For years, farmers have been battling scour outbreaks among their dairy calves. No matter how good of a job we do to sanitize, feed, and manage calves, at some point every farm deals with scours.
Lessening your chances of an outbreak boils down to a few key components — the basics. In a Professional Dairy Producers (PDP) “Dairy Signal” webinar, Melissa Cantor of Penn State University provided insight on elements of calf programs that should be prioritized to ensure calf health.
Begin before birth
Believe it or not, we can reduce the chances of scours long before the calf is even born. Cantor explained that vaccinating the dam can reduce stressors and boost scour resistance in a calf. Work with your veterinarian to plan and make decisions about vaccination protocols based upon your herd’s needs.
Another area of focus that requires attention prior to calving, during calving, and after calving is the maternity area. The maternity pen is arguably one of the most important areas that a calf will spend time in throughout its life as this is the first environment a calf will be exposed to after birth. Calves have a naïve immune system, making it critical that the maternity pen is kept clean and dry. “Moisture is the number one enemy for our calves. When we are talking about diarrhea in calves, moisture is required for most of these pathogens to breed,” said Cantor.
Completely drying out maternity surfaces after cleaning will kill dangerous pathogens such as Cryptosporidium, which can be a main cause of diarrhea in calves. Be sure to provide fresh bedding, clean the area, and utilize lime on the surface before new calves are born, the assistant professor encouraged.
Colostrum is key
The calf is dependent upon the dam’s antibodies, which are absorbed by the newborn through the gut. Within a few hours of birth, this opportunity ceases, making the first colostrum feeding so critical. The nutritional properties of colostrum are extremely beneficial to the calf throughout the first few days of life. Colostrum provides maternal antibodies to the calf’s immune system. This is a critical process for calves because antibodies like maternal IgG recognize and kill pathogens a calf could encounter on your farm.
While passive immunity is a key part of calf development in the first few days, it only lasts for a short period of time before it starts to dwindle. “Passive immunity only protects the calf for the first week of life; after that it starts to rapidly decline. This is why we see scours so often in 14 through 21 days of age because the calf’s antibodies have not gotten to their highest point yet,” cited Cantor.
Because the calf hasn’t acquired much immunity yet, pathogens such as rotavirus, coronavirus, and crypto pose a threat to calves and can cause scours. Although some are considered seasonal, these pathogens can make an appearance at any time.
While rotavirus tends to pop up throughout the summer months, coronavirus can ramp up during the winter. Cantor found that incorporating a feeding of electrolytes between meals warded off these pathogens. As for crypto, “Sanitation, water quality, and nutrition are how we can keep crypto at controllable levels. A 3% hydrogen peroxide solution can also kill crypto if a farm doesn’t have time to dry out pens between calves, but using both is best practice for killing crypto,” she noted.
Look for consistency
For the sake of data recording and treatment purposes, it has become important to educate employees on scours identification. Feeding protocols for calves have changed from lower to higher planes of nutrition with more volume incorporated into their diet. For producers feeding 8 or more quarts of milk or milk replacer a day, it is anticipated that calves’ manure will be naturally looser. Understanding what consistency and color diarrhea to look for will help you and your employees identify what actions to take regarding treatment.
Scours is defined as two or more consecutive days of loose stool that sifts through the bedding with a consistency like pancake batter. One day of watery stool that is the color of orange juice can also be identified as a case of scours, said Cantor. Fecal matter that does not sift through the bedding and sits on top should not be counted as a diarrhea event. “When training people, make sure you remind them that a yogurt consistency doesn’t mean scours,” Cantor reminded. If you are noticing a 30% increase in diarrhea throughout your calves, this is considered an outbreak.
When a scour event occurs, the most important thing to do is provide the calf with electrolytes. Dehydration is a direct effect of scours, which can cause metabolic acidosis, low blood sugar, and reduce average daily gain. Consider using feeding times as a way to observe calves that may have scours and evaluate if employees are following protocols.
Be on the same page
Have you reviewed your calf care protocols? Having the perfect protocol on paper can be helpful, but you may have no idea if those protocols are being followed if they are not managed correctly.
“Usually, an outbreak happens because a bunch of things go wrong a little bit,” denoted Cantor. Ensure that employees understand the basics such as fecal scoring, pulling blood, checking for scours, cleaning and sanitation, feeding, data and recordkeeping, and technology use. Following protocols consistently and continuing to educate employees about calf rearing will benefit your calves today and your future herd down the road.
