Bottle Calves help.

shawn30 · #1 03/23/15, 10:15 AM

Good morning everyone.

We are new to cattle and Saturday we got 2 Jersey Bull Calves. 1 is 6 days old and 1 is 4 days old. Last night we were giving them there bottle and we believe the 6 day old has scours. His poop has turned very watery and he went 3 times in the 30 minutes we were out there. He also didn't want to drink his bottle. The person that we got him from said to give him Calf Medic plus. So we got about 2 cups down him last night with a bulb syringe and about 1 quart this morning the same way. He is looking better and is mooing now and standing up again. My question is this. I read that Scours is contagious so do I need to worry about the little one getting it? They are in a 10' by 14' shed but they are separated into 5' by 8' stalls with plywood between them. Also how long do we use the calf medic before going back to milk replacer.

Thanks for the help guys.

HandyDandyAcres · #2 03/23/15, 10:35 AM

Disclaimer: We got 3 bottle calves last June and all 3 are healthy and made it, but all of my experience is with just those 3 calves. Also, I am not familiar with CalfMedic specifically, but it reads like an electrolyte supplement that can be mixed with replacer.

Having said all that. When we were dealing with scours we would give the electrolytes for one or two feedings then mix a lighter concentration of milk replacer with more electrolytes and wean them back on to full strength over the next couple of feedings.

I would also recommend you get a tube feeder and not just the bulb syringe. You may need it to force consumption of electrolytes. Our vet showed us how to use it when one of our calves was sick, but there are videos online that can teach you, also.

HandyDandyAcres · #3 03/23/15, 10:37 AM

Almost forgot your question about it being contagious. I do recall hearing about bacterial scours, but when we were working with our vet he never made any mention of scours being contagious or needing to separate the calves.

nosqrls · #4 03/23/15, 12:58 PM

It is probably due to the stress of moving them and diff. food. are you using same replacer and/or soy based? were they on whole milk? how much are you feeding?

shawn30 · #5 03/23/15, 03:21 PM

They are on dura-life premium all milk replacer. They were on moms milk when we got them. we are feeding 3 pints twice a day. The sick one is doing alot better this afternoon and so far the other one shows no sign of being ill.

francismilker · #6 03/23/15, 08:23 PM

Just keep them hydrated. The "bottle calves" sticky near the top of the page has some good info if you have some reading time.

shawn30 · #7 03/23/15, 08:47 PM

Thanks for the help everyone. They both are doing great tonight. I will definitely read that sticky.