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All farmers and private owners of dairy cows have had firsthand experience of treating diarrhea in a calf. Digestion in young animals, especially a newborn, can be upset due to a variety of reasons. Often, diarrhea in a calf begins even due to changes in the hormonal background of the mother. The cow comes into heat shortly after calving, and the cub begins to vilify. Not less often, owners who bought a small calf also face diarrhea. But here the diarrhea begins for a different reason.
Why do calves have diarrhea
Diarrhea in young cattle is a frequent phenomenon, although adult animals are not immune from this. The difference is that calves are more prone to infectious diseases. While an adult calf can recover on its own with dietary adjustments, a calf’s diarrhea usually doesn’t go away that easily.
Diarrhea can be caused by:
- the appearance of hunting in the mother;
- cold colostrum or milk;
- cheap milk replacer;
- sour milk/colostrum;
- milk from a cow with mastitis;
- a sharp transition from milk feeding to plant foods;
- low-quality or moldy feed;
- an excess of salt in the feed;
- bacterial infection due to unsanitary conditions of detention;
- viral diseases;
- food poisoning;
- helminthic invasion;
- weak immunity.
The latter is rather even the root cause of intestinal dysbacteriosis caused by bacterial infection.
In a calf with a weak immune system, diarrhea is often not the main problem in life
What is dangerous severe diarrhea in calves
Diarrhea is dangerous, first of all, dehydration of the body. No diuretic will remove water as quickly as diarrhea will break out. If diarrhea that occurs in young cattle as a result of maternal hunting disappears on its own in a few days, then the infectious intestinal disorder will only progress and quickly lead to the death of the calf.
When dehydrated, the animal looks dramatically thinner. In fact, this means that water has “left” the muscles. A well-fed animal can last longer by breaking down fat cells into carbohydrates and water. Because of this, diarrhea in newborn calves is especially dangerous. All cubs are born very thin, but quickly gain weight. In the case of diarrhea, a newborn calf does not have a margin of safety that will allow him to hold out for at least a few days. Treatment should begin immediately, and the owner of the cattle should be aware of the main signs and treatment of diarrhea.
How to treat diarrhea in a calf
Before treating diarrhea, it is a good idea to establish the cause. Liquid feces of the usual color – most likely, poisoning or indigestion due to malnutrition. White or yellow diarrhea in a calf is a sign of rotavirus infection. Faeces of chocolate or reddish color with an admixture of blood – pasteurellosis.
Signs of diarrhea due to poisoning can hardly be noticed in advance. But the symptoms of diarrhea in infectious diseases can be noticed in advance with careful attention to animals:
- temperature above 40 °C;
- decreased appetite;
- oppressed state;
- dry nose leather;
- dried mucus in nostrils.
These signs indicate the onset of an infectious disease or inflammatory process in the gastrointestinal tract and the cause of diarrhea should be treated here. With regard to diarrhea, it makes sense to use only drugs that relieve symptoms.
Lactating calves very often suffer from dyspepsia, the main symptom of which is diarrhea. Dyspepsia also occurs in older animals, but much less frequently. The main signs of dyspepsia:
- oppressed state;
- worn hips and tail;
- shallow breathing;
- putrid or sour smell of excrement;
- stool up to 14 times a day.
Due to dehydration, the eyes sink, the coat grows dull, the nasolabial mirror becomes dry and rough. Soon the animal dies, so the treatment of diarrhea in calves at home begins without waiting for the arrival of the veterinarian.
The owner of cattle must have a first aid kit, which must also include medicines for diarrhea in calves.
For a first aid kit, it is convenient to use a special suitcase in which it is easy to find the necessary medication
Medications for diarrhea for calves
It is better to keep two types of drugs in the first-aid kit at once: medicines and folk remedies to stop diarrhea. Medications are classified as antibiotics. Most often they are used if the calf has diarrhea of an infectious origin.
If the diarrhea continues for too long. In this case, the use of antibacterial medicines is also indicated. There are many cures for diarrhea for calves, and the names are often commercial and this causes some problems. If there is no specified drug, it is necessary to look for an analogue for the active substance that is not always known to the farmer. To stop diarrhea use:
- Levomycetin: an antibiotic that is used for gastrointestinal disorders.
- Tetracycline: a broad-spectrum antibiotic used not only for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
- “Apralan”: veterinary antibiotic apramycin. Used to treat colibacillosis, salmonellosis and other similar infections. Convenient for the treatment of diarrhea in dairy calves, as it is also available in injection vials. This means that it will not be necessary to “load” the gastrointestinal tract once again. Dose: 20 mg/kg body weight for 5 days daily.
- “Nitox”: commercial name for oxytetracycline dihydrate, that is, an antibiotic of the tetracycline group. To cure calves from diarrhea, one injection is enough.
- “Zinaprim”: complex antibiotic containing 200 mg of sulfamethazine and 40 mg of trimethoprim. Used to treat almost any disease that causes disruption of the digestive tract. The course of treatment is 3-5 days, the dose is 1 g/10 kg of live weight. For calves, Zinaprim diarrhea powder is dissolved in warm water and soldered instead of one of the feedings.
- “Ditrim”: a complete analogue of Zinaprim. The drug is produced by another company that gave its products a different commercial name.
- Being a drug “Catholic” has no antibacterial action. This medicine stimulates metabolism and improves immunity. It is pointless to use it without drugs that stop diarrhea in a calf. The advantage is that it is available in the form of a solution for injection.
Apply Catosal in the form of injections
Due to the lack of appetite, the animal can leave the drugs in the feeder, and pushing the pills down the throat by hand is very inconvenient. If there is no other form of release of the drug, you need to crush the tablets into powder, dilute them in water and drink the calf in this form.
In case of salmonellosis or colibacillosis, hyperimmune serum against these diseases is used as an adjuvant. By itself, the serum from diarrhea in calves does not save, but it helps to eliminate the main cause of diarrhea.
Treatment of diarrhea in calves with folk remedies
The popular “Burnt Alum” is more logically attributed to the folk methods of treating diarrhea in calves, if you remember that this is an external powder. Its main purpose is to combat excessive sweating. Alums themselves are aluminum sulphate salts. It is believed that burnt alum is able to stop the development of diarrhea in a few days.
But in a few days, the diarrhea will either go away on its own, or the calf will die from dehydration. So about alum, we can fully say that this is a true folk remedy: either the calf will survive or not.
If you are sure that the cause of the bowel disorder is not infectious, you can start with less extreme folk remedies, that is, astringent decoctions:
- oak bark;
- rice;
- althea root;
- Hypericum perforatum;
- elecampane roots;
- cereals;
- tansy.
For calves already consuming “adult” feeds, dry binders can be added to each of the feedings:
- dill seeds 10-15 g each;
- dried tansy inflorescences 10-20 g, if given fresh, you need to increase the dose by 3-4 times;
- rhubarb root powder 15 g
It is better to give these herbs in concentrates, because in the hay the small particles will fall down and the calf will not pay attention to them. Also, during diarrhea, you can not give a lot of concentrates. Therefore, grain feed is given at the “handful” level, only to mix in the right additive. In all other cases, decoctions are given.
There are a lot of herbs that eliminate diarrhea in nature.
In every region you can find wild plants that can be prepared in case of diarrhea in a calf
Recipes for calf decoctions for diarrhea
While the veterinarian gets on call to the sick calf, you can take measures against diarrhea using folk remedies that are at hand. It might not help, but it’s unlikely to make it worse.
Decoction of cereals
Use any cereals: oats, barley, rye, wheat. 150 g of unthreshed grain is boiled for an hour in a liter of water. So that the grains do not stick to the bottom, the brew is periodically stirred. The resulting broth is cooled, filtered and soldered to the calves 5 times a day, replacing milk with swill. On the first day of diarrhea, you can drink decoction more often, since the cub will be on a starvation diet. One-time decoction rate – 0,5 liters. In fact, the decoction recipe is given on the basis of a one-time feeding, since after an hour of boiling the liquid, just 0,5 liters will remain.
Infusion Hypericum
Suitable for use on the second or more days of diarrhea, as it requires a long time to prepare. 100 g of dried St. John’s wort is poured with a liter of boiling water. Insist under the lid for 8 hours. Drink 3 times a day, 250 ml of infusion.
Decoction of flax
50 g of flaxseed is boiled for an hour in 1 liter of water with regular stirring. The resulting mucus is cooled, filtered and diluted with 2 liters of warm boiled water. Calves are given a decoction of flax twice a day, 0,5 liters at a time.
Broth of the bark of oak
Boil 50 g per 0,5 l of water for 30 minutes. Cool, strain, add 2 liters of water. Drink 0,5 liters 3 times a day.
Althea root decoction
100 g of dry root per 1 liter of water. Boil, let cool. Divide into two servings. Drink 2-3 times a day.
Decoction of wormwood with calamus root powder
Brew 100 g of dry wormwood in 1 liter of boiling water. Let it brew. Add 10 g of calamus root powder. Divide into 2 portions and try to drink this bitter stuff to the calf 2-3 times a day.
Decoction of elecampane
30 g of dry roots of elecampane per 1 liter of water. Boil for 30 minutes and let it brew. Dilute with a liter of boiled water. Drink instead of feeding 0,5 liters 4 times a day.
What to feed a calf with diarrhea
On the first day, it is better not to feed anything. The gastrointestinal tract of the calf must be cleared of possible toxic substances. At the beginning of diarrhea, instead of feeding, astringent decoctions are drunk to the animals. You can also use a weak solution of potassium permanganate. Even a one-day-old calf can withstand one day without food, although this is very bad for its further development: the cub must receive colostrum in the first hour after birth. However, most likely, until this moment, he will not have diarrhea.
And here are the possible options. If the uterus is sick with mastitis, then with the first portion of colostrum, the calf will receive Staphylococcus aureus and indigestion as a bonus.
From the second day of diarrhea, suckling calves are fed as usual, but one or two feedings must be replaced with astringent decoctions. At the same time, you can solder antibiotics, if necessary.
Grown up calves are limited in the amount of feed, concentrates and succulent feed are completely excluded. Leave only hay. Ideally, if the hay contains herbs that prevent the development of diarrhea: St. John’s wort, chamomile, tansy. After the diarrhea has stopped, concentrates, grass and root crops are gradually introduced into the diet again.
Prevention of diarrhea in calves
To prevent the development of diarrhea, certain rules must be observed:
- keep animal areas clean;
- give only good quality food;
- carry out the necessary vaccinations to prevent infectious diseases;
- monitor the composition of hay so that there are no poisonous herbs;
- do not give frozen root crops: potatoes, carrots, beets;
- do not feed sour silage;
- do not give potato tops and green and sprouted potatoes.
Prevention of diarrhea in dyspepsia of newborn calves should begin in the womb. Pregnant cows are provided with a complete diet and a long walk. It is necessary to observe the launch dates and create good conditions for calving. Observance of hygiene in rooms for queens and young growth is obligatory.
Maintaining cleanliness in the barn is one of the main conditions for preventing diarrhea in calves
Conclusion
Diarrhea in a calf most often occurs due to non-compliance with the conditions of detention and feeding. The chances of contracting a bacterial infection from other cattle when keeping a single cow in a private backyard are relatively low. But a farmer with any significant livestock needs to take timely care not only about proper maintenance and feeding, but also about vaccinations against infectious diseases. A private trader should also not neglect vaccination.