Monday, August 8, 2011

An ounze of prevention is worth a pound of really expensive certified organic treatments

So, with 7 calves at the beginning of the week, they all rolled over and one fell out via death by Coccidiosis. (see my past two posts) Later that day Keith noted another calf with early scours.No other symptoms. Appetite great and very active,



We got busy.

  • First we moved the newly ill calf into a clean hutch with lots of fresh grass within its reach.
  • The we read all we could find regarding both organic and non organic treatment.
  • Next we called Crystal Creek for new supplies. We were out of important supplements,
  • We ordered Calf 180 which contains yeast, pectin and electrolytes such as potassium and sodium, AND a   big bottle of Whole Leaf Aloe Vera juice.
  • I then washed out all our calves water buckets with hot bleach water. Refilling then only 1/3 of the way to deter ducks from washing up in the buckets as we had seen them do in this recent heat spell.Keith found another larger flatter water pan for the ducks and filled it to the brim for their use.
  • We then began giving supplemental feedings (2 a day) of water and electrolytes from the Calf Shield product we still had on hand
  • And we watched the scoured calf like two hawks on a plump field mouse. No blood in its stool. No change in appetite or activity level.
  • Tomorrow we will move all our hutches to new ground. Wash them with the pressure washer and as new calves are born they will go into "like a virgin" hutches

One more thing. The vets number is on speed dial.

5 comments:

  1. Poor you. Nothing worse than sick animals around. I do hope they all pull through.

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  2. Good luck. I'm pulling for you over here.

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  3. This kind of stuff is always scary and like you, I usually feel like I'm following it around instead of knowing how to head it off. I'm glad you have a good vet you can trust. I like our vets, and one is even more expert in ruminants than anyone else in the area, but so far I have little confidence in their treatments. I very much appreciated the mention of the book by Paul Dettloff. Looks like a must have and actually doesn't cost an arm and a leg like other books of this type. Amazing! I'm hoping that you've got the problem licked with this calf.

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  4. Hope things get better

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  5. I've seen that blood in the stool before but can't remember which calf or which year and definitely not the outcome. I do remember the fear. May the Lord bless you with guidance in saving the calf.

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