Dairy advice: Controlling calf scour this spring

With spring calving underway, farmers should be considering the best practices to put in place when trying to prevent scour in calves.

Scour refers to watery faeces and results from a badly damaged gut, which leads to a loss in function and an intestine that is not functioning properly, which causes the calf to lose salts and water in the form of diarrhoea.

Parasites such as cryptosporidium and coccidia, or viruses like rotavirus and coronavirus are the most common culprits of scour in calves.

Cases of scour can also be caused by bacteria such as salmonella and Escherichia coli (E.coli), however these cases are not as common.

It is the biggest killer of young calves on dairy farms, and although eliminating the costly disease on farm level is near impossible, farmers can implement practices that can help reduce the number of cases and the severity of the infection.

Preventing scour

‘Prevention is the best cure’ certainly applies to calf scour, as once the damage is done, the calf will be scouring until the intestine is repaired.

One of the best prevention methods is ensuring calves receive adequate quality colostrum.

Remember to follow the 1, 2, 3 rule to ensure calves are being fed sufficient colostrum while following the correct management.

Feed colostrum from the first milking (highest antibodies);
Feed within two hours of birth (absorption decreases rapidly after six hours)
Feed at least 3L (ensure sufficient antibodies taken in).

Farmers with bigger beef calves or Holsteins need to feed 10% of the calves’ bodyweight, as they may require 4L rather than 3L.

As a calf is susceptible to bacteria and viruses once it enters the birth canal, proper management when feeding colostrum is crucial to ensure it receives enough antibodies to fight them.

However, even with adequate colostrum, calves can be susceptible to scour if other prevention methods are not up to standard.

For example, poor hygienic standards where calves are in damp and filthy conditions can lead to scour from the parasite cryptosporidium.

The spring period can be hectic and farmers can struggle to get everything completed to the highest standard when cows are dropping calves rapidly.

This end ups with corners been cut as farmers do not carry out regular cleaning of pens, and often put dry bedding over old damp bedding.

However, the damp under-bedding can still harbour bacteria and parasites, and with studies showing that scour can cost anywhere between €150-€190/calf, it is worth cleaning pens in between calves.

If regular cleaning is not possible, the straw layer put down on old bedding must be thick enough to prevent your knees from getting damp when kneeling.

Individual calf pens or isolation boxes should always be cleaned out between calves, as well as ensuring strong hygiene practices are in place when it comes to feeding equipment.

All buckets, milk carts, troughs, stomach tubes, and other equipment should be properly cleaned, with items such as teats having water squeezed through to ensure maximum hygiene.

Diagnosis and treatment

The most notable appearance of calf scour is diarrhoea, where the faeces will be watery or ‘custard-like’.

However, before this point farmers may notice their calf displaying signs of depression, fever, or anorexia.

The calf may also be struggling to stand, as well as showing a decreased suckling reflex.

A calf suffering with scour will also display signs of dehydration, which can be evaluated by how sunken the eye is in its socket, the colour and moisture of their gums, and the temperature of their ears.

Many farmers also also evaluate dehydration levels by pinching a fold of skin, and then timing how long it takes to flatten (under two seconds is normal levels of hydration).

Calves that are showing symptoms of scour should be separated from the group straight away in a bid to prevent the infection spreading.

A farmer should start faecal testing, or scoring diarrhoea instantly as normal, loose, pasty, watery or containing blood in a bid to determine how fast a calf is likely to deteriorate.

Antibiotics should only be given to a calf that is physically sick alongside scouring (i.e. weak, fever).

However if the calf is not sick, antibiotics are not needed as they do not typically work against the parasites and viruses that cause calf scour.

It is vital to replace the calf’s fluids; healthy calves need up to 4L of fluids a day and scouring calves need an additional 4L to replace lost fluids.

These extra fluids can be fed in the form of electrolytes or ‘milk-shakes’ supplementation from the first sign of scour.

Some animals may be too weak to drink these fluids; however it is critical they get adequate intake, meaning weak calves should be stomach-tubed.

Feeding scoury calves milk has being proven to help heal the intestine, so offering undiluted milk to the calf should be encouraged.

.editor-styles-wrapper .wp-block-acf-related-stories-block {
max-width: 960px !important;
background-color: var(–color-gray-default);
padding-inline: 40px;
padding-top: 8px !important;
padding-bottom: 20px !important;
}