# White Scours



## nate77 (Mar 20, 2013)

I have a 2 week old calf that is on mothers milk, and it has white scours that don't stink. Our previous experience with scours, has been with bottle calves, and in those cases they have been yellow and very smelly, treated with scour tabs, and electrolytes. 

Anybody ever seen this?

This is our first calf on mother.


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Yes, we call it White scours. They can be caused by several things such as lack of colostrum, under-feeding, irregular feeding, transportation, stress, exposure to cold and rain and........ over-feeding.

Whenever I've had White scours in a cow reared calf it has been because their eyes are bigger than their belly and I suspect your little one is suffering from the same problem. Most often they sort it out themselves but keep an eye on the calf and if it starts to look ill, take him off milk for 24 hours and feed him electrolytes. If that has to happen you will have to introduce it back to milk slowly which will mean keeping it off the cow and monitoring his feeding for a few days - but hopefully it won't get that far.

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## nate77 (Mar 20, 2013)

Thank you, this just started today, easy to see white poo on a black calf, I'll keep a close eye on her.


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## nate77 (Mar 20, 2013)

Some pictures of the calf, beautiful little heifer. Half polled Dexter, half Lowline Angus


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## Ronney (Nov 26, 2004)

Sorry, I was calling "her" an it and a him! Very nice looking little calf and does not look ill so feel she is gutsing out on a good producing cow. 

Do you milk and can the cow be milked? because this could be the other way to reduce the amount the calf is taking for a week or so.

Must add that your background cattle look good too

Cheers,
Ronnie


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## nate77 (Mar 20, 2013)

Thanks, mom is the short, fat black one I the background. 

We've never tried to milk her, but with a pan grain in front of her, it might be possible. We've milked Nubian goats before, can't be to much different.


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## G. Seddon (May 16, 2005)

Very cute little calf....hope she gets over her white scours!


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Hope, well wishes and close eyes do not prevent a calf from dehydrating and dying in short order. If you were an experienced cattleman, sharing comments, collecting advise from other old hands at calf raising, I'd also wish you well and move along.

If you or those reading this post are just getting started with calves, understand that the leading cause of death in calves is scours (any color is fine) and the owner's failure to provide quick intervention.

While different sources of stress can bring on scours, over feeding is the most common. Wait too long to treat scours and you get the second greatest killer of calves: pneumonia.


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## nate77 (Mar 20, 2013)

haypoint said:


> Hope, well wishes and close eyes do not prevent a calf from dehydrating and dying in short order. If you were an experienced cattleman, sharing comments, collecting advise from other old hands at calf raising, I'd also wish you well and move along.
> 
> If you or those reading this post are just getting started with calves, understand that the leading cause of death in calves is scours (any color is fine) and the owner's failure to provide quick intervention.
> 
> While different sources of stress can bring on scours, over feeding is the most common. Wait too long to treat scours and you get the second greatest killer of calves: pneumonia.


I thought calf on cow was supposed to be simple. 

With bottle calves, I can adjust milk strength, amount, add scour tabs, or replace milk with electrolytes. 

Not as simple with this way.


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## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

Cute little booger, healthy too. From the way she's holding her head, neck, and ears, I think you have little to worry about....Topside


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## MO_cows (Aug 14, 2010)

Can that calf access your water source? She might be over-drinking milk out of thirst brought on by the heat. As long as she stays perky, alert and active, it will most likely resolve on its own. But it she shows droopy ears, less energy, etc. - jump in. The smaller they are, the quicker they can go downhill to the point of no return.


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## nate77 (Mar 20, 2013)

Calf is doing fine , since it wasn't bacterial, I used a little pepto-bismol. She is now nibbling on grain, and hay; doing great, almost a month old.


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## G. Seddon (May 16, 2005)

Great!


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## barnbilder (Jul 1, 2005)

Scours has a rather broad definition and means different things to different people. I've yet to see a young calf that didn't have loose poop from time to time, sometimes it is white, sometimes yellow. As long as it is the consistency of banana pudding or thicker I don't get concerned. If it is watery, there is a problem. If they seem to have a steady stream, they have problems. If they look weak, depressed or display dehydration with a skin elasticity test they need serious intervention. I had some bottle calves I was feeding Jersey milk, couldn't get them to stop scouring, started skimming a little cream off of their milk and they cleared right up. Sometimes mom's milk can be just a little too rich for them.


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