Why you need to have calf supplies on hand....

[travlnusa]

Yesterday morning (Sunday), I noticed that I had a new bottle calf just starting to get a touch of scours.

Yesterday afternoon, we had a hard cold rain, and the calf never went into its hutch.

By evening, I had a full blown case of brown water scours on my hands. I went out, had the proper drugs, etc on hand and treated it right away.

This morning, calf was up and crying away to be fed. Scours just about gone and will finish treating over the next few days.

The point is that it was Sunday night, all stores were closed. By having a few bucks worth of stuff on hand, I did not have a $60 calf die on me.

How did I know I needed this stuff on hand? I have had them die on me overnight waiting for a store to open. I have had them die on me hoping something will clear up on its own. I have had them die just not watching them close enough.

When you buy your first calf, go and spend $20 to have what you need on hand when things go bad. They never get sick when you need to make a trip to the farm store in the middle of day it seems.

[ericnovak]

Care to list what you use for treatment and maybe a link online?

[travlnusa]

I used Terramycin Scours Tablets.

I have quite a few online links, but not sure what you are asking for.

If it is about scours, here is a good one:

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/courses-jm...CalfScours.htm

[Beef11]

I have a calf box, and a vet cupboard. About everything i need is in there. If you need it buy a few extras because odds are you will need it again. If you don't need it than that is a great problem to have.

[travlnusa]

Originally Posted by Beef11

I have a calf box, and a vet cupboard. About everything i need is in there. If you need it buy a few extras because odds are you will need it again. If you don't need it than that is a great problem to have.

That is what we do. When we are in town, will pick up One of these or two of those, and bring them home and add them to our box.

Check on expiration dates before you buy, and once per year on what you own.

Buying a one or two things per trip/week/month, keeps cash flow low and you are surprised how fast you can build up an inventory.

#1 thing to buy is a thermometer. $12. ALWAYS take a temp before you ever give ANY meds. If you need to call the vet, it will be the first question they ask.

[freedomfrom4]

I think the question is what should us nebies keep stocked. I have an antibiotic and electrolytes but nothing else. I have never tried the scour tablets. Do they work pretty well? Oh I do have a drencher to tube them if needed. What else is good to keep around?

[thequeensblessing]

Just keep in mind that not all calf scours are bacterial in nature. Some are viral and the antibiotics won't do a thing for those. You should also keep something like "deliver" on hand. It's made of psylium seed husks and makes their watery stools turn into a gel in their gut. It helps keep the calf hydrated, which is the no. one thing that kills a scouring calf.