Bottle Calves sick after one week

stanley · #1 12/23/14, 12:29 PM

I have been getting day old calves from the dairy feeding them Dumor medicated MR I get from 5-7 at a time
They seem to do fine for about a week then a couple of them get listless and die the others are very active and growing well
This has happened several times over the last few months
Am I doing something wrong but is this to be expected it puzzles me that it is right around the one week mark every time

M5farm · #2 12/23/14, 12:49 PM

IIRC dumor is soy based milk replacer. Find a good milk based replacer it will greatly increase your success

idigbeets · #3 12/23/14, 01:11 PM

Have they been getting colostrum before being pulled from dam?

stanley · #4 12/23/14, 04:56 PM

I am using Dumor ultra plus which has no Soy
and told they are getting three days of mothers milk

billinwv · #5 12/23/14, 05:31 PM

There is a new oral inoculant available that a local jersey dairy owner told me about. It cut his loses by 90 percent. Will try to find the name for you.

idigbeets · #6 12/24/14, 05:06 AM

Hmmm... This link has some good info... I totally forgot (out of habit I guess) about the temp of the milk being a factor ... http://www.organicvalley.coop/pdf/po...erd_health.pdf

stanley · #7 12/24/14, 05:28 AM

Thanks

idigbeets I am going to get a thermometer did not know the temps were that important

billinwv if you can find the name of the inoculate I would appreciate it

topside1 · #8 12/24/14, 05:39 PM

Stanley do some reading up on this nasal product, although I think you are wasting money. If the calves you are buying are taken care of at birth, and you are transporting them in a healthy manner, then the problem lies elsewhere. The temperature of the milk will have little to do with your death rate. The recommended temp is written on the bag so that the powder and water mix uniformly. The small about of milk that exits the bottles nipple is warmed instantly by the calves natural body temp long before it reaches the stomach. Of course warm the milk to a reasonable temp, but being exact is not as important as it may seem. Think about the animals drinking water it's far from warm. Anyway good luck with the calves and never overfeed.....Topside

Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health has announced the availability of Onset 5 IN, the first intranasally administered, five-way modified-live virus vaccine for healthy cattle 3 to 8 days and older.
Onset 5 IN is designed to stimulate at the site of infection an immune response to Bovine Virus Diarrhea Type 1 and Type 2, Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR), Parainfluenza3 (PI3) and Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus – the costliest diseases impacting beef and dairy herds.

idigbeets · #9 12/25/14, 05:16 AM

^^ Vaccinations are a good idea as well... There's a lot of factors that can cause calves to croak...

Have you always been getting calves from the same farmer? Ever done a necropsy to see whats going on ? If you are seeing 50% mortality on a regular basis it might be a worthwhile investment (at least once..)

Rosepath · #10 12/27/14, 06:19 PM

How are they getting 3 days of mother's milk when you're buying one-day old calves?

stanley · #11 12/28/14, 06:57 AM

Day old calves was a mis speak should have written week old calves
I am feeding 1/2 gallon MR twice a day with a bottle
they are housed in a 8x8 wooden shed with a 8x16 run attached usually 3-5 per shed fresh straw for bedding
After they are two weeks old they are allowed to free range during the day and locked in the paddock every night

topside1 · #12 12/28/14, 09:02 AM

No matter what. I only feed a Holstein calf 3 pints twice daily. A Jersey calf 2 pints twice daily, not a drop more. Food for thought, oh and I haven't buried a calf in years....Topside

stanley · #13 12/29/14, 08:22 AM

The housing is draft free with lots of straw, it is warm in there and I keep the door shut on cold and or rainy days and every night
They are getting scours and I know that is the problem but trying to find the cause
I will try reducing the volume of milk and switch to 3 x a day

Critter Keeper · #14 01/04/15, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by topside1

No matter what. I only feed a Holstein calf 3 pints twice daily. A Jersey calf 2 pints twice daily, not a drop more. Food for thought, oh and I haven't buried a calf in years....Topside

topside1, what do you feed your calves? I have thought of getting some, but I have no experience with it.

iafarmer1424 · #15 01/05/15, 01:57 PM

If your calves are scouring you need to switch to an electrolyte mix for their feedings for a day.

topside1 · #16 01/05/15, 08:30 PM

Critter, 9 out of 10 are fed goats milk. The one out of 10 milk replacer 20/20 all milk powder. Regardless of which is used I never vary from the amount I mentioned in the above post #17. I will add that sometimes I'll slowing increase the feeding amount once the calf is 30 days old, and only if extra milk is available. Sorry it took so long to answer your question....Topside

francismilker · #17 01/05/15, 09:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by topside1

Critter, 9 out of 10 are fed goats milk. The one out of 10 milk replacer 20/20 all milk powder. Regardless of which is used I never vary from the amount I mentioned in the above post #17. I will add that sometimes I'll slowing increase the feeding amount once the calf is 30 days old, and only if extra milk is available. Sorry it took so long to answer your question....Topside

I might add to this since my friend topside won't brag on himself that I've raised many calves in the last few years and have always taken his rearing advice to heart. He is in my opinion THE authority on this board for raising bottle calves and has always offered sound advice. If he says start feeding them marshmallow cream, I'm gonna buy stock in Kraft foods!

topside1 · #18 01/05/15, 10:15 PM

I just try to keep it super simple, I'll stop blushing now.....Thanks a bunch.

Chixarecute · #19 01/06/15, 05:31 PM

Just a thought - are you washing and sanitizing the buckets,bottles, & nipples between uses? Since you've had a few batches in a row of calves that have sickened, and you mention scours, have you been able to sanitize the stall walls between sets of calves? Scours gets squirty, and young calves will lick about anything. Bleach water solution, sprayed on/scrubbed on, wait at least a couple of days before bringing in a new batch? Good luck! I hope things turn around for you.

Hespa · #20 01/08/15, 05:00 PM

I am the sole calf feeder for our dairy (Holsteins) farm for the past 25 years. I would like to share what I have learned over those years and our mortality rate is zero from sick calves. These are my recommendations:
1) Our calves get a mixture of whole milk and milk replacer for about a week. I have a bucket of the mother's milk for each calf. They get three feedings of all mother's milk. The two feedings of 1 pint milk replacer and 3 pints of whole milk. Then 2 pints whole milk and 2 pints milk replacer until the bucket is almost empty. Then two or three feedings of 1 pint whole milk and 3 pints of milk replacer. Than all milk replacer. We used to switch "cold turkey" and the calves would almost always scour. That is something that doesn't happen now.
2) Temperature of water is very critical. I have gone to calf meetings by vets and they have found that improperly mixed milk replacer will make the calves sick.
3) Calves don't need to be in "air tight" barns. Dry beddings, free from drafts, but fresh air exchange make for healthier calves. Calf blankets are another good investment. Calves don't use of their body fat to keep warm. Our daughter did a science fair project and proved that calves without blankets lose body weight while getting started and with a blanket held their birth weight while getting started.