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Advice from the Tman cattlemen #7626718
07/14/22 06:52 PM
07/14/22 06:52 PM
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 271
MN
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K9BeavCoon Offline OP
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MN
I’ve decided to start raising a few steers from bottle calves. Dad always kept around 50 head as some side cash so I know some stuff from that, but now that it’s been about 10yrs since being around cattle. It seems different raising cattle now that they are my own animals and feel the sting a little more if I lose one. Anyhow, I had my first real sick calf. He had the scours for 2weeks and is just now pulling out of it. I don’t recall ever having one survive scours that long. I was feeding him recommended milk rations twice a day and tried a pile of different electrolyte and probiotic products. Do you guys have anything you use to shorten the scours? Also, now that he’s through it, he’s pretty thin and weak. I’ve started adding a little extra milk replacer to his bottle to add calories. Any ideas for helping to gain some weight?

Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: K9BeavCoon] #7626723
07/14/22 06:59 PM
07/14/22 06:59 PM
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 839
McCurtain Co. Oklahoma
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OKforester Offline
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McCurtain Co. Oklahoma
The “extra” milk replacer may actually make him have the scours again. I would try to get him on some type of feed/grain as soon as possible.

Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: OKforester] #7626732
07/14/22 07:06 PM
07/14/22 07:06 PM
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 271
MN
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K9BeavCoon Offline OP
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MN
Originally Posted by OKforester
The “extra” milk replacer may actually make him have the scours again. I would try to get him on some type of feed/grain as soon as possible.


I force fed some pelleted starter throughout the scours. Now he’s got free choice pellets up recommended rations. He’s been eating all of that

Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: K9BeavCoon] #7626741
07/14/22 07:16 PM
07/14/22 07:16 PM
Joined: Nov 2021
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Iowa
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adsfarm Offline
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Iowa
Put a raw egg in his milk replacer once a day every day until he shapes up. If your buying bottle calves do not feed them the day you get them, wait until the next morning.

Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: K9BeavCoon] #7626761
07/14/22 07:28 PM
07/14/22 07:28 PM
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 159
MONTANA
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MTHunter Offline
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MONTANA
Go to the feed store and get some “Scour medicine “. They can die from that and if they live through it, they won’t gain like a calf that didn’t have scours.

Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: K9BeavCoon] #7626764
07/14/22 07:33 PM
07/14/22 07:33 PM
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 10,063
Marion Kansas
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Yes sir Offline
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I treat scours orally with LA 200 and sulfur pills. Not had good luck with prebiotics and sometimes I actually have though it hurt them. I wouldn't force feed anything but electrolytes if dehydrated. And I sure wouldn't make his milk any richer. That as stated above can elevate the risk and severity. Feed him normally and it will take a long time for him to bounce back. just expect it and live with it.

Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: Yes sir] #7626776
07/14/22 07:42 PM
07/14/22 07:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Yes sir
I treat scours orally with LA 200 and sulfur pills. Not had good luck with prebiotics and sometimes I actually have though it hurt them. I wouldn't force feed anything but electrolytes if dehydrated. And I sure wouldn't make his milk any richer. That as stated above can elevate the risk and severity. Feed him normally and it will take a long time for him to bounce back. just expect it and live with it.

X2 on the la200. Also a trick I do is cut the tip of the nipple off of a milk bottle an put mixed grain in bottle instead of milk an that's gets them started on anything other than replacer.

Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: K9BeavCoon] #7626777
07/14/22 07:43 PM
07/14/22 07:43 PM
Joined: May 2008
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NW Oklahoma
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Okie Farmer Offline
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I can usually buy 200 pound calves for what it cost to get them there from bottle calves, solves that milk scour problem.

Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: Okie Farmer] #7626802
07/14/22 08:23 PM
07/14/22 08:23 PM
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Nevada
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nvwrangler Offline
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Nevada
Originally Posted by Okie Farmer
I can usually buy 200 pound calves for what it cost to get them there from bottle calves, solves that milk scour problem.


X2

Aggressive treatment can reduce needed bacteria in their gut. We did la200 and pepto then when they dried up feed them active culture yogurt to replace the good bacteria. Cheaper then prebiotic

Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: Okie Farmer] #7626820
07/14/22 08:51 PM
07/14/22 08:51 PM
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 10,063
Marion Kansas
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Yes sir Offline
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Originally Posted by Okie Farmer
I can usually buy 200 pound calves for what it cost to get them there from bottle calves, solves that milk scour problem.

X3 bucket calves come with higher risk

Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: Okie Farmer] #7626825
07/14/22 08:57 PM
07/14/22 08:57 PM
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 20,241
The Hill Country of Texas
Leftlane Offline
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The Hill Country of Texas
Originally Posted by Okie Farmer
I can usually buy 200 pound calves for what it cost to get them there from bottle calves, solves that milk scour problem.



This.


“What’s good for me may not be good for the weak minded.”
Captain Gus McCrae- Texas Rangers


Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: Leftlane] #7626833
07/14/22 09:03 PM
07/14/22 09:03 PM
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 5,922
2A Sanctuaries-W. OK & N. NM
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Originally Posted by Leftlane
Originally Posted by Okie Farmer
I can usually buy 200 pound calves for what it cost to get them there from bottle calves, solves that milk scour problem.



This.


Same.

Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: K9BeavCoon] #7626882
07/14/22 09:51 PM
07/14/22 09:51 PM
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Posts: 3,716
SW Pa
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wr otis Offline
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SW Pa
There are several viruses along with bacteria that can cause scours. We've had good luck with last stand probiotic, and the electrolytes that gell up. Just depends usually one or the other works.

After they are getting better we usually keep giving them jump start plus, or something similar. Bottle feeding them anyway, give them a squirt of gell along with it.

Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: K9BeavCoon] #7626891
07/14/22 10:05 PM
07/14/22 10:05 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 11,296
East-Central Wisconsin
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East-Central Wisconsin
When I worked with dairy calves, when we saw the first scours we stopped feeding any milk product and fed an electrolyte solution ot tubed them with that. We needed to dry them up as fast as we could and then started going back to the replacer slowly. The calf can live w/o a lot of energy for a couple days but needs to stay as hydrated as possible. There are improved products on the market today that provide nutrients with the electrolytes which is a good thing. A calf with scours is not going get much if any nutrients from milk or replacer as the gut mold that forms the coagulation of the milk is not functioning well if at all.
Sourcing calves can be an issue. If you buy from a sale barn those calves have been comingled and you can bring home a lot of stuff the calf had no immunities for. Many bull calves also do not get the full recommended amount of good colostrum and there for are much more at risk. Finding a a farm or producer that you can buy all of your calves from may minimize that issue. Right now in our area, bull calves are going for decent money so producers are paying more attention to them. When bull calves are cheap many don't get much attention at all.
When I was 12 raising calves for a neighbor 62 years ago I would use raw eggs when calves scoured. The eggs had nutrients and helped bind them up a bit too. I would not recommend that now. We had 1800 laying hens so we had a lot of cracked eggs to use.

Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: Okie Farmer] #7626912
07/14/22 10:28 PM
07/14/22 10:28 PM
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 271
MN
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K9BeavCoon Offline OP
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MN
Originally Posted by OKforester
The “extra” milk replacer may actually make him have the scours again. I would try to get him on some type of feed/grain as soon as possible.


This is something I considered but I knew dad would have us do it when we had little jersey calves and it was super cold. I won’t be adding extra powder now, thanks.

Originally Posted by Okie Farmer
I can usually buy 200 pound calves for what it cost to get them there from bottle calves, solves that milk scour problem.


I mostly see em at ~400lb on Craigslist. I would like to get to that point. I married a city girl and I convinced her on bottle calves because it was the lowest entry cost. Now she’s hooked and is loving cattle and hogs.

Last edited by K9BeavCoon; 07/14/22 10:49 PM.
Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: bblwi] #7626917
07/14/22 10:35 PM
07/14/22 10:35 PM
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 271
MN
K
K9BeavCoon Offline OP
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K9BeavCoon  Offline OP
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MN
Originally Posted by bblwi
When I worked with dairy calves, when we saw the first scours we stopped feeding any milk product and fed an electrolyte solution ot tubed them with that. We needed to dry them up as fast as we could and then started going back to the replacer slowly. The calf can live w/o a lot of energy for a couple days but needs to stay as hydrated as possible. There are improved products on the market today that provide nutrients with the electrolytes which is a good thing. A calf with scours is not going get much if any nutrients from milk or replacer as the gut mold that forms the coagulation of the milk is not functioning well if at all.
Sourcing calves can be an issue. If you buy from a sale barn those calves have been comingled and you can bring home a lot of stuff the calf had no immunities for. Many bull calves also do not get the full recommended amount of good colostrum and there for are much more at risk. Finding a a farm or producer that you can buy all of your calves from may minimize that issue. Right now in our area, bull calves are going for decent money so producers are paying more attention to them. When bull calves are cheap many don't get much attention at all.
When I was 12 raising calves for a neighbor 62 years ago I would use raw eggs when calves scoured. The eggs had nutrients and helped bind them up a bit too. I would not recommend that now. We had 1800 laying hens so we had a lot of cracked eggs to use.


I used an electrolyte called Re-sorb at the end. I followed their instructions to eliminate replacer for 2 feedings then slowly add replacer. That is when this calf turned around. I don’t know if he had a virus that had ran it’s course or the lack of milk and just electrolytes, like you said, did the trick.

Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: nvwrangler] #7626919
07/14/22 10:42 PM
07/14/22 10:42 PM
Joined: Dec 2012
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Wi.
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Diggerman Offline
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Wi.
Originally Posted by nvwrangler
Originally Posted by Okie Farmer
I can usually buy 200 pound calves for what it cost to get them there from bottle calves, solves that milk scour problem.


X2

Aggressive treatment can reduce needed bacteria in their gut. We did la200 and pepto then when they dried up feed them active culture yogurt to replace the good bacteria. Cheaper then prebiotic

THIS!

Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: K9BeavCoon] #7626922
07/14/22 10:50 PM
07/14/22 10:50 PM
Joined: Jan 2007
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mo.
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nate Offline
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I used to raise a few bottle calves, I tried raw eggs with no success, sulfur pills always worked for me, with reduced milk replacer, then I would try to get them on feed asap by 5 to 6 weeks they would be on feed and good quality hay.

Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: K9BeavCoon] #7626925
07/14/22 10:58 PM
07/14/22 10:58 PM
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NE Mississippi
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NE Mississippi
I have used resorb with great success. Baytril injection will turn a scoured calf around fast too


For by grace are you saved by faith, and not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Re: Advice from the Tman cattlemen [Re: K9BeavCoon] #7627005
07/15/22 06:26 AM
07/15/22 06:26 AM
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Perry, NY
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Dana I Offline
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Perry, NY
The very last thing a scouring calf needs is more milk. We have used resorb with good success, but the success rate for me skyrocketed when sulfur was used as well. I use a liquid form.

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