scour remedies

[farmerboy]

Calving is going good but having a scours wreck.A couple of years ago there were recipes using bleach or vircon cleaner posted on this site. Could anyone please post any recipes you have, this would be greatly appreciated. Samples are being analyzed but this will take at least a week, however it is doubtful that will be of any help. Thanks in advance for any help.

[gvpoff]

Not sure what age of calf you are dealing with, but we have had great luck using 5cc of Adspec (spectam) given orally, & 5 cc injected in the muscle (daily). Along with this we give electrolytes every four hours. Instead of putting the spectam directly in the calf's mouth, we have put it in with the electrolytes, as well as some cornstarch.

This has worked on some pretty young calves. Good Luck!

[Horse]

I have used spectam in the past with some sucess but as you know what works 1 yr dont nesecarly work the next.
A 1/2 tsp or baking soda in the electrolites seem to make the calf more comfortable

[farmerboy]

Is Spectam something like Excenel? I have never heard of it. We are dealing with calves aged 1 wk and older; other years we had some scours in older calves but never ever in 1 wk calves. We are injecting Excenel daily and giving Neorease orally (this is a scour solution with neomycin in it) also for the ones that looked depressed we started giving homemade electrolytes once or twice daily. If we don't give electrolytes to the depressed ones they will go right down; we had four down like this, one almost died and they came back with electrolytes. Vet said to give IVs but this was an emergency, so we injected some dextrose under the skin. Quite sure this helped. Thanks for your help

[grassfarmer]

Sounds to me like you've either got an outbreak of rotavirus or the ecoli with the # (is it K99 or something?)
Nasty either way when it hits young calves so hard. Good luck.

[gvpoff]

Actually spectam is a drug used in poultry & hogs, which is why you may not have heard of it. With the very young calves, we have given the spectam in electrolytes before they show signs of being depressed. They seem to respond a bit quicker.
Scours are always a challenge!

[gvpoff]

The first vet we ever used always advised putting a couple of ounces of kaopectate in eletrolytes for the first treatment and it is something I have had excellent success with over the years.
The main thing is to give electrolytes often, not twice daily like they usually recommend. I give about two cups every couple of hours and that seems to help getting the calf hydrated.
If you are fighting an infection as well an antibotic is important.

Good luck, hopefully you get it cleared up soon, it can wear a person out this time of year.

[DaneG]

got this from I think the grain news several years ago works real good.
1 package of fruit pectin
1 teaspoon of lite salt(sea salt)
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 10.5oz can of beef consomme
add enough water to make 2 quarts.
give this 2 or 3 times a day.
A couple of years ago I was having a bout of scours in the end what turned it around was this electrolite along with nuflor and a shot of predef 2x.
best of luck to you.

[cowman]

one liter of water
one tablespoon of Javex bleach
one raw egg
two tablespoons of corn syrup
one teaspoon of table salt

Mix with a mixmaster. Tube the calf.
Only treat once. Results can be dramatic.

[cowman]

I would be careful using bleach anymore than once, it will kill the good bacteria in the gut.

[almoy]

I used cowmans recipie on a calf that the vet said wouldn't make it. It was flat out when I tubed it. Next morning it was up and nursing.

[grassfarmer]

DaneG, Are you sure that "10.5oz can of beef consomme" wont cause BSE? - kind of like feeding cows to cows ;o)

I know it doesn't help when someone is in the middle of a scour outbreak but scours are a management created problem. I've learnt it is possible to manage cattle so that you do not get scour problems. It's a shame so many people accept them as a necessary or natural part of the calving cycle. Vets seem to have a particular interest in dispensing scour products and treatments.

[DaneG]

I don't know about bse from consome, got that recipe long before bse,if srm's are removed it should not be a problem.
The predef with nuflor sure made the difference for me.

[farmerboy]

Thanks for all the help and advice. Do you vaccinate with scourguard? We do and we often wonder if we are just giving them scours that way. Aren't we supposed to be protected? The first 20 head that calved never got scours and their mothers never got scourguard. Hmmm.

[farmerboy]

grassfarmer, sometimes scours is brought into a herd via new animals or people walking through a calving area that have the 'bugs' on their boots. I always have a disenfectant tub by the barn if it necessary for anyone to enter during calving.
I agree it is a management issue but sometimes cows shed the virus and new cattle brought in can bring it with them.