Runny nose, lethargic, diareah - one calve lost already

[Stubbornhillfarm]

Hi all, I hope you can help. I have a friend who has 4 Jersey calves. They are about 2 months old. Over the weekend, two of them had diareah (sp). One of them died. The other is very lethargic, has a runny nose with green discharge. No other symptoms that I am aware of. They have started him on pennicylan (sp) as of yesterday afternoon. Not much improvement today. Our climate here has been very rainy for going on our 3rd week now.

Any ideas what else they could do for him or what this may be?

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[goodhors]

You probably will want to read this:

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=10754

which is all about what you are facing. New calves, ESPECIALLY those exposed to Auction setting, disease, have a really BAD time, often do not survive.

Reading that will give you ideas of things to try, in keeping sick calves going. Dehydration is a terrible problem, you have to keep them hydrated ALL the time. I do think tiny calves do better when kept enclosed, if they don't have a cow to nurse off of. A warm DRY stall, no drafts, dry bedding, helps the calf do better, he is right handy to feed and check often for problems.

Good luck with your calves.

 

[Stubbornhillfarm]

goodhors, Thank you for your information. I will read the link. We have two calves that we got from the same dairy, roughly the same age. They are doing great! A couple of his great, but a couple not so good, just looking to give them some ideas! Thanks again for your help!