have calf that seems to have no energy. been to vet twice, pills and shot. gave Access[ electrolites]just a little improment. today back to hardly eating and scouring. Is still with mother cow. Calf is 9 days old, vary thin. I am worried as he should show some improvment by now. any one who has baby calves might have had same problem and did something to help quickly.

-- Lexi Green (whitestone11@hotmail.com), July 22, 2001

Answers

When our calf scoured, we gave them just the light blue boluses, 1 for 100lb. It stopped the runnys right away and they felt good again. I didn't give them anything else except that and their milk.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), July 22, 2001.

It all depends on what is causing the scours .Are you sure he is drinking and mom has milk ? Are they in pasture or a barn ? What is the weather ?When did it start ?

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), July 22, 2001.

cindy, he has had 4 of the boluses and 3 shots. so far it only lessens for about 8 hours, then back to square one. Patty, cow is in barn, has plenty milk and make 4 trips to barn a day to over-see the calf , making sure he gets to bag. sometimes he just mouths the tit and will not eat. we work with him each time to make sure he gets something. although I don't think it is enough,he just will not eat anymore.started day 1. The humidity is really up there, been like this for over a week. temperature around 97 and above. hope this clears up, what we have done so far. thanks for any help you can give. Lexi

-- Lexi Green (whitestone11@hotmail.com), July 22, 2001.

lexi we had a calf like that. We went to the vet and he said to get a hose and put it on the end of a calf bottle and run it down the calfs throat and put pedilate in the bottle we did this 2 to 3 times a day and it worked. you could also put the milk you milk out of the cow into the bottle to make sure it is getting enough milk.

-- myra gail akins (dakins@cottoninternet.net), July 22, 2001.

Try acidopholous, liquid form is best. You can get it at most any health food store (alot of feed stores carry it as probiotics). Its the same good bacteria in all mammals intestinal tracts so it doesn't matter where you buy it (the bottled at the health food store is usually cheapest). Die off of this bacteria can cause diaharea big time (antibiotics can and do kill the good bacteria also).

-- Stacia in OK (OneClassyCowgirl@aol.com), July 24, 2001.

I would take the calf off mom .If its hot try to keep him cool .A 60 pound calf you start with 1qt of milk 2 times a day .In the afternoon give water or electrolytes.It should be warm like a babies bottle.Give a bo-se shot vitamen b complex too.Save a calf has a product out to up protein and it also has all the good stomach bacteria in it .Make sure to keep the rear end clean so you don't have a problem with bugs.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), July 24, 2001.

I once bought a heifer calf at a sale for a few bucks. She was scouring and sick as all get-out. I put her on cold skim milk and it perked her right up. After she was all better, I added a little whole milk to her skim milk, and served it warmer, but she got sick again. I kept her on cold skim milk for the entire 8 weeks of bottle feeding, and she was a pretty little thing when she was weaned. Evidently she just couldnt handle any fat in her diet. and yes, the temperature of that milk does matter. It has to be COLD skim milk.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), July 24, 2001.

Never heard of them liking colds or skim milk ,learn something new every day .I also forgot to mention , get them on starter grain as fast as you can .It really helps.I always give them 1 bag of medicated grain when I start them .Good luck.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), July 24, 2001.

I use lime water. Put some lime like you put on your garden in a quart jar. About 1/3 lime. fill the rest of the way with water. Shake it up. Let it sit on your counter until it settles. Take 2-3T of the water off of the top after it has settled. Feed it with a meat baster or bottle to the calf. It will tighten his stool. Continue a couple times a day until the scours are gone. I also give mine egg for extra protien when they have scours. Mine on the other hand only get scours if they have been shipped. Has this calf been moved, or stressed in any way?

-- mindy poole (mpoole@link2000.net), July 24, 2001.

I have two calves that have gotten the scours within the past few days. I put them on yougurt and it clears them right up. To start your yougurt just take a gallon of milk and warm it up to 90 to 95 degrees, use a stainless pail or glass gallon jar, and add about a tablespoon or two of 'live' culture yougurt from the store, place a lid on the pail. Set the pail in a larger pail filled with hot water, cover with a towel. It's ready for the calf in 12 hours and you just feed it like regular milk. Just add more milk at 90-95 degrees to keep this going. If you heat the yougurt up past 100 you can kill the live cultures. This really work wonderfull. There are articles on large dairy farms that only feed yougurt and they are able to have the calves healthier at weanning then feeding the milk plain.

-- miller (smillers@snowcrest.net), July 24, 2001.

Thanks Miller , I'll have to give that a try .Hopefully I won't need it any time soon.

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), July 24, 2001.

went back to the vet again, 2 more shots. I am also trying some of the ideas here . It is just such a loving little fella, I would really hate to see anything happen to it. Thanks everyone, glad you are all here. Lexi

-- Lexi Green (whitestone11@hotmail.com), July 25, 2001.

what shots are they giving it ?

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), July 25, 2001.