Scours and Starter Feed - first Calf

[Barnprincess]

Okay - Annabelle is 4 weeks old. When I got her a week or so ago she started with normal poo and then went to scours. Started her on medicated milk replacer - scours gone. Started giving her feed (bought Tractor Supply Stocker Grower) and scours back. So -- is the feed doing it? I have ProBios but somehow I can't see her taking to a gel being forced into her mouth I also have ScourCheck which I've used with my sheep.

If it is the feed - recommendations for a good one. Anyone use Blue Seal products?

Scours - I've read through a number of old posts and the recommendations are all over the map. I'm a little confused (goes with old age I think).

She is eating hay because I keep hay in a feeder for my sheep until the pastures come in. She also tries to horn in on the soy meal I am feeding the ewes as they are a couple of weeks from lambing.

 

[jhm47]

You certainly aren't feeding pure soymeal to your sheep are you? If so, how much? Ewes are not usually short on protein in their last weeks before lambing. Lack of energy is usually what causes them to develop pregnancy disease. Corn, oats, barley, anything with a high starch content is good. Just a little soymeal is OK too, but I sure wouldn't feed them over 1/4 to 1/3 lb. per head per day. I'd give them at least 2 lbs of high energy grain.

As to the calf, he is a bit old to get a really serious case of scours. Give him good-quality hay, and calf starter. The grower is probably OK, but starter would be a bit better. The Blue Seal stuff is probably OK too. Good luck!

 

[Barnprincess]

Yes I do feed pure soy meal. It's an excellent bypass protein for ruminants. And for the last few weeks of pregnancy and during lactation I want them to have the added protein. I also feed some pellets but they don't get the level of protein they need. The hay is as good as it gets this time of year. I have some good and some not so good.

I'm going to get the Blue Seal starter. In the meantime I'm waiting to see if taking her off the current feed will clear the scours. I'll also try to figure out how to get the ProBios into her.

Sharon Kinsey
www.Followyourdreamfarm.net

 

[amysflock]

Be gentle with feed changes. It's pretty likely that rather than actual scours per se, she instead could just have diarrhea from the abrupt feed changes. Their systems are sensitive, even when they're old cows! By this age she should be eating hay as well...the roughage will help with poo problem. Cattle aren't built to eat much grain, and certainly not grain alone (unless you're grain finishing just prior to butchering).

 

[Imissmygirls]

I am assuming the Probios comes in a gun or some sort of tube you can squirt or force out of the container.
Tie the heifer in a spot where you have a strong fairly solid flat wall to push her against. It helps if she can't back up either.
Stand at her shoulder and use your body to push her shoulder against the wall on her other side. Remember she has 4 feet on the ground and you only have 2. You won't hurt her. Push firmly to confine her against the wall.
With the hand you have closest to her body, put your arm around her head and your fingers into the side of her mouth on the opposite side of you. No, she won't like it, but neither does a baby when it needs vitamins.
With your fanny/side holding the body against the wall, use the hand in the mouth to open the mouth enough so that your free hand can insert the squirtable probiotics into her mouth-- aiming toward the back of the throat. Cows only have bottom teeth, so she isn't going to bite your fingers off.
Do a quick squirt and let her go. If you placed it far enough back in her mouth, she should be tossing her head and trying to spit it out, but will end up licking her tongue and swallowing it, because cow's can't spit.

I would suggest wearing work boots, jeans and long shirt doing this because she WILL fight you-- unless she is extremely sick. You can't be shy about this and you may have to be rougher than you want to be to get it into her. Keep in mind that the more she fights, the healthier she actually is.

You can also try dribbling the stuff on her grain if she is certain to eat the grain. There are also powder probios you can mix with her milk.
Active yogurt cultures work too.

Lacking a wall to confine a calf, I have also laid it down to administer meds, but a 4 week old calf can be a bit feisty for that. TO lay it down, you approach its side, put one hand under the neck and the other over the body to reach the flap of skin right in front of the back leg. Grasp that skin, and use your one knee to push the body of the calf forward to throw it off balance as you lift the calf slightly and lay it down in front of you. The ease at which you do this is in proportion to your weight, the weight of the calf and the feistiness of both of you. Once th e calf is flat ont he ground, put enough weight on its shoulder with your knee (squatting) to prevent its rising and then administer the meds.
I didn't say it was neat or easy, but it gets the job done.

BTW.. any chance Annabelle has coccidiousis and that is causing the scours?

 

[Barnprincess]

Wow, sounds like I'll need a full suit of armor Last evening when I went up to feed I noticed one semi solid pile! Yeah! I have been using the Scourcheck in each bottle. I found a packet of electrolytes I had for the sheep and used that for one feeding - then found a bottle of pedialyte that I used in another bottle. Yesterday I stopped in at Tractor Supply and found a powder probiotic mix so I don't have to resort to wrestling

If it didn't start to clear I was going to do a fecal check myself (I do that for my sheep) to see if I could spot anything. Then take a sample to the vet if that failed.

I think we might be turning the corner. I did take her off the feed I got and have ordered a specific calf feeder from Blue Seal - so she is getting her 1/2 gal bottle 3x a day and as much hay as she wants. I'm convinced it was that stupid feed from Tractor Supply.

Thanks again for all the help.

Sharon Kinsey
www.followyourdreamfarm.net

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Do you ever have problems with large lambs because of so much protein before lambing?

 

[Barnprincess]

No I don't. But the amount that each sheep gets is rather small. I fill about a 5 pound pail with a 2/1 mix of soymeal to pellets. I then divide that among 4 feeding troughs which 12 ewes, 1 wether and my calf compete for. Actually they don't compete - they just run from trough to trough sampling. So if each sheep got 1/4 pound a feeding it would be a lot. At that rate - all it does is give them the extra energy they need due to the fetus taking it out of them - especially in the last few weeks. Hay is their mainstay but our last load of hay was pitiful. For the first time I've had to provide grain to my horse and mule to keep some weight on.

Annabelle (the calf) is really funny - she tries to push the sheep out of the way at the troughs but they gang up on her Today she was out in the middle of the pasture with the sheep trying to blend in..... If I could figure out how I'd post a picture of her.