Q&A: Common questions about calf scours

Q. What causes calf scours?

A. Calves are usually affected first by some kind of outside influence -- cold or wet weather, difficult birth, poor sanitation or a cow that is in poor health or is just a poor mother. Those factors lower the calf's resistance to disease and set the calf up for infectious causes -- bacteria and viruses that invade the gut, causing severe diarrhea and loss of essential body fluids and electrolytes.

Bacteria are a common cause of scours. E. coli is the most common and is usually seen in scours cases occurring in the first 7 days after birth. One of the most deadly causes of scours is another type of bacteria, Clostridium perfringens type C, which causes enterotoxemia or sudden death. Salmonella is found in some cases.

Viruses such as rotavirus and coronavirus also play a role. Viral scours are often seen 7 to 21 days after birth, but can occur anytime in the first 4 weeks.

Parasites such as cryptosporidia can also cause scours.

Q. How can I prevent calf scours?

A. You have to deal with both management and infectious causes. Here are 7 tips for better management:

• Keep cows healthy and nutritionally sound

• Deworm cows to optimize health

• Help with calving, if needed

• Keep a clean area just for calving

• Practice good sanitation (wash hands, equipment, boots)

• Make sure calves get plenty of colostrum (1-2 quarts) and that they get it

quickly (within 4 hours after birth, if possible)

• Move healthy pairs to clean, open pastures

Q. Can you also prevent the infectious causes?

A. Bacteria and viruses are found everywhere, so it's impossible to prevent them completely. However, you can give the calf good scours protection by vaccinating the mother cow -- that creates "passive immunity," with protection passed on in the cow's colostrum. Or, you can give vaccine directly to the calf.

Q. Which is better -- vaccinating the cow or the calf?

A. Because calf scours strikes at such a young age, passive immunity from the mother cow offers faster and more reliable protection. The calf starts getting protection the first time it nurses. It is also much more convenient to vaccinate the cow -- you don't have to worry about being immediately on the scene with each new calf.

We recommend vaccinating the pregnant cows in your herd -- especially first-calf heifers -- with ScourGuard 3^®(K)/C. You need an initial vaccination 6 to 8 weeks prior to calving, and a second dose 2 to 3 weeks prior to calving. Cows that have been vaccinated in previous years only need the booster dose. If the cow still hasn't calved 40 days after the last vaccination, she should be re-vaccinated.

ScourGuard 3^®(K)/C protects against the four leading causes of scours: rotavirus, coronavirus, E. coli K99 bacteria and Clostridium perfringens type C.

Q. When would vaccinating the calf be recommended?

A. If you don't have a cow herd vaccination program, it may be advisable to give calves a dose of Calf-Guard^®. This vaccine is given orally in the first few minutes after birth, and helps prevent disease caused by rotavirus and coronavirus. It should be given before the calf nurses.

Q. What are the symptoms of calf scours?

A. The most obvious sign of scours is profuse diarrhea, which is often yellow, white or green, and can be very watery or in some cases bloody. Diarrhea causes the calf to lose fluid, which results in depression, sunken eyes, dry skin and eventually an inability to stand or to nurse. If not treated quickly and correctly, calves go into shock and coma and eventually die.

Q. How do I treat scouring calves?

A. Death loss from calf scours is the result of rapid loss of body fluids and electrolytes, so the most important step is to quickly rehydrate scouring calves. We recommend that you orally feed Re-Sorb^® two times per day to restore electrolyte imbalance. Antibiotic therapy may also be needed, and we may recommend Terramycin^® Scours Tablets to control scours and the bacterial pneumonia that can often follow. Use Entrolyte^® H.E. as a nutritional supplement and an excellent source of electrolytes

Q. Besides medical treatment, how should scouring calves be handled?

A. Again, good management is the key. Here are 5 suggestions:

• Isolate scouring calves and their dams from healthy ones

• Keep calving area clean and dry

• Keep equipment clean; be sure workers wash hands and boots thoroughly after treating sick calves and before working with healthy calves.

• Move healthy pairs to clean, open pasture

• Separate first-calf heifers from mature cows both pre- and post-calving.

Q. Should we send anything in to the lab?

A. We recommend diagnosing scours so that we can understand exactly what is causing the outbreak. This helps treat new cases and prevent future outbreaks. Please consult the clinic first -- if samples are submitted, follow these guidelines:

• Collect and submit feces within 12 hours of onset of diarrhea

• Submit dead calves for posting as soon as possible

• In severe cases, submitting a live, scouring calf may be in order

Q. Wouldn't it be less expensive just to treat the few scours cases we may get, rather than vaccinating all pregnant cows in the herd?

A. Compare the cost of a vaccination program with the value of your calves -- especially in today's strong market. Death loss of 35-50 per cent in unprotected calves is not unusual when a scours outbreak hits your herd. Calves that do survive rarely perform to their full potential, with reduced weaning weights being the costliest result. Often, the cost of losing even one calf will cover what you would have spent protecting all the pregnant cows in the herd.