Calf Health and Disease Management.

The Newborn (1 to 10 days of age):

Clean hands, arms and equipment if assisting the calving.

Remove mucus from the calf's mouth and nose.
Rub the calf vigorously if stimulation is necessary.
Examine the navel and place a tie around the stalk if it is still bleeding or
more than 2" in diameter. Apply disinfectant to a clean navel. Iodine
solutions (1, 2 & 7%) or chlorhexidine (0.5%) may be effective.
Feed 2.5-3.5 liters of clean colostrum to the calf as soon possible; use either
a bottle or esophageal tube feeder. Do not let the calf nurse.
Inject with 3 cc Vitamin E and Selenium at birth (white muscle disease)
Inject with 2 cc Vit A and D (calves are born with small reserves)
Identification of calf by tattooing or other methods.

One Month Calf:

Dehorn with electric dehorners

2 to 5 Months:

Monitor weight, height, body condition scores

Continue coccidia control
Strategic deworming

5 to 6 Months:

Vaccinate for brucellosis

Vaccinate with 7-way clostridium (repeat in 3 weeks)
Vaccinate for IBR, PI3, BVD,
Deworm
Check for extra teats
Measure weight, height, and body condition score

6 to 13 Months:

Monitor weight, height, and body condition score

Vaccinate for leptospirosis
Vaccinate for Vibrio if natural service is used
Deworm

Pregnant Heifers:

Monitor weight, height, and body condition score

Maintain sound nutritional management for adequate growth
Maintain coccidia control and strategic deworming program
Vaccinate against Leptospirosis at 18 to 20 months
Vit E and selenium 45 to 60 days prior to freshening
Vaccinate with E.Coli, Rota and Corona beginning 60 days prior to freshening

Disease Management:
Scours (Diarrhea)
Scours or neonatal diarrhea is the primary cause of death in unweaned calves (50
to 60%).
Primary Cause

Infectious agents; bacteria, viruses, and protozoa (microbial diarrhea)

Improper nutrition (Nutritional diarrhea).

Predisposing factors
Inadequate intake of colostrum
Using milk with high bacterial count
Feeding milk or milk products at irregular time or irregular amounts.
Feeding poor quality milk replacers, especially calves less than 3 weeks of
age.
Poor sanitation of feeding equipment.
Keeping calves in dirty pens or exposed to scouring calves.

Types of Neonatal Diarrhea

Diarrhea in newborn calves can be classified into two groups:
Nutritional diarrhea: Results from ingesting too much milk or milk that is
not properly digested (i.e. bad quality milk replacer) and overfeeding milk
to hungry calves. The main cause of nutritional diarrhea is lactic acid
bacteria. Excessive fermentation of sugars (e.g. lactose) in the large
intestine results in the production of large quantities of lactic acid. Osmotic
pressure increases and pH is lowered in the intestine. As a result, water will
be drawn from the body into the intestine causing diarrhea
Infectious diarrhea: Caused by infectious agents mainly E. coli. Infectious
diarrhea is the most common health problem in young calves when
predisposing factors are not well-controlled. The incidence of fatal E. coli
infections is high during the first two weeks of life. Affected calves that
survive this period, usually recover.

Two types of E. coli infections can be identified:

Septicemia: E. coli may cross the intestinal wall and enter the blood stream
causing septicemia. The highest mortality occurs during the second and
third day after birth.
Enterotoxemia: E. coli produces toxins that cause localized intestinal
inflammation. Peak mortality occurs at about 6-7 days of age.

Treatment
The key to successful treatment of calf diarrhea is early detection and early
administration of a well-balanced oral rehydration product (electrolytes). Oral
electrolyte treatment should start at the first sign of diarrhea (excretion of large
volume of loose watery feces). In severe cases of dehydration (10% or more),
intravenous feeding may be necessary. Scouring calves treated with an electrolyte
solution should continue to receive their normal feeding of milk or milk replacer.
This is because the electrolyte solutions do not contain enough nutrients to meet
the energy requirements of the calf. Electrolytes solution can be classified based
on the pH of the solution into alkaline and acidic electrolytes. Acidic electrolyte
solution may be fed immediately after a meal of milk as they may help protein
coagulation and digestion. However, alkaline electrolyte solutions are more
effective when they are fed 3-4 hours after a meal, as they may interfere with milk
coagulation.
Pneumonia (inflammation of the lungs):
Respiratory diseases occur between 4-6 weeks of age. Calves with chronic
pneumonia seldom recover and should not be used for replacement. Pneumonia
may vary from subclinical to acute and fatal. Rate of morbidity (incidence of
disease) is high but mortality rate is quite variable. Pneumonia can be caused by
bacteria (e.g. Pasteurella multocida), virus (e.g. Parainfluenza Type 3) and
mycoplasma (e.g. Mycoplasma dispar).
Pneumonia usually follows other infectious diseases. The organisms associated
with the disease often cannot cause clinical signs without the presence of
predisposing factors.
Clinical signs of pneumonia
Clinical signs are variable and are generally observed in various combinations:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Nasal discharges
Dry cough, especially noticeable after exercise.
Rectal temperature > 41C (normal temperature 39C).
Difficult breathing
Lesions of the lungs.

Predisposing factors:
1. Reduced immunity and/or continuous challenge from microbes
(contaminated environment).

2. Poor ventilation and high relative humidity.

3. Poor feeding management (overfeeding of colostrum or milk replacers)
4. Poor housing management (too early weaning, too early grouping, stress
due to transportation)
Treatment of pneumonia:
Calves with pneumonia should be placed in a dry well ventilated environment.
Antibiotics are usually given to reduce the effects of secondary bacterial infections.
Prevention of pneumonia:
Reduction or elimination of predisposing factors will significantly reduce the
occurrence of pneumonia. Adequate intake of colostrum, avoidance of nutritional
stress, proper housing and good natural ventilation are effective ways of reducing
the incidence on pneumonia. Vaccination program relevant to agents prevalent in
an area may be planned under veterinarian supervision.