SG_USA_October_2022

CALF SCOURS IS A MULTI-FACETED PROBLEM SANTA GERTRUDIS Product ion By Randy L. Stanko, Ph.D., Texas A&M University-Kingsville I would venture to guess that most of us received much needed late summer/early fall rain. It sure was nice, maybe too much and too late, but we will take it. In some parts of south Texas, it rained consistently for several weeks in a row. This amount

the newborn calves must nurse colostrum to receive full protection. With all this information, it would be safe to assume that mother nature sets us up for a perfect “storm” of calf scours. With severe drought affecting most of the beef cattle country in the southern United States, many fall-calving cows ended their gestion period in poor body condition. Those cows that calved prior to the monsoon most likely had scour-free calves. However, once the rain started and then continued, those calves were born in less-than-optimal environmental conditions and may have been consuming sub-par colos trum. The rain continued. Everything got worse and many, many calves had scours. Treatment for calf scours must focus on fixing the dehydra tion, acidosis and electrolyte loss problems. Oral fluids will work early in the treatment, but if dehydration progresses then intravenous fluid treatment may be necessary. Anti biotics can be given along with the fluids, either orally or by injection. Always consult with your veterinarian which antibiotics are most effective in the treatment of calf scours in your region. Oral electrolyte powders can be purchased from any animal health retailer. If it is impossible for you to acquire any, I came across a homemade recipe: 1 tablespoon of baking soda + 1 teaspoon of salt + 8 ounces of 50 percent dextrose (not table sugar); then add enough warm water to prepare 1 gallon of stock fluid. Administer up to 1 quart of the stock fluid every four hours as the only source of nutrition for a period of 24 to 48 hours. Warning! Do not feed any milk or milk replacer because it will make things worse (bacteria love milk). Put the calf back with its milked-out dam as soon as it can stand and follow her.

of rain produced wet, muddy and extremely challenging environments for fall-calving herds. Many produc ers were battling mild to severe cases of scouring calves coincident with the increased moisture. Thus, I was prompted to review the causes of calf scours. No doubt, a scouring calf is something we would prefer to not see in the calving pen/pasture. Scours in a calf is not a single-disease problem but rather a symptom of many possi ble health problems (Ex. bacterial, viral, protozoan or yeasts/ mold). Diarrhea (scours) prevents normal absorption of fluid from the digestive tract, which leads to more body fluids passing into the intestine. The major problems resulting from scours are severe dehydration, loss of essential electrolytes (Na, K) and a build-up of an acidic environment within the digestive track. A baby calf is born consisting of 70 percent water, and a severe bought with scours will cause it to go “downhill” rapidly. Death due to scours is predominantly due to dehydration, regardless of the initial infectious agent. Specific causes of calf scours are grouped into nonin fectious and infectious categories. To prevent scours, we need to work on both categories in a programmatic fashion because they seem to work together. Noninfectious causes of calf scours include poor dam nutrition during the last one third of gestation, which influences the quantity and qual ity of colostrum; poor environment (muddy, wet, crowded, manure contaminated) for the newborn calf, causing added stress plus increased exposure to infectious agents; and diffi cult birthing, adverse weather during calving and inadequate consumption of colostrum (precious antibodies). Recall that we have a limited amount of time (6 to 12 hours) for the calf to absorb those colostrum antibodies. Infectious bacterial agents that can cause calf scours are Escherichia coli , Salmonella , Clostridium perfringens and others. Infectious viral agents include rotavirus, coronavirus, BVD virus and IBR virus. Protozoan agents that can cause calf scours are coccidia and cryptosporidium. If the cow herd has been vaccinated for any or all of these infectious agents,

Cherokee Ranch, Sedalia, Colo. Photo by Megan Sajbel Field

George West, Texas (361) 566-2244 lacampanaranch.com campana@granderiver.net

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