Farmers urged to take preemptive action to reduce calf scour danger

WITH calving season about to get underway, farmers have been urged to take extra precautions against calf scour, the biggest cause of calf deaths.

The latest Department of Agriculture report on the Cattle Movement Monitoring System shows almost 60,000 calves died between birth and three months in 2005 and a further 29,000 calves were stillborn.

One of the most worrying trends is the increase of 7,000 in calf deaths between 2004 and 2005.

Fergal Morris, veterinary adviser with Schering Plough Animal Health, said that scour was responsible for the majority of the 60,000 calf deaths in 2005.

He stressed that good management and effective disease prevention could greatly reduce this erosion of farm income.

“While calf deaths are a major loss nationally, on the majority of farms they represent only a small proportion of the costs of a scour outbreak.

“The biggest costs are treatment, additional labour and reduced animal performance. Studies show calves that develop scour in the first month of life can have a permanently-damaged gut, which can lead to stunted growth and reduced value,” he said, adding scour is the symptom of a disease caused by bacteria and viruses which can live on farms for nine months.

“A newborn calf exposed to one or more of these bacteria and viruses will develop diarrhoea, leading to dehydration and risk of death,” he said. Mr Morris said vaccination of cows prior to calving, combined with effective hygiene and management, are the only effective methods to prevent calf scour.