Diarrhea in the calf: what to treat at home (drugs, folk remedies)

According to studies, the most dangerous when growing cattle population are diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, in particular diarrhea. Such a manifestation can lead to the death of both adult cows and calves. Diarrhea in calves happens very often, because they, like young children, are easily exposed to infectious lesions. Successfully solve the problem will help timely diagnosis of the disease, as well as properly chosen treatment. Further in the article we will discuss what to do when the calf is in defiance, what measures of treatment can be applied at home.

Causes of disease

Preventing the occurrence of the disease in young cattle will help possession of information about the possible causes of why it occurs. It is known that in the first days of life, animals have a weakened immune system. While they were in the womb, their body was fed with nutrients from the mother. There they were protected from viruses and various parasites.But in the external environment, where a small calf falls, it can quickly be attacked by infections, which can very quickly trigger diarrhea.

With such a weak immune system, the root causes of the development of diarrhea can be:

• incorrect diet calves;
• errors in the arrangement of the premises where cattle are kept;
• lack of nutrition in young animals.

Any of these options may expose the weakened body of calves to infections, and quite strong ones.

We should also mention food poisoning, which happens very often and, according to statistics, is one of the causes of death of young cattle. A farmer is fully responsible for feeding the animals. Even if at first the young individuals feed on the milk of the cow, then over time it will still be necessary to transfer the calf to an “adult” diet, and it is here that it is important to do everything right.

Symptoms and diagnostics

Diarrhea in calves can not occur by itself and suddenly.

Always is symptoms that precede the occurrence of diarrhea:

• sluggish appetite in young or absent;
• the formation of dry crusts in the nasal passages;
• dryness on the mirror of the upper lip of the animal;
• excretion of dry faeces, which is a sign of dehydration;
• increase in body temperature in young animals.

It is necessary to carefully monitor the state of health of young calves, monitor their behavior in order to diagnose the presence of diarrhea in time and take up treatment as soon as possible. What to do when the calf bares and does not get up on its feet, we will tell further.

What to do, how to treat

As soon as the first symptoms of diarrhea are noticed, appropriate measures should be taken immediately. First of all, you need to contact a veterinarian, as self-treatment in this case is not the best solution. The doctor must accurately diagnose, identify the cause of the disease, after which it will be possible to choose an effective treatment for young cattle.

Medications

If diarrhea in animals has resulted from viral damage or in connection with food poisoning, then treatment will need to be conducted with the help of pharmaceutical preparations. To determine what can be given to a calf from diarrhea, let's talk about the most effective options:

• Medications prescribed for oral rehydration. These funds are aimed at restoring the right amount of salts in the animal's body, as well as to combat the excessive loss of fluid. The composition of such medicines is present in sodium, chlorine and potassium in significant quantities. There is also a sufficient amount of sucrose and glucose. The powder, in the form of which the medicine is presented, is usually used for the preparation of solutions.The tool acts very quickly, while it has no side effects or contraindications to use.
• Sorbents. They will help protect the body of young diseased from intoxication. These drugs slow down the intestinal tract peristalsis, while not significantly affecting the digestibility of the consumed food, although the motility and a little weaken.
• Enzymes. They are usually prescribed in cases where enzymatic disorders occur in the digestive system of the young. Probiotics correct the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract of animals.
• If diarrhea in calves is caused by an infectious lesion, treatment will need to be carried out. antibiotics. Experts recommend the use of drugs of chloramphenicol, tetracycline and biomycin. The dosage can be calculated on the basis of standard recommendations: for 1 kg of body weight of the calf you need to take 10-20 mg of the drug.

Due to the fact that during the period of illness, the temperature of the calves varies, they need to be kept in a warm and dry room. Also at this stage it is necessary to stop giving them to drink milk, because diarrhea does not allow this product to be absorbed by the intestines.You also need to know that milk is able to create favorable conditions for the development of bacteria.

Folk remedies

Treatment of diarrhea in calves at home can also be carried out using folk remedies, which in some cases can solve the problem relatively quickly. But first, it is still necessary to discuss this situation with a veterinarian, because there are cases when traditional medicine will be ineffective.

There is a treatment option for calf diarrhea. using decoctions, which are prepared on the basis of oats, rye and barley. Cooking is quite simple and quick. It will be necessary to wash the cereal (about 100-150 g) and pour it into 1 liter of clean water. All this must be boiled for an hour, stirring occasionally, in an enamel container. The broth as a result is filtered and given in the form of heat to calves 4-5 times a day, 0.5-0.6 liters instead of regular milk. Treatment by this method should last 1-2 days. Also, the broth can be cooked on flaxseed. It should also be boiled for about an hour, about 50 g of flax seed is taken for 1 l of water. In the process of how the water will boil, it will need to be gradually added so that in the end all the same the liquid was 1 liter. The finished decoction is filtered and given to the sick young animals of 0.5 liters twice a day. The mixture can be stored in the refrigerator, but not longer than 3 days.

Diarrhea in calves can also be treated with dogrose infusion, as well as St. John's wort foliage. It will be necessary to take about 1 g of a vegetable product for 1 liter of water and insist about 9-10 hours. Then the infusion is filtered and evaporated three times a day in one glass.

Another solution to the question of what to do if a calf is blasphemed may be the use of coal of baked bread. Among folk remedies, this is perhaps the most popular. Coal bread perfectly cleanses the intestines from bacteria, toxins and gases.

To implement this method of treatment, you need to cut the bread into small pieces and put in a preheated oven to bake. Keep it there will need until such time as the pieces of bread do not bow. Then the coal will need to grind to a powdered mass.In 1 liter of boiled water you need to pour 100 g of the finished coal powder and mix thoroughly. Before the procedure, calves are not fed for about 10-12 hours, and then every 2 or 3 hours they give a prepared mixture of 10 ml for every 1 kg of body weight. Also, pieces of grain coals can be used as a prophylaxis for LCD diseases to be spread to animals in feeding troughs on the 4th or 5th day of their life.

What you absolutely can not do and give

Based on all of the above, you can make a list of peculiar bans on caring for sick calves:

• You can not feed the youngsters uncontrollably. Be sure to follow the feeding regime so that the stomach has time to digest food.
• It is forbidden to feed the animal with cold milk.
• It is not recommended to give calves food in which there is a significant amount of salt.
• Do not give too much food to the calves, so as not to overfeed them and not to overload the stomach.
• It is unacceptable to keep young in a cold or wet room.

Prevention

If you follow the list of recommendations that are aimed at preventing diarrhea in calves, you can avoid this problem.

These recommendations include:

• strict observance of the rules and norms of keeping young cattle;
• proper feeding of calves with colostrum;
• the proper preparation of the diet of a fresh cow;
• compliance with temperature indicators of colostrum and milk in the framework of not higher than 38 degrees;
• availability of diet and watering;
• young animals should be taught to feed slowly and gradually, not allowing sudden jumps, so as not to create stress for calves;
• cleanliness in the room, in the feeders and drinkers, as well as timely disinfection.

Since in young cattle diarrhea usually occurs along with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, as a preventive measure, you can drink calves with rye, oats or barley decoction once every 2-3 months. You also need to ensure regular inspection of animals by a veterinarian.

As you can see, diarrhea for calves is an extremely serious problem, which is fraught with very unpleasant consequences. Nevertheless, it is treatable, which is important.The main thing is to diagnose this disease in time and not to delay treatment.