader of disease when it comes to scours.

Here’s wishing everyone a good calving season, hopefully free of scours. Remember to pay close attention to the timing of vaccination and select the vaccine that fits best into your management time frame.

The post How to avoid scours getting at your calves appeared first on Grainews.

The following points will offer some ideas to reduce the buildup of organisms and increase resistance in your calves. Disease organisms come from dirt, manure and other calves, so we need to keep this in mind. Scours is the one disease where management changes and how you handle the first case will determine how many you are faced with at the end of the year.

Management factors

• Clean calving-area barns and maternity pens early. Spray with disinfectant. Keep these areas squeaky clean. Do this as quickly as you can after calving season. Try not to run cattle in the area until just before calving season
• Have cows in good body condition score at calving (2.5-3.5 BCS) and be feeding the proper mineral supplementation. Test feed. Cows in good shape will produce good-quality colostrum. Overweight cows can increase calving problems. Internal fat in the pelvis leads to tighter (more difficult) deliveries.
• If calving in winter, try and mother up cow and calf for 24 hours in a separate pen to ensure suckling begins as early as possible after birth. If weather is very cold (lows of -15 or colder) several days in a row, plan to provide creep areas for the calves as soon as they are out of the barn. Most producers with creep areas in every pen find calves are less stressed, stay warmer and have fewer instances of scours and pneumonia as a result.
• Pay particular attention to twins, hard pulls, calves slow to rise, calves on cows in poor condition, calves with a poor suckle reflex after 20 minutes, or calves on cows with poor udders or poor teat conformation. Plan to administer colostrum (natural or substitute) immediately to ensure the calf gets the nutrients it needs. If in doubt in any way about whether a calf has sucked or is low on vigour, give it colostrum. Pay attention to the quality of the substitute colostrum. Saskatoon Colostrum company (Headstart) makes some of the best powdered colostrum.
• It is very important to scours-vaccinate cows and heifers according to the recommended timing. It takes colostrum upwards of five weeks to form immunity in the calf. Ensure heifers and any new additions to the herd in the last year are scours-vaccinated and given the booster. There are three scours vaccines on the market, all with pretty similar efficacy. Work with your veterinarian to best match the vaccine to your operation, depending on your time before calving. If you are calving at different times it may warrant changing vaccines. Ease of administration may come into play as well, as two of the products are given intramuscular and one subcutaneously. But again, make the best choice depending on your veterinarian’s recommendation. This is why most veterinary clinics will carry at least two of the scours vaccines, because timing is very critical.
• It is not recommended to purchase bred cows before the calving season. If you do, try and isolate them somewhat from the rest of the herd. These animals have not been exposed to diseases or bacteria that may live on your place and have not built up immunity. And it is vice versa for your cows — they may not have any immunity to pathogens the new cattle may bring to your farm. The most critical time for biosecurity is during spring calving.
• Never ever bring in new calves from another herd, especially a Holstein. These may introduce scour agents such as cryptosporidiosis which is not covered by any of the scour vaccines.
• Apply biosecurity measures and don’t allow visitors to the farm, especially in calving season. As a precaution have a supply of clean boots or booties and use boot dips when moving around and between pens.
• Ideally, calve heifers ahead of cows and in a separate area.
• Have a coccidiosis-prevention program such as rumensin (monensin) in the ration. Often producers when starting to creep feed may put in a product called Deccox for coccidiosis prevention.
• Use a separate esophageal feeder for newborns or calves with scours or other conditions. Keep each feeder labelled and disinfect the tubes between usages.
• Limit the number of new cow-calf pairs to 30, 50 or perhaps 70 head, depending on the size of pen, field and size of herd. Don’t mix pens as calving season progresses. Eliminate any standing water.
• If any scours cases are detected, have your veterinarian check for cryptosporidiosis to make sure it is not present. The best/first treatment for any sick animals should be electrolytes given orally. Your veterinarian will advise you of the best treatment schedule and whether any need IV fluids.
• If the scouring calf and mother don’t respond after one treatment, the rule of thumb is to isolate them from the others in the herd.
• Have and use a disinfectant in a boot dip tray. Use separate coveralls for treating sick calves versus coveralls worn while working with newborns. Have an isolation area away from the calving barn for sick pairs.
• Use a calving suit that can be washed. and wash the chains and calf puller before putting them away.
• After treating calves, make sure to clean the area, coveralls and disinfected boots to help protect healthy calves. Isolate sick calves with mothers
• If the weather is good, minimize movement through the barn and isolate more-fractious cows with their calves in a quiet area.

Hopefully, from these points you can find one or two to improve on for this calving season. Hopefully, it will be an uneventful season with very little sickness and disease.

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Stress reduction — protecting calves from bad weather and not confining them too much during calving season — can help reduce the incidence of scours, since stress hinders the immune system.

Determining a cause

Producers often want some way to try to figure out the cause of diarrhea so they would know how best to treat it, but it’s not easy to tell just by looking at the calf or the feces. There are several pathogens that can cause scours.

“There have been various tests that people have come up with over the years with the intent of enabling producers to get a feces sample to do some on-farm testing, but none of these have ever been very effective,” says Steve Hendrick, a veterinarian with Coaldale Veterinary Clinic, just east of Lethbridge, Alta.

The calf’s age can give a clue, however. “Bacterial scours might occur within the first couple of days of life, particularly if the source is something like E. coli. We generally don’t see viral scours until calves are one to two weeks old.”

Protozoal pathogens take a longer incubation time. Cryptosporidiosis generally won’t occur until a calf is at least seven to 10 days old or older, and generally won’t show up in calves until about two weeks of age. Coccidiosis takes closer to four weeks before enough intestinal damage is done and the calf has diarrhea.

“The hard part in trying to diagnose scours by age, however, is that there’s usually some overlap,” Hendrick says. “A calf that’s two weeks old might have viral scours and a concurrent bacterial infection as well. It also depends on how early in life a calf was exposed and infected.”

A calf born nose-first into a puddle contaminated with feces in a muddy corral might pick up protozoa at birth and break with scours from crypto by the time it’s five days old.

Many producers think that colour and consistency of the feces can be a clue, but this is not always true.

“When we see blood in the feces we suspect coccidiosis, but these calves may not always have evidence of blood,” Hendrick says. The feces may just be brown and watery. With some other kinds of intestinal infection they may be grey, yellow, or greenish or nearly white.

“We can’t say for sure what type of infection it might be, just by the colour or consistency of the feces. If there are multiple calves with scours, have your veterinarian take a fecal sample to see what the cause might be — especially if that knowledge can help you treat additional cases more effectively. When we experience an outbreak of scours, there are often multiple ‘bugs’ involved.”

Keep them hydrated

Unless you know what you are dealing with, the best thing to do is just give the calf adequate fluids/electrolytes (usually every six to eight hours) and consult your veterinarian for advice on any additional treatment. A broad-spectrum antibiotic might be needed, especially if there is a chance it might be bacterial or complicated by a secondary bacterial infection.

“I can understand why people reach for a scour bolus because it’s easy, but it doesn’t always help,” Hendrick says. “Using electrolytes and keeping the calf hydrated are much more important.” The more severely dehydrated the calf, the more often you’ll need to give fluids.

However, if there is too much gut damage the calf will have trouble absorbing oral fluids and electrolytes and will need IV fluids. Usually if the calf can still stand up and move around, it can be given oral fluids, but if it is too weak to stand, and no longer has a suckle reflex, oral fluids won’t do it any good. Blood circulation to the gut is too compromised and the only way you will save it is with IVs — administered as soon as possible.

In an outbreak situation, scours is generally due to a management problem. The cattle may be too confined in a contaminated environment. “There are generally many factors that come together to create the problem,” Hendrick says.

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Doug Wray believes in keeping newborn calves separated as much as possible from other two-week and older calves to avoid congestion and to dramatically reduce the risk of congregated calves developing and spreading scours. And for the past several years the plan has worked.

Wray, who along with family members operates Wray Ranch near Irricana, north of Calgary, has developed this calving-on-pasture system over the past 10 years. In his year-round grazing system, his herd of about 300 bred cows moves onto grass about May 10. They actually begin calving May 1 on swath grazing and then by May 10 the pregnant cows move to grass and the first batch of cows with calves stay behind.

The first grass pasture is 160 acres, divided into eight 20-acre paddocks.

“The herd is managed in one group on pasture for about two weeks before we make the first split,” says Wray. At roughly the first two-week mark cows with calves (usually about 120 head) “are taken to fresh pasture in one direction, while the bred cows head to new grass in another direction,” he explains.

Two herds

Wray essentially runs two herds at calving season — one group of pregnant cows that gets smaller with each passing week, and one group of cow-calf pairs that gets larger over the calving season. The pregnant cows are managed on one quarter divided into paddocks, while the cow-calf pairs are managed on another quarter about three-quarters of a mile away. That quarter is also divided into paddocks.

The timing of each split of the herd — separating pregnant cows from cow-calf pairs — is determined by “it depends”, says Wray. Part of the decision is based on how fast grass is growing and the other part on how many cows have calved.

“On average once we get into mid- and later May we are probably making a split every three or four days to a week,” says Wray. “If the grass is really growing we move faster and if it is slower we may delay the move.”

“It is very much a read-and-react approach,” says Wray. On the pregnant herd quarter, he’s looking to move that group to new grass at least once a week. Pregnant cows are removed from any cow-calf pairs and the pregnant cows go into a new paddock. The cow-calf pairs remain behind. Once he has somewhere between 50 and 75 cow-calf pairs in a paddock on the pregnant herd side of the rotation, he trails those cow-calf pairs over to the pair’s quarter section where they join earlier cow-calf pairs.

Parallel system

With each split the pregnant cow numbers gets smaller while the cows-with-calves group gets larger. But it is a parallel system with each group moving to new ground every few days.

“The overall principle is to keep both groups of cattle moving to fresh ground,” says Wray. “Quite often we have an environment where we have plenty of fresh growing grass and the sun is shining, and it is very favourable conditions for calving. If we run into a couple of days where it is cold and wet we won’t move a group of new cow-calf pairs from the pregnant herd side of the rotation over to the pairs rotation. We’ll wait. But generally, if we have nice sunny conditions there hasn’t been a problem moving pairs from one rotation over to the other and mixing them with older calves. But again, even the pairs’ side is moving to fresh ground about once a week.”

The rotation is good for calf health and it also fits with Wray’s pasture-management objectives. As grass is rapidly growing he likes to move cattle through quickly to take the first clip off before they return later in the season.

The herd’s breeding season usually runs about 54 days, so the length of the calving season is typically one week on either side of that period. “Once we get to early June we may only have 20 head or so left to calve,” says Wray. By the end of calving season, the herd will be regrouped in a main herd of cow-calf pairs to continue through a rotational grazing system for the summer.

“Scours and some of the other newborn calf issues such as respiratory disease, just aren’t a concern,” says Wray.

Wray says his management strategy for healthy calves is to keep newborns separated from older calves and always keep the calving herd moving to new ground a buildup of disease bacteria. “The system seems to work well for us because we are calving later, calving on pasture and we are also moving cattle to make sure they have fresh grass,” says Wray.

The Sandhills calving system

While the system might be dubbed the ‘Wray Calving System,’ it’s similar to the Sandhills Calving System developed by the University of Nebraska about 20 years ago.

Adapted for pastures in the Sandhills of Nebraska, the system was designed to protect calf health by providing separation between newborn calves and older calves (two weeks and older) during a critical time of the year when the risk is high for disease, especially scours/ Many Canadian veterinarians and other animal health specialists are encouraging more producers to consider the Sandhills Calving System or some variation to reduce the risk of calf losses due to disease.

Dr. Elizabeth Homerosky, a veterinarian with Veterinary Agri-Health Services in Airdrie north of Calgary, regularly recommends the system or modifications to her clients.

Newborn calves commingled with older calves, particularly if they are concentrated in a relatively small area, and particularly if weather is cool and wet is really the ideal scenario for the development of a scours outbreak in a cow herd.

“The traditional Sandhills system has been proven to be effective in reducing the risk of scours in calves,” says Homerosky. “But an important consideration is that it takes some planning.”

Research has shown the cycle of scours at calving often originates with mature beef cows as they carry the scours pathogens — viruses, bacteria and microscopic parasites. Cows shed the pathogen on the ground in manure. Newborn calves often pick up the pathogen and may not become sick, but their guts serve as pathogen-multipliers. These calves shed an increasing load of pathogen onto the calving ground, then newborn calves come along and pick up the heavy load of the bacteria. The dose-load of pathogens overwhelms the calf ’s ability to resist disease, and suddenly the producer is dealing with a bunch of sick calves.

If a beef herd calves on the same area year after year, the soil can also be contaminated with scour-causing pathogens. So by keeping the more vulnerable newborn calves on clean ground away from the higher-risk two-week and older calves, the risk of a scours outbreak is greatly reduced.

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Martin Misener, a vet and chair of the Ontario Swine Health Advisory Board, challenged the hog industry to not get complacent about stopping PED.

Misener noted he had heard from people who wondered why the meeting was focused on PED as the number of outbreaks has dwindled. Last fall and winter (November 2015 to March 2016), at the time of year when outbreaks are more likely to happen, there were nine outbreaks in Ontario, compared to 43 from January to March 2014.

“It’s human nature to revert to complacency,” he said. “Folks, we are there. We are sitting on little volcanoes and big volcanoes of PED that could erupt at farm level at any time.”

The PED virus causes scours leading to extensive mortality for young piglets and longer-term reproductive issues for sows.

Despite some recent complacency, Misener said the ability of the industry to keep the virus under control is a good news story.

The industry has co-ordinated controlled regional PED elimination programs called ARC+E (Area Control and Elimination) in the industry. They have worked well, other than for a few individual farms that have not co-operated.

“Overall we have had great compliance,” says Misener. “We have had 150 PED situations, with only having a couple that are pesky.”

— John Greig is a field editor for Glacier FarmMedia based at Ailsa Craig, Ont. Follow him at @jgreig on Twitter.

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With calves, clinically we need to differentiate between whether the condition involves the lungs (pneumonia), intestines (scours), navel (omphalophlebitis) or a multitude of miscellaneous conditions.

CONFUSING SYMPTOMS

The two main diseases scours and pneumonia often are treated much differently and may not be as easy to tell apart as one thinks. Scours may initially present as a very dopey, heavy-breathing calf. The calf may be quite acidotic and is attempting to blow off the acid through an increased respiratory rate, fooling you into thinking it has pneumonia.

A calf born selenium deficient may have heart issues if the heart muscle is affected. The lungs will start to fill with fluid because of the heart failure and again respiratory rate will be increased. While specific antibiotics have been developed for pneumonia they often are not the same ones we use to treat scours. Also the best initial treatment for scours is to give replacement fluids, as it is dehydration that kills the calf. Many causes of scours are viral in nature against which antibiotics don’t work. You can see making the distinction between which organ system is involved can be a difficult and one your veterinarian may even struggle with at times.

OFF TO A GOOD START

As mentioned many times before, we can never stress enough the importance of good-quality colostrum in giving calves a head start in life. Their ability to fight off disease challenges is much greater. Many cases of pneumonia, scours and septicemias (blood-borne infections) can be attributed to not receiving adequate colostrum, so try and ensure the colostrum is received in the first six hours of life.

The navel area is another area to pay close attention to, as it is a common source for entry of infectious organisms. Again we need adequate colostral uptake. Watch the area for signs of swelling and an arched back and tucked-up calf. If you palpate the navel area and it is painful that is a telltale sign infection is present.

Backwards calves or those derived by C-section have their navels rip off short and are much more susceptible to navel infection. At our clinic any calves born by C-section we purposely separate the navel by hand further down the cord so the calf has a decently long navel cord when it is born. Some producers if they have a problem will even give metaphylactic antibiotics at birth under the supervision of their veterinarian to counteract navel ill. If the navel infection spreads internally it has a good chance of landing in the joints and a severe arthritis ensues. Be sure to differentiate between navel infection and a simple hernia, which may require surgery.

From the Canadian Cattlemen website: Calfhood vaccinations

LAMENESS ISSUES

Lame calves are another common condition with young calves. Again you need to differentiate whether it is arthritis from a navel infection, trauma causing a sprain strain or trauma causing a broken leg. Each condition requires different treatment. The navel infection must be treated with drugs, which will get into the joints, the sprains are usually just left to convalesce and the broken legs need immediate attention by your veterinarian.

If breaks are caught soon enough and are lower on the legs the chances for recovery are very good. The lower the break the better. Fast growing young calves heal and put down bone very quickly so in three to four weeks we often have a complete recovery. Cows will commonly step on calves during heat, so having creep areas where calves can separate themselves from the cow herd will pay dividends in fewer calf injuries.

Creep areas are also very good at getting calves started on creep feed so preventatives for coccidiosis such as deccox can be added to the feed. Calves are naturally inquisitive so products such as diatomaceous earth give calves something to lick rather than dirt, roughage and stagnant water where their odds of picking up something harmful is much greater. Cryptosporidiosis another diarrhea disease of calves’ spreads very similar to coccidiosis so management changes to prevent one may help in prevention of the other. Talk to your veterinarian about prevention for these two diseases especially if they have been previously diagnosed on your farm.

INTESTINAL ISSUES

Older calves become stronger and more resistant to picking up the common calf hood diseases such as scours or pneumonia. The four- to eight-week age is where the intestinal accidents and stomach ulcers develop. These conditions were gone into detail in a previous article but suffice it to say they are generally individual fluke-type cases. It is probably most important to have a postmortem done on sudden deaths to rule out infectious causes, which could spread to herdmates. Otherwise know if it was one of these fluke intestinal conditions you really have no control over.

This spring try and differentiate these different categories of problems with young calves. You will then be treating the right problem and your success rate will improve and if contagious possible steps can be made for prevention of further cases. Always check with your veterinarian to make sure you are diagnosing things properly and this will keep you abreast of new treatments and/or management practices. †

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Certain management procedures should be avoided as they markedly increase the risk of a scour outbreak. Fostering of calves is a common procedure with twins, but purchasing calves for this purpose can be a recipe for disaster. If you absolutely must purchase a calf, do so from a beef herd which has a good management system, and is vaccinated against scours. Keep the pair isolated in a separate area for two weeks. The best strategy is not to purchase calves for fostering — the risk isn’t worth it.

The same applies to purchasing cow-calf pairs or heavily pregnant cows just prior to the calving season. Two scenarios can result. The calves from these new cows may start scouring as they are exposed to organisms on your farm. Or, the opposite can happen — your own calves scour from not being previously exposed to the organisms introduced by the new cows.

This is where maintaining a closed herd at least close to calving is a very good idea. The key is preventing the first case. Once it happens the organism is quickly seeded in the environment and if crowding occurs all in-contact calves become at risk.

Herds with a high percentage of first-calf heifers (more than 20 per cent) run a greater risk of scours for several reasons. Compared to mature cow colostrum, heifer colostrum is never charged with as many immunoglobulins against the scours organisms, mothering with heifers is more difficult and with more difficult births heifer calves are generally more stressed. Select good heifer bulls to minimize calving problems and always have several litres of good frozen colostrum on hand.

Some producers will drench most first-calf heifer calves with colostrum to supplement the heifer’s own colostrum. At least give colostrum to any stressed, slow-to-rise calves. Drenching with colostrum may take time but it could have huge benefits later in the calf’s life. Try if possible to calve heifers separate from cows. It makes them easier to watch and if any scours does start it can hopefully be controlled. Heifers mother up with calves a lot better when in a smaller group.

ALWAYS VACCINATE

Scour vaccination should be mandatory in most circumstances, especially among first-calf heifers when there is past history of scours or in herds where crowding is an issue. We find any herd reaching 100 head or more can greatly reduce scours problem by vaccinating. This however, is not a panacea for sloppy management. Any calf no matter how well protected can succumb to scours if exposure is too great.

The calving area needs to be cleaned of manure from the previous year and preferably not have cows in it for more than 30 days prior to calving.

The manure allows a buildup of the undesirable organisms and this is exacerbated in the spring thaw when melting snow washes through the manure packs. Organisms are thus concentrated in the water pools. Keep the calving area as well drained as possible.

An isolation area must be planned for so any sick calves and their mothers can be immediately removed from the group and kept separate until no more diarrhea is evident. Always treat the sick calves last after the calving herd has been checked.

It is imperative to change your coveralls and dip your boots before going back to the main herd. A product called Virkon is an excellent disinfectant against bacteria and viruses and can be mixed in a boot dip. Farmers need to be aware they themselves can be the biggest cause of spreading scours around the farm.

Esophageal feeders have also been incriminated for spreading the disease. I have most large producers use separate feeders for giving colostrum and treating scouring calves with electrolytes. Also disinfect tubes and hoses between usages with the Virkon disinfectant.

KEEP COWS IN CONDITION

On the nutrition side, keep cows within a condition score range of 2.5 to 3.5 at calving. This insures good colostrum and strong cows for quick deliveries. With exercise in the winter cows will be in better shape to calve quickly.

One study compared calf shelters and windbreaks, to barns, to nothing at all. Not surprisingly, the calf shelters and windbreaks caused the greatest reduction in neonatal disease. Even though barns may seem the best, the higher ambient temperature allows proliferation of the organisms. The calves are usually quite confined as well. There is no doubt a barn for obstetrical procedures and other treatment has its purpose, but calf shelters provide a stress-free environment, especially during a snowstorm.

Most scours outbreaks occur from management breakdown and then allowing the first case to spread. By following good management practices, calf scours can be kept to a minimum.

Roy Lewis is a Westlock, Alberta-based veterinarian specializing in large-animal practice. He is also a part-time technical services vet for Merck Animal Health.

Roy Lewis is a Westlock, Alberta-based veterinarian specializing in large-animal practice. He is also a part-time technical services vet for Merck Animal Health.

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