We have gotten a new bottle calf yesterday and I know very little about them. I knew he was weak when he got here but today he has the runs. I am giving him electrolytes between feedings but need to know if he doesn't take a full bottle should I try agin in a couple of hours or wait until the next feeding?

-- Rebecca Carter West Tn. (rdcarter@wk.net), December 17, 2001

Answers

Geez it's sick calf night isn't it!!? A new bottle calf makes me think it's pretty young. It got colostrum? Well a vet could do a far better job than anyone online but we usually gave calves a sulfa drug with a Pepto Bismol type carrier to that kind of calf. No milk just electrolites until the meds started to work. Now if it's E coli that might not be as good a treatment as is needed. I'd say your stuck, get a vet if you can.

-- Ross (amulet@istar.ca), December 17, 2001.

Hi Rebecca,

Wow, sorry to hear your calf is ill. My best suggestion is to get elctrolytes into him to keep him from dehydrating. Then I would try to get some 7 way scour tabs and give him that. For the scours Pepto works well as does Kaopectate. Try the bottle again in a bit. What kind of milk are you feeding him? Fresh cow or goats milk is the best. Are you feeding replacer? that in itself is not really beneficial. We have found that the best method to raise calves is to give them a immuno supplement right after you get them. Immuno-G, ID-1 and Goat Stress are a few of the products. Then we give 1cc orally 2x's a day for 3 days. Also, when you first get them, after the Immuno-G, etc give them a 7 way scour tab, available through Jeffers. We ahve found that the calves we raised without nursing on their mother survived this way and did well. They also drank as much milk as they wanted with no runs, etc.

I wish you well and hope that you can turn your little one around, however, I have to say from our experiences, the odds are against it. We tried every available method out there to save the many calves we bought from dairies that were taken away from their mother too soon. We would get them home, then the scours would hit followed by pnemonia. We lost many this way. The problem is that they need the colestrum from their mother, no substitutes will suffice. Without that they have pretty slim chances. So we would have to treat both. I finally called VA Tech's vet school and talked to a vet there about this. he told me that without colestrum its nearly impossible. His suggestions were to give scour tabs and electrolytes and feed small feedings every few hrs. He also suggested anit biotics as well, Penacillain for the pnemonia.

so when we discovered Immuno-G we used that and the 7 way tabs, it wa ssuccessful.

As for the vet advice....... you can probably get good advice from your vet. But I will add this, that in many rural areas a good large animal vet is hard to find. then if you do they may not do farm calls except on certain days unless you are a established customer.

In the goat world many of us have found the internet to be a valuable resource for our needs due in part because many vets just don't ahve the knowledge about goats. In many cases we are the ones teaching them. Good Luck.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), December 17, 2001.

Please look in the archives this has been discussed many times.Sorry to say if he is down already chances are not great .How much does it way ? 100 lb calf gets 2 qts 50 pounds get 1 qt 2x per day .{milk}

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@hotmail.com), December 18, 2001.

I hope I'm not too late with this, but I have a lot of experience with new baby calves that I buy from dairys. This is what I have learned, and I got to the point where I just don't lose baby calves. If it has the runs --- do not feed ANY milk for at least 24 hours. I boil up about 5 lb. of potatos, cut up but peel or not, as you choose, and about 2 lbs. of frozen corn. Boil until the potatos are soft; take off the liquid. For each quart add 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. soda. Feed this, and only this for 24 hours. Feed every 3 to 4 hours. The Pepto Bismal, kaopectate, etc. only thickens the stool, it does not address the underlying problem; this is per studies done by experts, it is not just my opinion. After 24 hours you can use 1 cup milk to 3 cups potato liquid. Do this for another 24 hours. Then use 2 cups milk, 2 cups liquid for the next 24. Of course, you can purchase electrolyte mixes, but per advice from vets I have dealt with, a lot of the cheaper ones just are not that great, and it costs quite a bit to treat a calf that way. I don't know what breed calf you have, but that would make a difference to advice I would give for future feeding. The reason is that a Jersey tolerates much richer milk than a Holstein, for the simple reason that they are attuned to the richness of the milk of their breed. I raise calves on goats milk (I don't own a cow). For Holsteins when they are brand new, I water it down, sometimes to half and half. A very important part of keeping a calf on the right track after you get them going, is not to kill them with kindness milk wise. Don't over feed them or they will suddenly get the runs again, and you will be right back where you started. Feeding 1 qt. every 3 - 4 hours is much better than 2 qts. per feeding, morning and night.

-- Dianne Wood (woodgoat@pacifier.com), December 18, 2001.

I see that I left out that you should use a canner for the potato boiling, and use lots of water.

-- Dianne Wood (woodgoat@pacifier.com), December 18, 2001.

Diane, I'm saving your advice to a file for when I start getting bottle calves after we build a barn. My question is, how does the potato water work? What does the corn contribute? Is this a way to get a weak starch into the animal? What does the baking soda do?

-- Debbie in Mo (risingwind@socket.net), December 18, 2001.

Ok, i know i'm only 14 years old, but I know a fair amount about bovine. (I show them in 4-H) Anyhow, runs can kill a calve, They are a #1 killer of calves. Keep your regular feeding routine, one bottle in the morning, one in the evening, but keep giving them electrolytes. They should not dehidrate. Don't give them any more milk, which can also contribute to more runs. How long has it had the runs? What color is it?

Its ok if he doesn't drink the whole thing. Does he show interest in feeding, like, when you go out to give him the bottle, does he jump around, snow any interest in eating? He should. One more thing, how old is he?

-- Amanda N. Mantegna (sweettimber901@hotmail.com), December 18, 2001.

After i typed my reply i remembered that in calves you need to let the scours run their course, the idea is to expel the agents causing it so binding it is not the objective. I read that in of all places, an Old Countryside. I mentioend the Pepto and Kaopectate because it will work in cases where the calf has eaten too much, etc. But for the heavy duty stuff like e-coli, your objective is to flush out the bacteria.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), December 18, 2001.