# calf with the squirts



## grass (Nov 3, 2008)

this calf we just is about 3 weeks old and never been on a bottle..he drinks 2 quarts of substitute milk twice a day from a bowl...i have been adding eletralites and vitamines to his milk...my question is how long til i manage to get his poo under control.i know it's not real normal for him to have the squirts like that


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## wynedot55 (Nov 3, 2008)

go to your  feed store  or vet an tell them you have a calf with the scours.an they should be able to tell you wich meds to get.jersey calves are known tobe hard to raise.its good that the calf is bucket trained.


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## Farmer Kitty (Nov 3, 2008)

If you follow the misc. info. link in my signature (below) you will find some very good scour treatment info. Jersey calves are not any harder to raise than a holstein. Just remember they are smaller and don't need as much milk replacer or water with it. Give water in a pail on the side. 

How much milk replacer are you feeding and is the calf on grain yet?


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## grass (Nov 3, 2008)

thankyou much .....i did look at a lot of the meds they have at tsc and figured he'd need one of them to cure this problem ...i just wasn't sure wich one would be needed


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## grass (Nov 3, 2008)

he's drinking 2 quarts in the morning and 2 quarts in the evening and has access to grain and hay all thru the day ...the person i got him from said he was some grain but i'm yet to see him more than one bite of it


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## Farmer Kitty (Nov 3, 2008)

Sometimes it's a guessing game and you get it by trial and error. What's on my misc. info. page has worked well for me and others so that is where I recommend starting.


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## Thewife (Nov 3, 2008)

The old vet I used to know, told me that one of the biggest mistakes people make with calves, is over doing it with the antibiotics. Basicallly they kill all the good tummy bugs needed for digestion.
I used to keep a supply of Fastrack around, when ever I had calves to raise.


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## Farmer Kitty (Nov 3, 2008)

thewife said:
			
		

> The old vet I used to know, told me that one of the biggest mistakes people make with calves, is over doing it with the antibiotics. Basicallly they kill all the good tummy bugs needed for digestion.
> I used to keep a supply of Fastrack around, when ever I had calves to raise.


That is why I break down the steps and point out it's bacterial causes you need the antibiotics for. A viral or environmental cause it won't do any good on.


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## Thewife (Nov 3, 2008)

I am wondering..
I know when we would get calves form the dairy, some would come down with the squirts, from the change in milk.
Could just the move from one place to another, cause enough stress to bring them on?


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## Farmer Kitty (Nov 3, 2008)

It can. Switching eniviorments can too.

Switching from milk to milk replacer and back to milk will too. Many dairies will do that if they get a treated or fresh cow. We don't.


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## Thewife (Nov 3, 2008)

A lady I used to buy calves from, wouldn't even let it leave the farm unless it had it's colostrum and she would send me off with as much bucket milk she could, to make sure I would make the change gradually! I'm guessing it would have been a treated cow, fresh cow mix?
Her calves always did the best!


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## Farmer Kitty (Nov 3, 2008)

It sounds like she took care and pride in her calves. Yes, it probably was fresh cow/treated milk. Calves should have the colustrum right away so if anyone is letting calves go before they get fed it their letting wet newborns go. There is a saying that a calf that doesn't get colustrum is a dead calf.


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## grass (Nov 3, 2008)

i got him up walking and gave him a good dose of pepto.hope that does the trick


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## Farmer Kitty (Nov 3, 2008)

Is he getting weak? If so you really need to get him plugged up. See if you can get some Deliver-it works extremely well. And some energy source into him--grain if he is eating it. I'm not sure where you're at but keep him warm-if your where it's hot, trying keeping him cooler so he's comfortable (a fan or somewhere where he can catch the breeze). He needs to put his energy into getting better not staying warm/cool.


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## grass (Nov 3, 2008)

the stroll around the yard got him alittle motivated ....he's eating fresh grass and seemed alittle more energeticwe just got him on friday and i been telling the wife we need the runs he's got fixed.twice now i've walked up tp him and pet him on the belly and just cuts loose.....and boy does it stink


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## Farmer Kitty (Nov 3, 2008)

Definately needs Deliver. I would also hit him with penicillin-due to the stink. 

What is the color?


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## grass (Nov 3, 2008)

it's brown as normal looking .....just real watery


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## Farmer Kitty (Nov 3, 2008)

okay. Should be just normal scours.


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## grass (Nov 3, 2008)

i talked to 2 vets here in the area and they said to keep him full of eletralytes to keep him hydrated and to try the over the counter scours fix from TSC.if it persists for more than a few more days that i may need to get an antibotic for him to recover with


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## Farmer Kitty (Nov 3, 2008)

Deliver-if they have it will gel those scours up and help keep him hydrated-he definately needs that-it is over the counter. 

He's had the scours more than a few days so start with the antibiotics. I would start with the penicillian.

The vets are basically telling you the samething I have been.


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## grass (Nov 4, 2008)

he seems alot more frisky today...the bottle of pepto and the electralytes must of done him some good....also got him to eat some grains and hay thismorning....i have to mix the electralytes in his milk to get him to take them but he's getting his spunk up now ....thanks for everyones help


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## wynedot55 (Nov 4, 2008)

keep him on the scour meds for awhile.till his manure is good an firm.


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## grass (Nov 4, 2008)

i'm picking up some scour tablets from the feed mill in town today .....again thanks to everyone for the help


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## wynedot55 (Nov 4, 2008)

good give him the scour tabs.


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## Farmer Kitty (Nov 4, 2008)

I'm glad he's doing better. 

I have found that the pepto tabs are easy to feed too so, if you have trouble getting him or any future calf to take the liquid then try the tabs. Calves love to suck and I just stick the tab in the back of their mouth and they do the rest.

The electroltyes we get are a powder that we mix into their milkreplacer so mixing them is no big deal.


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## grass (Nov 4, 2008)

you all helped turn my pole building into a little barnyard thisyear with chickens rabbits and now a bull i hope i can get up to a few hundred pounds...the kids named him howie ....all  these new farm animals have been a handfull....without everyones help i'd of never known where to start...you all have a great bunch of informative folks on both sites...doing this has taken a little burden off my wallet.and it's great for the family.....kinda adds to the bondingtime we get when all do the animals.neighbors are starting to call us  the clampids.but they all love seeing the animals


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## Farmer Kitty (Nov 4, 2008)

I'm glad you are finding both sites helpful. That is the goal to jelp each other.


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## wynedot55 (Nov 4, 2008)

we are here to help if we can.


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## grass (Nov 4, 2008)

we starting to get real cow poo now ......you folks rock


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## Farmer Kitty (Nov 4, 2008)

--Keep up the good work!


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## grass (Nov 4, 2008)

it does take constant attention to learn whats going on ....i'm learning fast


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## wynedot55 (Nov 4, 2008)

an raising calves is a good way to learn.


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