# calf with bloody scours



## springrain280 (Jun 30, 2013)

Hello everyone I need some advice, I don't know a whole lot about cattle. I purchased a little jersey heifer approx. 2 weeks old. I bought her at an auction (I know worst place ever to buy a bottle baby but I couldn't resist her and for $20 I thought I would take a chance) anyways that was 5 days ago. Since I brought her home she has had scours, at first I thought maybe it was just stress and the change of formula as I have her on powdered milk replacer. But I was wondering shouldn't she have started to firm up by now? I mean it's like water. I noticed yesterday and today a little blood mixed in with it as well. I'm really worried about her as I'm of course attatched to her already. She is eating very well, seems happy, when I take her outside she runs around like no bodies business LOL!! and likes to bunt the bottle right out of my hands if I'm not careful! I'm feeding her 4 times a day just cause I'm worried about dehydration and I add a little electrolytes with her formula. I also have had her on antibiotics for the last 5 days (Trivetrin, it says it's good for a wide variety of illnesses including E.coli and Sammonella) but it says not to exceed 5 days. So I guess the question is what else can I do for her? Is there any thing I can do to help firm her up? should I be concerned about the blood or is it from having the scours so long she's "raw"? Sorry for the long post and thanks for taking the time to read it!


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## G. Seddon (May 16, 2005)

I am not a vet and I've never had a bottle calf. What little I know is from reading about them. I know that dehydration will kill a calf. I believe that electrolytes need to be fed separately, not mixed in with milk replacer. Hopefully somebody here who is knowledgeable about raising bottle babies will speak up. In the meantime:

1. Contact your vet -- if you don't have one, get one. Vet can advise you on the proper use of antibiotics, if needed.
2. Re-Sorb (electrolyte product) http://www.drugs.com/vet/re-sorb.html
3. Link to Cattle Today article on scouring calves: http://www.cattletoday.com/archive/2001/March/Cattle_Today130.shtml
4. Homesteading Today has a "sticky" on bottle calves. Read up!

Good luck!


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## ufo_chris (Apr 30, 2010)

look up coccidosis ....possibble with the blood ....
u said u feed 4x a day....which is good if u don't feed more than 1 quart at a time....overfeeding will cause scours .
my vet taught me to crush up 1/2 adult aspirin with each feeding for a few days if stools are loose and it usually helps but if she's been doing that for 6 days now get some scour meds in her asap then they say feed only electrolytes for a day,next slowly add some mr will help too .
good luck,hope she gets better soon!


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## G. Seddon (May 16, 2005)

I don't think coccidiosis usually shows up this early (http://www.merckmanuals.com/vet/digestive_system/coccidiosis/coccidiosis_of_cattle.html

There are many causes of scours in young calves. Feeding too much, change of feed, rotavirus, coronavirus, etc. Why don't you take a fecal sample to your vet and see if it shows anything? For someone inexperienced (myself included), getting professional advice is recommended; if meds are needed, the vet is the person most qualified to recommend the right thing.


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## masseyandy (Jan 26, 2013)

cut feedings to 2x a day get her some scourguard or whatever brand for scours and separate the electrolytes from the mr. medicated mr would not hurt either. The Trivetrin is probably not helping because it may be killing off the good gut bacteria. I would give her a bottle of electrolytes then the second feeding switch over to mr. I wouldn't panic if she is hungry they say a hungry calf is a healthy calf


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## springrain280 (Jun 30, 2013)

Hi everyone thanks for the advice, she still seems to be happy and active, scours are still bad a little less watery and I cut back her feedings to 2 times a day but she seems really hungry when I feed her so I may go up to 3 times a day. Problem is no local vets around here that deal with livestock other than pigs.


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## G. Seddon (May 16, 2005)

Where are you located?


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## ufo_chris (Apr 30, 2010)

you didn't say how much you feed her...it is better to feed more often as long as the total is not over 4 quarts,or a little less if its a small calf like a jersey. 
bottle calves always seem hungry and suck on everything ,you can start giving her some calf starter also.


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## DJ in WA (Jan 28, 2005)

Let me add a few comments.

There are two main categories of scours - nutritional and infectious.

If she is otherwise healthy and running around and eating well, I would think infectious is less likely. Antibiotics can be more trouble than worth, as they can kill the good bacteria, making the bad stuff better able to take over. I would not use them in this situation. Not to mention you need to match the antibiotic to whatever the specific bug is for it to be effective. I always find it interesting that people use antibiotics for diarrhea in calves, but when people get the runs, they don't think to take antibiotics.

Nutritional scours are caused by unabsorbed milk replacer going through their system, sucking water out their rear end with it.

You can get too much going through them if you are overfeeding, or if it is poor quality and does not get digested well.

UFOChris asked how much you are feeding. Need to control the total amount. Being hungry is a good thing - sick or dead calves do not get hungry. Just need to make sure they are growing.

As for the quality of milk replacer, get some with real milk ingredients instead of soy. Calves under 3 weeks of age cannot digest soy protein, so it goes through them.

As long as the calf is acting healthy, don't worry about alittle blood in the stool, as that occurs with inflammation resulting from the scours. If you look closely, you probably have some blood in your stool occasionally.


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

I agree with DJ. I don't use antibiotics as a routine scours treatment. If I do anything, I'll use some electrolytes and cut back on the potency of my MR mixture temporarily to get them rehydrated. Then, once they're rehydrated I'll start upping the MR strentgh to get it back to where it was before. 

I DON'T use the strength on the back of the MR bag when mixing for young calves. I take about 4 weeks to get them to the 2 qts they recommend (especially for jerseys). 

If the calf has blood in their stools I'll generally go to the feed store or vet and get a drug called corid. This will help stop the rectal bleeding. One thing I will add is that this drug needs to be mixed EXACTLY like the directions say on strength. Get it a little to strong and you'll kill your calve(s). 

Most of the time bloody stools are recognized as scours by us owners but are actually irritated rectal blood vessels from squeezing out too much running poop. 

Hope your calves get better.


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