New Horizon Veterinary Service

04/22/2025

We get lots of calls about broken legs this time of year. It is really helpful if a producer knows the location of the hock on the rear leg or the "knee"or carpus on the front leg. If your calf has a break above the carpus or hock a cast will make things worse. A cast must immobilize a joint above and a joint below a fracture. It is impossible to do this with a fracture above the carpus or hock. If the leg is broken high, using a Thomas Schroeder splint is a possible solution. However, these splints take very intense after care to make sure the splint doesn't slide. Usually requiring several splint applications during the healing phase.

Found on Google from afs.ca.uky.edu

03/19/2025

Part 3 Calf Scours Treatment:

Calf scours treatment relies heavily on rehydration. In the past we were tempted to give a shot of an antibiotic. Its convenient! However, we are learning more and more how antibiotics can severely affect the microbiota of the intestine in a negative manner. Studies in dogs have shown negative effects induced by the use of antibiotics for 6 months, and some dogs never returned to a healthy microbiota after treatment with antibiotics. This is not to say that antibiotics should never be used. In cases of pneumonia, uterine infection, foot rot the positive outcomes of antibiotics can not be denied. However, in the case of scours we are usually dealing with a parasite like crypotosporidia, or viruses such as rota and corona. These pathogens do not respond to antibiotics, and the negative effects on the intestinal microbiota induced by the use of antibiotics definitely make the risk outweigh the benefit. There are a few select cases of scours that do benefit from antibiotics. Cases of Salmonella or E coli K99 require the use of antibiotics. E coli K99 occurs only in the first 48 hours after birth. These calves paint the walls with their diarrhea; it is extremely profuse. Salmonella causes a severe case of diarrhea, generally there should be blood in the stool and a fever. If you are seeing fevers and blood in the stool of your calves it would be prudent to test the f***s and also use an antibiotic. Calves over three weeks of age with blood in their stool have coccidia until proven otherwise. These calves do benefit from the antibiotic sulfa, or the antiprotozoal Corid.

So now lets talk about the nuts and bolts of scour treatment rehydration. Dehydration is what kills calves.

1. If a calf is no longer able to stand it needs an IV. I have seen some clients who were very aggressive with oral replacement pull a down calf around. However, with the price of calves today a trip to the vet is prudent when a calf is unable to stand due to scours.

2. Electrolytes! They are not equal. Resorb is the one of the worst on the market, Enterolyte HE not good either. The best ones are Diaque, Epic, and my favorite Bluelite Replenish. The makers of bluelite are making a new product this year in addition to the old one. The new one has colostrum added to the electrolyte. The colostrum is good for the calf's microbiome, and is also a source of Antibodies against commmon scour bugs.

3. Little calves dont have much reserve. With the exception of the new bluelite product, there is no fat in electrolytes. Calves that are no longer nursing their mother will need to be fed milk or colostrum in addition to electrolytes. If a calf has diarrhea and isnt nursing mother He needs four feedings a day; 2 of electrolytes and 2 of preferably a cheap colostrum. The colostrum is helpful as it is easier to digest than milk replacer, and has components that enhance the microbiome. At this point of the calf's life we are no longer concerned about passive transfer of antibodies, so it is ok to use a cheap colostrum supplement. The new electrolyte with colostrum only has 7 percent fat, so I continue to recommend 2 feedings of straight electrolytes and 2 feedings of colostrum to the anoretic calf.

4. Dont put these sick calves anywhere near your calving pens.

02/20/2025

Part 2: Calf Scours Prevention

Environment:

Environment is crucial in the prevention of calf scours. It doesn't take a doctorate to know that the best way to produce a healthy calf is a wide open pasture. A cow with plenty of pasture space will isolate herself to calve. A cow that is allowed to follow her natural instincts is less likely to suffer from dystocia or a prolapse. Left to herself a cow has a greater chance of mothering her calf appropriately. Her calf will get up shortly after calving and nurse from a clean udder. All of the aforementioned details decrease the stress on calf and encourage colostrum consumption and IgG absorption. A good start bolsters the calf's immune system and decreases the threat of scours.

However, it doesn't always work this way in the real world. Every producer must work in their given situation to find the best fit for them. Weighing the risks and benefits. Each person must be willing to accept the consequences for whatever method they choose to control the environment. Everyone's opinions and thresholds for consequences are different. So this a brief overview of what I have seen work and not work. It is definitely not intended to be an all inclusive synopsis.

All of our clients know we are fans of May calving. There are definite drawbacks to later calving, and it just isn't possible in some people's operations. So we are going to make the assumption that for most people this is a fixed element. If you can change to May calving I would highly recommend it, but today we are going to focus on different details that might be more adjustable.

1. Never put a sick calf in your maternity area. Remember, from the previous post anything can cross the newborn calf's intestine intitially not just IgGs from colostrum. So if you have a scouring calf in a maternity pen, and then follow it up with a newborn those scour bugs can cross right in to that baby's intestine. Most scour bugs are picked up around birth, and that is why most calves start scouring around a week of age.
2. If you can get rid of the calf shelters. What does a calf do when it doesn't feel well? It goes in the shelter. This is a great microenvironment for calves to congegrate and share their bugs...kind of like a daycare for human babies. We had a client who had a serious scour problem, he got rid of his calf shelters no more scours.
3. Instead of moving the cows that have calved out of the maternity pasture, cows that have not calved should be moved to a fresh pasture. We want the baby to get dropped in the cleanest place possible. If cows are allowed to calve in the same place all calving season, the scour bugs are allowed to steadily increase their contamination of the environment. This is why we generally see more scours at the end of the calving season, as opposed to the beginning.
The Sandhills calving system is a great tool. You may use the link below to read about it.

INTRODUCTIONDiarrhea is one of the most likely reasons young beef calves become sick or die.(45) Besides its detriment to calf health and well-being, calf scours is costly to cattle producers due to poor calf performance, death, and the expense of medications and labor to treat sick calves. (3, 41)....

02/13/2025

Hello all! With all this cold weather. I am thinking spring. Nothing says spring like....calf scours!

I am going to make this at least a three part post, as there is so much information to share!

We will start with prevention. There are three parts to prevention in my mind: colostrum, environment, and lastly vaccination. I am not going to focus on vaccination at all, it is a good tool. However, I have seen nasty breaks of scours with the use of scour vaccine. More importantly, if the calf doesn't get colostrum the vaccine can't do anything. While vaccine sales definitely make me money, I find scour vaccine to be the least important part of scour prevention.

So I am going to start with colostrum. Colostrum, colostrum, COLOSTRUM. It is so important. The bovine placenta, unlike human placenta is impereable to antibodies. So without colostrum the calf is basically left without any immune function.

Timing of the colostrum feeding is absolutely crucial. At best we really need to be getting colostrum in to the calf within the first hour. If you watch a little beef calf, or lamb they are usually always up nursing with a half hour unless the weather is forbidding or there is another problem. The intestines in a newborn calf have little holes or gaps that allow for transfer of the antibody across the surface. There is complete closure of these holes in 24 hours. As soon as the calf starts to take a meal of anything, these holes start to close. So if we have a calf who is not able to nurse and is eating dirt or sucking manure of mom's leg closure will be initiated. We want the first thing in that baby's intestines to be colostrum. So we can get those precious antibodies that we need to keep baby healthy. So if things arent progressing normally and your are not seeing much action out of baby intervene!

The biggest mistake I see that people make is they dont give enough colostrum. Colostrum is low in lactose, and calves can tolerate bigger feedings than conventional milk. This is why we feed colostrum supplements to scouring calves. It is easier for their compromised intestines to digest. So dont be afraid! It is recommended that dairy calves over 80 lbs get a gallon of colostrum, and anything under 80 lbs. get 3 quarts. On the beef side we can be a little more conservative, as a beef cow's milk is usually more dense in the matter of antibodies. Dairy cows milk is so diluted because of their greater production. So if you can give a Holstein a gallon, a little beef calf can surely hold 2 quarts. If you are using bag colostrum, USE THE WHOLE BAG!!! In the case of the calf that needs colostrum as a newborn, we always want to use a colostrum replacer or mom's colostrum. The replacer must have at least 150 IgGs, and 200 is even better. Unfortunately, these replacers are pretty expensive, but dont skimp! If you are not spending at least 40-50 dollars on colostrum get a new kind or check the IgG amount. We can use the cheaper supplements for scouring calves, because we are no longer seeking antibody transfer. It is a good idea to do another feeding of colostrum 12 hours post birth if baby continues to be unable to nurse mom. DO NOT USE the little tubes that look like horse dewormer for colostrum. These do not have adequate nutrients or antibodies for the calf.

In the case of twins, always give colostrum replacer to at least one twin. I can not list all the calves I see every year that our twins with scours, joint infections, the list goes on. Twins are sometimes compromised at birth, but getting them colostrum gives them a good start.

Lastly, feeding colostrum with a bottle is superior to an esophageal feeder (drench bag). However, if baby won't drink use the drencher. Please if baby only wants to drink a quart dont stop there drench the rest. Remember as soon as something hits the intestine those holes start to close. We are aiming to get adequate colostrum in a timely factor. The clock is ticking!

Bovine colostrum is the production of “first milk” from the mammary gland in the 24 hours after calving and it is the first source of nutrients for the calf. All female mammals produce it, and, in all species, it is of great importance, since it provides key antibodies, or immunoglobulins, to ju...

08/05/2024

Here is a chart of our cows expected due dates from their AI dates. In the next column is their actual calving date. They are listed in the order they were projected to calve but their actual order is listed in the last column.

This data demonstrates how actual breeding dates only give so much information. If you purchase a set of heifers bred to calve on the same day expect to calve them over a month and prepare to start early.

05/08/2024

We have been getting some questions about EID. Here is an FAQ with some information.

03/26/2024

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza has now been diagnosed in ruminants, including goats and dairy cattle. This is definitely something to stay aware of. No mortality has occured due to HPAI in cattle at this point. One thing to keep in mind is DO NOT let your chickens roam your cattle lots or share water and feed sources. This is one way to prevent the cross over of virus between species.

02/26/2024

Anaplasmosis

Anaplasmosis is a blood-borne bacteria that typically affects cattle in the Southern US. However, more and more cases have been popping up all over the US, even in the Northern plains.

Anaplasmosis causes anemia, jaundice, sudden death, abortions, and reproductive failure. In affected herds 30% of cows can die, and 30% may abort or be open.

Anaplasmosis is spread via ticks, biting flies, and dirty needles.

Purchasing cattle from anywhere could pose a risk of introduction of Anaplasmosis in to your herd. States that are typically the biggest risk include Southern States and Kansas.

At minimum we recommend testing all cattle introduced to your herd for Anaplasmosis including bulls. The introduction of this disease in to your herd could be crippling, and testing for Anaplasmosis is a simple form of prevention.

01/03/2024

Please use 1804 when possible on your way to the clinic. The Glenham road is pure ice on the Walworth county side and frozen snow drifts on the Campbell County side. 1804 is clear and scenic! We are only 3/4 mile South on the Glenham road at the Glenham Road 1804 jxn.

12/21/2023

Cell phone trouble again: We got new phones but are still having some hiccups.
Sorry if you left a message yesterday and we did not get back to you, not all the voicemails were going through to our voicemail. We were both working in the country until late, and then when we got back to deal with our phone, voicemails were not showing up. We apologize.
We think we have the issue squared away now, and are available today to answer if you need something.

11/29/2023

I have been hearing information on the radio about a mystery dog respiratory disease. Just read a blog on a veterinary website, and the author said he is not sure if this is an increase in the normal levels of canine infectious respiratory disease complex or just media hype. There is always a certain level of this disease complex circulating, and there is no solid evidence that numbers have increased country wide.

His recommendations were simple:

Keep your dog away from sick dogs
If your dog is sick keep it away from other dogs
And think about vaccinating your dog for kennel cough especially if your dog will be congregating with other dogs

11/29/2023

Bird Flu in the Area

We have a client in North Dakota who lost their flock to bird Flu, and also have an unconfirmed case for a client in SD.

If you have a sudden die off of chickens in the near future think bird Flu first. There is not much you can do to prevent it, unless you can control the geese migration. If you have any questions as always feel free to call the clinic. The rules are different for North and South Dakota