Good hygiene in calves lessens diarrhea threat

Dear Dr Othieno

I have three calves on my farm and expecting another two. I normally feed them milk from buckets. I recently observed two of them suffered diarrhea though it wasn’t serious. The diarrhea coincided with change of farm hands. Could this be a contributing factor? If so, what can I do to avoid such cases? My neighbour also told me that bucket feeding could cause calf diarrhea. How true is this? Kindly shed some light on this.

Musa, Kitengela

Musa,

.

Keep Reading

• Why Calf Diarrhoea is Common on the Farm
• Role of water in animal health and productivity
• Why your cow can't get pregnant after using AI
• Giant Bull: Innovators showcase agri solutions at Eldoret Show

Calf diarrhea or scours is a common condition in calves and it can be fatal as the young animal can lose vital electrolytes from its body within a very short time. Diarrhea in calves should be prevented by observing hygiene when handling and feeding calves.

You should be aware that calves just like their parents are ruminants. All ruminants during grazing swallow large particles which they later regurgitate for further chewing (chewing cud) before being swallowed again.

Ruminates have four stomachs namely rumen (paunch), reticulum (honeycomb), omasum (manyplies) and abomasum (true stomach). In their initial months of life only one out of the four stomachs is functional – the abomasum. It is in the abomasum that enzymes and acids breakdown ingested feed i.e. milk and milk replacers. For the first two weeks of a calf’s life it is a monogastric (one stomached animal). 

In young animals, milk must bypass the rumen and get directly into the true stomach. So how does this happen? The act of suckling and proteins in milk stimulates creation of an esophageal groove that channels the milk directly into the abomasum or the true stomach. If this grove doesn’t form the milk will end up in the rumen and this can pose a health risk.

The rumen is a fermentation vault; at this stage it hasn’t even developed fully to handle fibrous feeds which is a ruminant’s staple feed. If the milk ends up in the rumen it is incompletely digested turns acidic and causes diarrhea. The dysfunction of the esophageal groove can also result in bloating.

Many farmers prefer bucket to bottle feeding because it is faster and also easy to clean. However, dirty hands can contaminate milk and predispose calves to diarrhea. To solve this problem buckets with nipples have been designed. The suckling also stimulates salivation. Saliva has enzymes that help in the digestion of milk.

Research has also shown that calves denied suckling later develop abnormal behaviour among them suckling objects and other calves which can harm other calves and also self. The suckled calf may suffer hair-loss, wounds and subsequent secondary infections while the suckling calve can suffer from hair balls which affect digestion. Suckling of objects exposes the calf to poisoning or ingestion of contaminated objects that can cause health problems to the calf.

Milk replacers which are normally given incrementally assist in the development of the rumen. Rumen development is assessed by measuring the amount of concentrates or pasture a calf can readily eat at a kilogram per day.

[Dr Othieno was the winner of Vet of the Year Award (VOYA) 2016 and works with the Kenya Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Council ([email protected]]      

.

Keep Reading

• Teaching children how to milk a cow - Watoto Shambani
• How to start and run a successful dairy farm - The FarmGuide Sn1 E1
• Shy Bulls that mate at night and why this is a challenge
• Learn about Dairy production and the role of a veterinary officer in dairy farming