By late morning yesterday four of the five calves were scouring. Diarrhea. Bad. All except Difficult. 
Here is what I know. Any loss of fluids needs to be replaced very fast or a small newly born animal like these calves will die. The scouring needs to be attended to immediately. If caught early and I can get at least a quart of fluid down their throats every three or four hours there is a good chance the calf will survive.
Little, who is drinking Lady Asters milk, went down first. The calves in the other barn followed close behind and they are drinking milk replacer. So it is not the milk powder. But it is nutrition related – (they were scouring white water).
There are no vets on the weekends so I have chosen to treat the symptom rather than waste precious time searching about for a cause as this point. In the end the cause of it takes second place to replacing the lost minerals, keeping the baby hydrated so she can flush her system without killing herself. All through this episode their noses have remained moist.
They just cannot find their balance. Scours is a very real threat to bottle fed babies. And I really think that these calves did not get colostrum at birth.
I had electrolyte on hand for exactly this problem and a plan. You must have a plan for fighting this kind of thing it is very hard work and extremely tiring so it is best to create a plan ahead of time. Trying to work out what to do in the middle of a crisis leads to errors.
By this morning after 20 odd hours of three and sometimes two hourly force fed drinks of electrolyte (if they would not stand up I fed them lying down or if they refused to drink I held their heads and bodies against a wall with my legs, put the teat in their mouth then reached in and squeezed the fluid into their mouths with my own fingers – you cannot give them too much of this stuff.) I have gone through almost a box of gloves. But by this morning they are at least improved.
Separate. Make sure the calf has water close by so they do not need to walk far.
By this morning all the calves but Little are back up, and were able to have a little milk in their electrolyte mixture. All but two ran to the gate and sucked their little portion right down. Some were even peeing which is a welcome sight! 
I will continue with three hourly drinks.
Little is the slowest to recover but has come out of his house and is tottering about in the sun, he is such a mess, he still will not voluntarily drink more than a few slugs, after that we go to battle. But it is honestly a battle for his life so we fight.
I have been up and down with them all night really, giving endless drinks and I am now deadly tired but we are not out of the woods yet. They are hydrated again now, but they need to Eat.
So now I am adding milk back in to the electrolyte.
I know many people believe in starving the animal of milk for 48 hours but there are two schools of thought here. And i err on the side of cautious nutrition. Even if it is expelled at speed the calf will get a little goodness and develop a little more strength, as long as I am still pushing the other fluids. But if they do not get nutrition into their bodies they will deteriorate and they will not grow properly. It is a juggling act.
OK back to work.
Your friend on the farm,
celi
P.S. If I do not post tomorrow morning it will not be because something is wrong it will be because I am sleeping or just late posting. Probably both!
The Kitchen's Garden 
66 responses to “Scours in Calves”
Here’s wishing you all swift, complete healing and LOTS of rest! I just spent a few hours in the ER last night thanks to my own scours (a sudden unfriendly visit from viral gastroenteritis) but they did wonders for me and today I already feel worlds better despite the doc’s admonition to expect 3-5 days down with the junk. Tons of fluids and electrolytes for all of us! I’m sorry you can’t give your calves a nice saline/meds/morphine drip like the one that got me past ‘the wall’ and broke my fever, but I hope your heroism will pay off for you all richly and that the calves will recover so quickly that you can make it through to a truly good night’s sleep ASAP.
Sending you much love and comfort.
K
we are with you; the wind is at your back; prayers go out
Hi Miss C. Boy do I know that feeling of exhaustion and frustration and in a way helplessness when they won’t suck…..when it becomes a fight. 😦 In the past I have had some success using egg – I put a whole egg in the electrolyte if the scours are white. It certainly cant hurt to try. But if there is brain damage there is not much you can do except hope and mentally prepare.
Prayers and thoughts for all of you, be well little babes.
Bloody Hell. Poor little buggers. Hoping things improve today… and then you get some rest.
Gloves… I can help with gloves. What size, does it matter if they are latex or not? This is my thing. To share stuff that might be discarded otherwise.
I have gone through a box of gloves already, and have a pair of boots for each pen.. it is crazy.. Do you have a glove connection?
Not in the US, but yes – I work in a medical supply warehouse and am the one in charge of disposing of items that can’t be sold as new – like a box of gloves with a rip or a CASE of gloves that ‘expired.’
Wow – so maybe I can buy them as used or discarded?
Ugh, why do I have to live so far away? It’s sending them to you that would be the only cost factor. Hmm. Maybe ask locally where your doctors, vets, etc, get their gloves and find a warehouse like mine where they literally throw gloves away? Would also be a good source for buckets – I once had to get rid of 500 plastic buckets that were slightly crushed!
I hope the poor little calves recover…and you too.
Oh C. not one more thing, just when things were going quite smoothly but I guess that is the nature of farming. I so hope all the littles recover and that you do get some much needed rest SOON! Sending good thoughts and wishes your way.
I love that last photo by the way of Poppy and one of her babes. Is that the one you’re supposed to send to me? 🙂
Sending little prayers for Little & the rest of the group.
I have three up and banging on the gate, Little is still bad, and Pin (I had to name them so I could name their bottles!) has to be cajoled and forced to drink as well.. ) But Little is so little he is having a hard time.. c
Oh hang in there Little, we’re all thinking of you……and Pin, drink up, there’s a good calf.
Keeping everyone on the farmy in my prayers, especially the ones having most trouble. Make sure you take care of yourself too.
Bloody hell indeed!! Exactly what you needed!! And let’s face it all that sick poo has to be cleaned up pronto also . . . wish a genie could beam us across in shifts to feed those littlies . . .
Rest well. I hope the battle is won.
Praying for full recovery for the calves, and a good night’s rest for you!
Oh Celi – good luck. I hope things improve soon.