What is systems thinking? What is the impact of neonatal calf scours to the producer and the calves? Dr. Fred Gingrich, Executive Director of AABP, is joined by Dr. Dale Grotelueschen and Dr. Dave Smith to discuss prevention strategies for calf scours. The incidence rate of calf scours in the US is 5 – 11%, however this is variable between herd. Calf scours is not random and there are herd predictors that increase risk such as calving cows and heifers together, longer calving seasons, keeping all animals together in the same lot the entire calving season and failure of passive transfer. Calf scours is the leading cause of infectious death in calves less than 3 weeks of age and a major reason for use of antibiotics in cow-calf herds. Managing outbreaks can take an emotional toll on producers and veterinarians. 

The veterinarian is often called in for assistance when the epidemic becomes unmanageable. The veterinarian is often asked “what is the cause” and we should ask ourselves if knowing the etiologic agent will alter your treatment or prevention recommendations. The Sandhills Calving System involves age segregation of calves by moving heavies (cows that have not calved) into new pastures to recreate the start of the calving season so we may have 8 one-week seasons versus 1 eight-week season to stop the pathogen buildup from shedding calves. This system can be implemented in all size herds in all regions. It is about age segregation, not square footage. Veterinarians are also critical to ensuring reproductive efficiency through pregnancy checks and breeding soundness exams of bulls to ensure a short calving season. Client communication and ensuring buy-in by the client is critical to the success of the program. The veterinarian is also critical in planning for record keeping to evaluate performance over the years.  

Relevant publications:

Population Dynamics of Undifferentiated Neonatal Calf Diarrhea among Ranch Beef Calves

D. Smith, D.M. Grotelueschen, T.R. Knott, S.L. Clowser, G.R. Nason
Bovine Practitioner
No. 42 Vol. 1 pp. 1-9

Design of management and preventive strategies for neonatal calf diarrhea in beef systems

Dale M. Grotelueschen
Proceedings of the First AABP Recent Graduate Conference
2018 pp. 68-70