09/10/2021
Use of Pain Medication
Researchers at the University of Calgary have been looking at the effects of providing a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (or NSAID) such as meloxicam to calves after a difficult birth. Researchers measured a number of physiological indicators of pain in calves but found that ADG only improved in the first week of life for calves given pain control but that those changes evened out over time. Researchers were unable to find any other statistically significant signs of reduced pain in calves provided an NSAIDs versus calves who weren’t. Even though producers didn’t know if they were giving the calves an NSAID or a placebo, they unofficially reported being able to identify which calves were given the NSAID. Producers noticed that calves given NSAIDs looked brighter, mothered up quicker, and were released from the barn sooner.
Colostrum
Newborn calves are born with virtually no immunity of their own. The cow’s placenta does not allow antibodies to pass from the mother to the calf during pregnancy, which means the calf must receive its initial immunity from the antibody rich colostrum, or first milk of the cow. This initial immunity is essential because it provides protective antibodies against many of the diseases that affect newborn calves, such as calf scours, navel abscesses, arthritis and pneumonia. The pre-calving vaccines given to cows to prevent scours in calves rely on this passive transfer of immunity in the colostrum.
Intake of enough good quality colostrum within the first 24 hours after birth is vital to develop a calf’s immunity.
Two litres of colostrum within the first four to six hours is ideal.
The calf is only able to absorb antibodies from colostrum within the first 24 hours of life, but the efficiency greatly decreases with time, starting as early as 1 hour after birth. The optimal window of absorption occurs within 4-6 hours of birth. After the gut closes, the antibodies can still have local effect within the gut, but they can no longer be absorbed into the blood stream.
Calves that do not receive adequate amounts of colostrum immediately after birth are at a much higher risk of becoming sick and are also more likely to die. Many cases of diarrhea, navel ill, septicemia, and pneumonia in calves are a result of failing to receive an adequate level of colostral immunity.
The calves that are at the highest risk of failing to receive adequate colostral immunity:
Had a difficult birth
Are dumb or have a swollen tongue after birth
Were abandoned or mismothered
Were born via c-section
Are hypothermic in cold weather
Twins
Large udders, poor udder suspension, and/or large teats can also make suckling difficult, even for vigorous newborn calves. Cows with bad udders should be culled before breeding or at weaning. Look to see if the cow’s teats have been sucked, feel the calf’s belly to see if it is full, or look at its hooves to see if the soft, rubbery capsule has been worn off, an indication that it has been standing up. If it doesn’t look like the calf has what it needs or it appears weak or dull, the following are some supplementation considerations:
The best source of supplemental colostrum is from within your own herd. The freshly calved cow can be milked, or colostrum can be collected from another cow on farm and frozen for up to one year.
Never microwave colostrum which can “cook” the antibodies and render them useless. Instead, place the bag of frozen colostrum in a bowl of warm water so it can gradually increase in temperature.
Powdered colostrum is an option if fresh/frozen colostrum is unavailable. Read the package to determine if the product is a “replacement” or a “supplement.” Supplements contain fewer grams of IgG (antibodies that help provide immunity) per liter so two packages may be required to meet the needs of the calf.
Veterinarians recommend feeding calves anywhere from a minimum of 100 grams IgG up to 300 grams IgG.
Avoid colostrum sourced from other farms, to prevent bringing unwanted diseases to the herd.
When administering colostrum, bottle-feeding is better than tube-feeding. A bottle will support the calf’s suckle reflex which in turn will ensure the optimal amount of antibodies are absorbed in the calf’s gut.
Tube feeding is better than nothing, however it places the milk directly into the rumen, which doesn’t allow for maximum absorption. Sufficient volume should compensate somewhat.
Use separately marked tubes or bottles for feeding colostrum and treating sick calves. This will prevent newborn calves from being exposed to disease.
Clean and disinfect bottles and tubes after each use.
Calves that are assisted at birth have a higher risk of failing to get enough colostrum from their dams. Work in western Canada showed that of calves that were assisted, 35% didn’t have adequate antibody levels, and therefore failed to receive transfer of passive immunity from their dams. If calves are assisted at birth watch carefully to make sure they have sucked. If the damn has been transported to the veterinarian for a hard pull or caesarean section, talk to your veterinarian about providing calves with colostrum supplementation at the clinic, as the calf is unlikely to get home, mother up, and suck the cow in time to receive passive immunity.
Recent research has shown that simply testing the suckle reflex of calves provides a good indication if the calf needs to be supplemented with colostrum. If you put two fingers into the calf’s mouth 10 minutes after birth most calves will suck on your fingers. If that reflex is strong the calf is probably fine. If it is weak the calf needs colostrum supplementation. If checking multiple calves at one time wear a new pair of disposable gloves between each or wash your hands between each calf to avoid transferring diseases from calf to calf. If the suckle reflex is weak it is probably best to tube the calf so you can be sure they are getting the proper amount of colostrum in the right time period.
Work with your veterinarian to design a vaccination program to enhance the immunity of the calf to specific diseases. Depending on the area and level of risk, a scours vaccine may be considered. Vaccines for scours are usually given to the cow in late pregnancy to promote the production of specific antibodies against bacteria and viruses that cause neonatal calf diarrhea. However, the calf can only receive these antibodies through the cow’s colostrum to receive the benefit of this protection.
Disease Prevention
Reducing the amount of exposure of young calves to manure is an important aspect of preventing disease in the newborn. Many of the disease agents that cause diseases such as scours in young calves are already in the herd and are often found in the manure of cows within the herd. Ensuring calving areas are clean and dry and that calves have adequate colostrum will be the best disease prevention.
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Ultimately the best way to reduce diseases in calves is to minimize the chance they have of coming in contact with pathogens that are present in the cow herd and environment. The following strategies may help:
Minimize confinement of the cow herd: although it doesn’t work for every management system, being able to calve cows on pasture or in a large area reduces disease pressure as it allows cows and calves more space to spread out and get away from manure contaminated areas
Utilize separate wintering and calving areas: moving cows to new ground before calving reduces newborn calves’ exposure to manure and disease-causing pathogens that have built up over the winter
Move cows to calving areas less than two weeks before calving: once again the goal is to limit the amount of time prior to calving that cows are able to contaminate the calving grounds
Avoid crowding in calving area
Rotate calving area from year to year
Remove snow from calving area and provide clean, dry bedding: this not only helps to keep calves warm, it also prevents excess mud when snow starts to melt.
Try the sandhills or modified sandhills calving system: these systems are designed to rotate cows through calving pastures in a way that reduces the amount of time cows are present to contaminate a calving area
If providing areas where only calves have access (such as creep feeding or calf condos) ensure they have adequate space and ventilation
Quarantine sick calves to prevent disease spread to the rest of the herd
Try for a smaller calving duration. By shortening the time that cows are calving, this limits the number of pathogens newborn calves are exposed to as it limits the time older calves have to get sick and pass them on. Be cautious with this approach though. A short calving season without the space or infrastructure to support it may actually lead to an increase in disease if calves are unable to spread out and reduce the pathogen load.
Keep pairs in groups with calves the same age: If calving in a confined area it is recommended to keep pairs that have calved within 3 weeks of each other together. Once three weeks have passed start a new pen with any new pairs that are calving. This limits the spread of disease from older calves to younger calves.
Consider feeding monensin to cows: this reduces f***l shedding of coccidia in cows, reducing the chance that calves can pick them up from dirty bedding packs or barns.
Diseases in Young Calves
Sickness in young calves is usually caused by a handful of diseases and depending on the symptoms there are different treatment options. With all these diseases, prevention and insuring calves are receiving enough colostrum is much more effective than treatment, so talk to your veterinarian about strategies to prevent disease well before the calving season begins.
Scours, or neonatal diarrhea is one of the main causes of calf sickness and is defined as f***s with higher than normal water content for at least two days. Scours is often highly contagious, and it is very unlikely that just one animal in the herd will be affected. Scours can be caused by a number of different pathogens or multiple pathogens at once. Different pathogens affect calves at different ages, so when talking to a veterinarian it’s important to know how old the animal was when first treated so they can make the most effective diagnosis. Since most of these pathogens are present in the calf’s environment, management factors that limit calf exposure to pathogens is often more effective than treating the specific disease. It’s also important to note that some forms of scours are zoonotic, meaning they can be transferred to humans. Make sure to wash hands and clothing thoroughly after dealing with scouring calves, and limit exposure for those with weaker immune systems, such as children or older people.
Image credit Dr. Claire Windeyer
When it comes to scours, the main concern is dehydration. Most calves that die from scours actually die due to dehydration. Some rules of thumb for rehydrating scouring calves:
If calves still have a strong suckle reflex, they are most likely only mildly dehydrated and can be provided with oral electrolytes via a bottle. It’s important to note that not all electrolyte supplements have everything a sick calf requires so talk consult a veterinarian about which ones are best to have on hand during calving.
Calves with more severe dehydration often can’t stand, have sunken eyes, and lack a suckle reflex. These calves are in need of intravenous fluids.
Since many causes of scours are not bacterial, antibiotics don’t often work. Sometimes veterinarians will recommend an antibiotic to treat or prevent secondary infections such as septicemia (more below). Some studies in dairy calves have shown that treating calves with an NSAID speeds up the recovery process for scouring calves but rehydration is essential in these situations because NSAIDS in dehydrated calves can have serious negative side-effects. Besides rehydrating calves, it is important to keep them warm and dry. If calves are not up and sucking or have been separated from their dam it is important to also provide a source of energy such as milk from the dam or a milk replacer product.
Septicemia is an inflammatory response to bacteria or bacterial toxins in the blood. This is often a secondary infection where a bacterial infection elsewhere gets into the bloodstream. There are two main times this occurs, including in young calves (less than two weeks old) that have failed transfer of passive immunity due to not enough colostrum, or when calves get exposed to bacteria, often through a naval infection that results in disease. This disease also often happens in scouring calves. In these calves, even though scours most likely isn’t bacterial, one of the symptoms is damage to the gut lining. In this case, bacteria that enter the calf’s stomach are more likely to cross through into the bloodstream. Clinical signs of septicemia include:
depression
fever or hypothermia
dullness
loss of appetite
red gums
visible blood vessels in the eyes
with progression, development of a weak pulse and cold extremities.
These symptoms are similar to those of calves with scours but calves with septicemia don’t always have diarrhea. If calves exhibit these symptoms but with no diarrhea, it’s a good indication that it is septicemia.
The condition progresses very rapidly, so early detection and treatment is key to catch calves in time for a recovery. Even if calves are treated in time there is a high chance of developing other complications such as joint ill, pneumonia, or meningitis. Talk to your veterinarian about proper treatment, which could include intravenous antibiotics. Keeping calves warm and dry, hydrating them, providing energy, and possibly providing an NSAID is also very important in caring for septicemic calves.
Pneumonia or bovine respiratory disease can be caused by a number of different viruses or bacteria. Clinical signs include:
cough
runny nose or eyes
“raspy” sound when breathing
increased breathing rate
fever
dullness
depression
decreased appetite
rough hair coat
There are two main times when pneumonia outbreaks occur pre-weaning. The first is in calves less than a month old. As is the case with septicemia, these calves often fail to receive enough colostrum resulting in a failed transfer of passive immunity. Some herds will also deal with a “summer pasture pneumonia” which occurs in calves 90-150 days old. This most likely occurs when calves are starting to experience a decline in the maternal antibodies they have received from colostrum but have not yet mounted an immune response through vaccination. Antibiotics are often effective at treating pneumonia, if bacterial, but talk to your veterinarian about what is right for your herd.
Grafting Calves
Often if producers lose a calf they may want to graft on an extra calf from a set of twins, a cow that won’t take a calf, or a cow that died. Calves that are grafted onto a cow should be from within the producer’s own herd. Introducing calves from other herds, even neighbouring beef herds, presents the risk of bringing in disease. Often the cost of these outbreaks is much more than the income lost by having a dry cow. Some options and tips for grafting calves include:Skin the dead calf and put that hide on the new calf: this encourages the cow to accept the new calf but may not be enough on its own and may need to be paired with some of the below methods. It is also time consuming and physically difficult.
If the calf is dead at birth don’t let the cow smell it: if the cow hasn’t had a chance to bond with her calf, she may be more receptive to the new calf.
Rub birth fluids from the dead newborn calf on the new calf you are trying to graft
Tie the new calf’s legs together when introducing it to the cow. This will allow the calf a chance to smell and lick the calf before it goes to her udder. It is recommended to do this under supervision to avoid getting the calf stepped on or injured.
Try to encourage the cow to lick the calf by putting some grain or molasses on the calf’s back.
Especially if the new calf has been tubed or bottle fed it may be easier to put the cow in a head gate to keep her still while you teach the calf to suck from the cow’s udder.
Milk feeding should be 3 or 4 times in a day during the first weak and can be reduced to 2 times in Supplemented with vitamin A, E and B12.
