by Joost De Groot

Created on: October 12, 2010

Sure calf scours is easy to recognize… if and when you see it.  But a reliance on noticing that your calf has diarrhea before taking action puts the calf’s health and growth at risk.  But that is just one common mistake in recognizing and treating calf scours.  Here are the most common mistakes in recognizing and treating calf scours.

Recognize Sick Calf Behavior

Noticing abnormal calf behavior is a red flag that a calf may have scours.  Healthy calves are hungry, active, and curious.  Calves with scours are likely:

To be more lethargic and inactive.

To have a loss of appetite.

To be isolated and uncurious about environment and activitie.

The more exaggerated these behaviors seem, the more ill or dehydrated the calf may be. Once you notice a calf behaving in abnormal ways, then you may want to investigate. Recognizing these warning signs of scours can give you an early alert to potential problems and an opportunity for quick action.  Recognizing symptoms beyond diarrhea is also useful when you notice extremely loose patties in the lot, but are unsure which calf is suffering from scours.

Use Symptoms to Determine a Calf’s Condition

You may notice odd behavior first, but gathering additional information about symptoms will indicate how sick the calf is, as well as the likely cause of scours.

Dehydration is a serious consequence of scours, and the most common cause of scours related deaths.  There are several signs of dehydration.  The tent test checks the skin elasticity since the skin of a dehydrated calf loses elasticity.  Pull up a fold of skin on the neck and then quickly release it.  On a well-hydrated calf with normal elasticity the skin will immediately return.  If the skin takes a few seconds to return to the original position then the calf is dehydrated.  The longer the skin takes to return to the normal position, the more dehydrated the calf.  If a calf’s nose and mouth appear dry or the eyes appear sunken, then it may be suffering from serious dehydration and should be treated without delay.

Dehydrated and sick calves will also have abnormal body temperature.  Normal temperature for a healthy calf is between 100-102 degrees F.  A temperature below or above normal is a sign that treatment is required.  Accurate temperatures can be taken with a rectal thermometer.  A less accurate, quick check can be done by feeling the calf’s ears.

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