How to manage common suckler calf health challenges
© Hayley Chapman Performance and weight gain can be knocked for six if a calf suffers health problems in its first few months. This can have a significant economic impact on a suckler herd where margins are frequently tight already.
“There are certain things that we see all the time – certain problems and mistakes,” says vet Evan David of NorCal Veterinary Services, Oxfordshire.
“Sometimes these problems arise just because it’s a different year, a bad year, but often they are down to management.”
See also: Creep feeding suckler calves: The risks and how to do it right
Mr David talks through some of the main pinch points in a calf’s first six months and offers his top tips for avoiding the most common challenges.
Suckler cow body condition (BCS)
“Most important in suckler production is cow body condition,” says Mr David. “Thin cows are your biggest problem: they’re not going to be as strong, not going to produce as much milk and they’re less likely to get back in calf.”
A spring-calving cow needs to be at BCS 3-3.5 at weaning time, which slowly falls over winter to 2.5 at calving.
“Cows need to be on a positive plane of nutrition before calving. If you’re worried about your calves inside the cows getting too big, you’ve got the wrong genetics,” says Mr David.
He explains that thin cows are usually the result of one of three factors:
- Lack of feed due to restricted access/availability or bullying
- Energy demands of carrying twins not being met
- Disease such as Johne’s or fluke.
Any thin cows need to be pulled out so that their diet can be adjusted, and their progress monitored.
Post-calving nutrition
Post-calving, cows must be in optimum condition (see below) with access to good-quality nutrition. It is also vital that calves get enough good-quality colostrum, quickly.
Getting this right in the first place minimises the risk of subsequent health issues, says Mr David.
Health
Calf scours
One of the first issues often seen in the calf’s life is scours. “Every year we deal with this and it’s soul destroying for farmers,” he says.
These are caused most commonly by one of four pathogens:
Pathogen causing scours |
|
|
Bacteria/virus |
Typical risk window post-calving |
|
E coli |
1-3 days |
|
Rotavirus |
1-7 days |
|
Cryptosporidium |
5 days – 3 weeks |
|
Coccidiosis |
3 weeks onwards |
Top tips
- Vaccinate for E coli, rotavirus and coronavirus. Cost: approximately £6.50 an animal
- Test faecal samples – prices may vary between vet practices, but NorCal Vets provides this service in-house for about £10/test
- Drench for coccidiosis (see “Coccidiosis” section below)
Navel ill
Infected navels often present as a swollen abscess which bursts. An untreated infection can:
- Travel into the abdomen and cause peritonitis and death
- Travel up the umbilicus into the liver and result in a liver abscess
- Cause joint-ill, usually around day 10 of life.
Top tips
- Dip the navel in 10% iodine mixed with surgical spirit at a ratio of 50:50 to dry out the navel
- Every time the calf is handled, such as castrating or tagging, check the navel doesn’t feel solid or swollen and re-dip it
- Call the vet if you do identify a swollen navel as treatment with antibiotics will likely be needed
- Keep beds clean to avoid pathogen build up
First grazing
“Pneumonia is not just a housing problem – we always get calls about pneumonia post-turnout,” says Mr David. “Two of the main causes are trace element deficiency and coccidiosis.”
Trace element deficiency
His team advise administering boluses for trace elements at least a month before calving. This ensures there is transfer through the placenta and colostrum to the newborn calf.
However, milk produced by the cow after colostrum does not transfer any trace elements. This means calves at grass can end up deficient in elements such as copper, cobalt and selenium.
Such deficiency will lower their immune system making them more vulnerable to infection such as pneumonia.
Symptoms of a lack of trace elements include:
- Copper – shaggy, discoloured coats, often with a spectacle effect around their eyes
- Selenium – muscle stiffness, respiratory distress, sudden death
- Cobalt – reduced appetite and poor growth.
Top tips
- Bolus cows for trace elements at least a month or two before calving to enable good placental and colostral transfer.
- Bolus contents and prices can vary widely, so seek advice on what would benefit your herd most
- Give calves a multivitamin supplement before turnout. A sub-cutaneous injection of copper and selenium costs about £1 a head and gives one to three months of cover. Oral supplements are also available.
Coccidiosis
Coccidiosis is often seen in the youngest calves at turnout.
“Some people are calving in February and not turning out until late March or April and so the calves have been indoors for quite a while,” says Mr David.
“Those first calves may be fine, but the younger calves will have picked up some coccidiosis as it builds through the season.
The calves look fine to turn out at two weeks old, then all of a sudden, they get a pasty, grey scour and they’re straining,” he says.
While mortality rates are low, coccidiosis will cause poor growth and the stress of the scour can lead on to pneumonia, proving costly.
Top tip
- If calves have been housed for a while before a turnout, and especially if there are any signs of pasty scour, give a coccidiosis drench as you turn them out. Cost: Approximately £3-£4 a head
Tetanus
Tetanus is seen less frequently but can result from an infected lesion at the castration site. This is more likely to occur when calves are castrated later.
“We see a stiff calf out in the field,” says Mr David. “Over the next few days, it might get bloat and then [the condition] becomes fatal. If we can get to it at the stiffness stage, it can be treated, but it needs to be caught early.”
Top tip
- Castrate all calves within the first week of life and ensure they are on clean bedding to avoid contamination
Acidosis and bloat
Later in summer, introducing creep can result in acidosis in some animals.
If the calf takes too much creep too quickly, the carbohydrate lowers the stomach pH and can cause scour or sudden death.
“What we sometimes hear in minor cases is the farmer saying, ‘the calf has a bit of scour but it is just because it is getting onto the creep feeder’.
Well, if you have diarrhoea, it means your guts are pretty upset,” says Mr David. “It shouldn’t happen.”
Excess starch can also be a problem when spillover into the abomasum occurs. Bacteria proliferation in the abomasum can cause rupture and death.
And when starch gets into small intestine and colon, bacteria produce gas which can cause intestinal torsion.
Top tips
- Introduce creep slowly and build to a maximum of 1-1.5kg a calf a day
- Use a compound feed with barley or wheat as the main starch and 14-16% protein – calves do not need an 18-20% protein feed. It should have a good source of fibre like sugar beet pulp and include a buffer such as limestone to avoid huge fluctuations in rumen pH
- Keep feeders well maintained and managed because they can cause further problems such as animals getting stuck and stagnant feed going mouldy