Causes of diarrhea in calves

Livestock farming has always been a very profitable and popular occupation. One of the most common areas of livestock breeding is considered to be cattle, namely calves and cows. However, before you start working with such unpredictable animals, you need to know about the pitfalls. The main surprise that any beginner or even an experienced farmer may encounter is diarrhea (sometimes with blood), affecting mainly small calves.See more about why diarrhea occurs in calves and what to do with this unpleasant phenomenon.

Diarrhea in calves

Why diarrhea appears

Finding true problems the novice breeder can not be delayed by one hour and not bringing any results. In order to stop diarrhea in calves, it is necessary to consider all sorts of options for its unexpected appearance. Knowing why diarrhea appears will help prevent the development of the disease in the future, and determine how to properly treat the animal. The main causes of diarrhea in a calf can be hidden in some problems.

First of all, we are talking about weakened immunity. Since the immune system is practically absent at the beginning of the life of newborn cattle, the appearance of certain diseases is not excluded, which include yellow diarrhea.This is due to the fact that initially the cow provided the animal with the necessary protection, but after birth and exit from the womb, the calf is at risk. When paying attention to a small calf, it is extremely important to pay attention to:

• proper feeding;
• the room in which the cow and the calf are placed: it must be equipped in accordance with all rules in compliance with hygiene standards ;
• adherence to a clear diet;
• eating grass of inadequate quality.

Any of these options can easily have a detrimental effect on a small calf or the cow. The problem may be in food poisoning. According to statistics, food poisoning most often affects cattle, leading many of its representatives to death. Only a person can prevent food poisoning, because it is he who organizes the feeding and diet for livestock. All problems begin at the time of calving, when there is a transition from mother’s milk to other feeds. Due to the weak stomach, the animal cannot digest most of the food provided. In addition, it is through food that parasites and bacteria penetrate the newborn’s body. Often bloody diarrhea and diarrhea are caused by food or the use of milk, which irritates the walls of the stomach. Any poisoning must be treated immediately.

The appearance of viruses in a weakened animal organism is a common phenomenon, it occurs daily.The calf is targeted by many different viruses, of which the E. Coli strain causes bloody diarrhea. The disease is characterized by transience and a large number of secretions, which leads to exhaustion. As a result, the calf may die after a week of constant stress and exhaustion. The defeat occurs in the first couple of days of life and requires special treatment.

Cause yellow diarrhea with a watery consistency, accompanied by high temperature, can rotavirus infection affecting newborn cattle. Coronovirus infection is also common among babies, due to which the calves have a green and yellow color of feces with mucous and bloody impurities. Often, coronovirus can cause ulceration, fever, severe weakening of the immune system. White diarrhea causes an infection of colibacillosis, which enters the body with milk that was in a contaminated room.

Diarrhea in a calf is a disease that you cannot close your eyes, because very often this neglect leads to death. The reasons for the occurrence are diverse, therefore, a person, first of all, should closely monitor the slightest changes in the life of a weekly or monthly calf.

How to determine diarrhea

If the causes of diarrhea in calves are varied and ambiguous, the definition of the disease is much simpler, because the symptoms are obvious. However, sometimes diarrhea is accompanied by additional symptoms.The concomitant symptoms that help identify the disease on time are:

• dehydration, which is manifested in the calf’s absorption of more fluid than usual: a veterinarian should be called if the cattle drinks water 2 or 3 times the amount needed;
• sinking eyes;
• dehydration of the skin;
• grinding of teeth;
• sluggish state of the animal.

In the presence of diarrhea and several of the listed characteristics, there is a chance of a blood disease, the treatment of which should begin immediately after yyavleniya. So, how to treat diarrhea in calves?

Treatment of diarrhea with medications

The first and logical question that a farmer faces when an unpleasant disease occurs is: “What should calves be given from diarrhea? ”Due to the weak body of the animal, the choice of remedy should be as deliberate as possible. It is necessary to treat diarrhea in a calf, following the following procedure:

• eliminate the main reason why the calf is blocked (using antibiotics, sera);
• expose the animal to rehydration therapy (by intravenous administration drugs and a lot of water);
• provide energy and vitamin saturation;
• carry out anti-inflammatory therapy.

Home treatment should eliminate dehydration for which antibiotics and oral liquid administration are sometimes prescribed awns.In addition, it is important to purchase special auxiliary drugs that can effectively fight the disease. They must be used carefully, after consulting with a doctor. Most often, vaccines, probiotics and antibiotics are used to treat diarrhea in calves.

What to use

Many drugs that are proven by many are considered effective, which we will discuss in more detail below.

• Burnt alum – a powder that helps eliminate the disease in a few days.
• Nitox – a sterile, strong, special solution for cattle, used as an injection. It is not necessary to prick an animal more than once.
• Tetracycline is an antibiotic sold in the form of serum tablets.
• Katozal is a medicine that has no analogues in pharmacology due to a wide range of functions and effectiveness. The drug is available as an injection.
• Levomycetin is a powerful antibiotic. Affects the intestinal microflora. It is a tablet and powder.
• Zinaprim is an oral medicine for treating infections in the gastrointestinal tract.
• Ditrim is a strong injection solution that helps to eliminate stomach and intestinal infections at home for a week.

The drugs Trichopol and Tilosin will also be the right choice. It should be remembered that the use of antibiotics for diarrhea in calves should be neat and moderate.You can not use them without knowing the exact diagnosis or in case of uncertainty, what is the cause of diarrhea in your calf. Depending on how the baby feels, it will be appropriate to use medications that eliminate ailments.

Preparations that eliminate dehydration can restore the amount of salts that a newborn baby needs. Such drugs are presented in pharmacology to powders and do not differ in a large number of contraindications. When calf diarrhea is caused by intoxication, you need to pay attention to absorbent agents. They slow down peristalsis. For digestive upsets, enzyme preparations will become appropriate. In case of disturbance of the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract, the use of probiotics is most suitable for solving this issue.

It is necessary to use all means in different ways, because in some cases their use is inappropriate, which applies to milkmen, sometimes a newborn will cost one tablet, and sometimes it is necessary to give injections or inject powder and solution. drugs may cause blood diarrhea and other unpleasant consequences.

Thus, finding out how calf diarrhea can be dangerous, how to treat it will not be difficult. If you use special means, consult a doctor, a positive treatment outcome will be ensured. Not consultation with a veterinarian should be neglected, because often one or another antibiotic, one or another serum may be suitable for one individual cattle, but not bring benefit to young representatives.

Traditional medicine

Sometimes antibiotic use for calves from diarrhea but impossible for a number of reasons. They can be diverse: from a lack of finances to a banal absence of a nearby clinic. In such cases, you can trust the folk remedies for diarrhea in calves.Despite the fact that their absolute effectiveness has not been proven, many of the farmers often use traditional medicine at home. However, it’s worthwhile to say that there is no procedure before talking to the veterinarian.

Often treatment is carried out with medicinal decoctions. Due to the fact that during diarrhea calves often have gastrointestinal diseases, it is necessary and possible to focus on the use of barley, oat and rye decoctions. To prepare one of them, you need to pour 100 g of cereal with water, and then boil the mixture, stirring. Next, the broth is filtered and given to the calf instead of milk. It is possible to water the animal with a solution for several days 5 times a day.

If the calf is swallowed, it is recommended to give it a flax decoction, for which the flax seed is poured with liquid and boiled for one hour. As soon as the water boils, it is refilled. Before you feed the broth of the baby, you need to hold the liquid filtered through cheesecloth in the refrigerator for about 3 days. You can cure the disorder using rosehip infusion and a decoction with the addition of dry hypericum. To prepare the ingredients, pour a liter of boiling water, keeping for about 12 hours. You can give strained broth 3 times a day instead of milk. Leaves of a plantain can get rid of a gastrointestinal infection.

Mixture treatment can be effective even in case of severe diarrhea. The main advantage of the mixtures is their simple preparation and use.The funds discussed below are used by many breeders.

• Tea solution for which 1 liter of brewed tea is needed (exclusively black). Tea is mixed with 3 egg whites and 1 tbsp. l salt. The mixture is stirred and given to the calf for a month at the rate of 10 kg per 1 kg of animal weight.
• The cleaning mixture consists of beetroot juice. To prepare it, you need to take an enema and about a half liter of juice. An enema is necessary every 2 hours. Suitable for the treatment of both a common disorder and blood.

In the treatment of diarrhea, a person often resortes to the use of a solution of salt. Salt solution removes toxins from the body, retaining fluid in it, restoring the supply of minerals. You can try it and for the treatment of animals. For cooking, dilute about 5 tsp. salt in water. After cooling, they begin to water the calf with a solution, doing this throughout the day. But you need to be careful: salt can cause vomiting.

Sometimes the treatment of such ailments at home is carried out using baked bread. It is able to cleanse the intestinal system. To use bread, you need to bake it well and grind it into powder, and then begin to periodically add it to the feed. It is possible to get rid of diarrhea by folk remedies, but it is necessary to take the entire risk of the procedures on yourself.

Prevention as a method of prevention

Treating diarrhea is a difficult and painstaking process that even an adult cow can sometimes not tolerate. In order to prevent the occurrence of the disease, it is necessary to take up its prevention in time. Sometimes prevention is considered a much more effective and relatively cheap option compared to other means (even folk).

The following preventative measures can prevent the disease from appearing:

• Often the causes of many diseases lie in improper hygiene. This also applies to young cows: it is necessary to monitor the cleanliness and safety of the premises, as well as the protection of individuals from extreme heat and frost.
• There will be no need to treat cattle if the cow is vaccinated in a timely manner: the vaccine will give the baby a better chance of survival and living in critical environmental conditions.
• The quality of colostrum should also be at its best – it is important to try to control its abundance and quality with the doctor.
• The calf and cow should be protected from contact with manure of other cattle and animals, because it is a true source of viruses and bacteria. If possible, temporary isolation from other cattle should be established.
• A poor-quality feed can easily cause a breakdown, so you need to ensure that the food includes all the necessary vitamins and minerals.
• Cure diarrhea impossible without observing a strict diet and watering.

Failure to follow at least one of these tips can lead to diarrhea and, consequently, to increased mortality of calves.

Now you know the danger of diarrhea in newborn calves, which need to be treated carefully and quickly. It also became clear whether antibiotics could be given to calves against diarrhea. In order to identify the approach of the disease, it is extremely important to pay attention to the animal: does it constantly drink water instead of milk, does it grind with its teeth, or does it carry blood. It is extremely important not to forget that the animal, and even more so, the newborn organism, needs exceptionally healthy and proper food, proper care. The causes of the disease are sometimes so unexpected that they take the farmer by surprise.