Bloody dealdy scours

[Cannon_Farms]

Customer came in the store today asking me if I knew what it might be, hes no cattle newbie and hes consulted with a respectable vet about it, yet neither know what is killing them.

They aparently get it from the day after they come home from the sale, normally takes a week or less for them to die from it. Im thinking Ecoli but I would think a vet would pick up on that since its kinda out there on the knowledge tree.

These calves are supposed to have had colostrum and he gets them at 2 to 3 days old.

Anyone want to throw ideas out there fire away.

[MO_cows]

Didn't the vet take samples and analyze them?? What are they treating with?

[francismilker]

Sounds to me like the sale barn has got coccidiosis in their soil and the problem isn't going to get any better until they close it down and sterilize it. Corrid is my drug of choice for bloody scours but when a calf that age gets it, there's not much hope in turning them around in time.

[linn]

It could be salmonella. Symptoms include diarrhea, bloody stool, fever, dehydration, anorexia/emaciation, rapid breathing, unusual or foul odor stool, sloughing of skin from extremities, and sudden death.

[DJ in WA]

Many bugs can cause diarrhea, and often they are in combination. Can be difficult to diagnose. Can take samples, but bugs can either not show up on test, or can show up but not necessarily be the cause of disease.

Best to combine tests with what you see to know if it makes sense.

Coccidiosis can cause bloody diarrhea, but it takes 17 to 21 days after ingesting the organism for disease to occur, so probably not the problem in these calves.

Salmonella can cause bloody diarrhea.

I'd be more interested in management to prevent disease rather than figuring out how to treat. Everybody loves giving antibiotics and playing vet - not as much fun to prevent the problems but is the only road to success. And often giving antibiotics can make it worse because they kill off the good bugs in the intestine allowing worse ones like Salmonella to thrive. And with the overdependence on antibiotics, many don't work anyway with the resistance problem.

Sure about colostrum intake? Were the cows from which colostrum came vaccinated against scour bugs like E. coli?

Stressed calves deprived of food and drink for long are more susceptible to disease. How long are they hungry while hauled to sale, kept at sale and hauled home? Are they cold in a windy trailer during transport, making them need more calories they aren't getting?

Better to buy straight from a farm where they've been fed recently and less stressed being hauled around. Also less exposure to disease as in a salebarn with animals coming from all over. And you can assess colostrum program, etc.

How about sanitation? Sick animals are shedding disease-causing-organisms in their feces. Are those being cleaned up regularly, fresh bedding provided, and pens disinfected? Are milk feeding buckets or bottles being disinfected? Are calves kept separate so sickness doesn't spread?

Are sick calves being isolated and pens cleaned and disinfected before any more are added? Are boots and hands being washed after cleaning such pens? Are pens and fields drained well to allow them to dry so bugs don't live as long?

Are calves kept from feeding off the ground where more bugs exist?

Probably more to preventing disease, but just throwing out some ideas.

[LizD]

Coccidiosis doesn't occur before 3 weeks, which is the incubation period and e-coli would mean no colostrum .... so I would tell your guy to check what he is buying, eyes, skin or coat etc. In the interim he could try activated charcoal boluses, that would bind any toxins.