DISEASES AMONG CALVES.

Waipa Post, Volume I, Issue 45, 19 September 1911, Page 4

DISEASES AMONG CALVES.

USEFUL EXPERT ADVICE.

A few of the more important disorders to which calves are subject, their causes, and the necessary precautions to effect their prevention and cure were dealt with in Taranaki recently by Mr Broom, Government veterinary surgeon. When, natural food had to be departed from, said Mr Broom, trouble had to be expected and the further we departed from the natural food the more trouble we were sure to get. One did not have to look far for evidence of indigestion in calves in Taranaki. The bristly-coated, reached-backed, emaciated potbellied calf was as much the rule as the exception. One did not see this class of calf in stud herds, but where calves were either reared by the mothers or wellreared by hand with milk. The digestive organs of the young calf, he added, are not in a state of development to enable it to digest anything but the most skilfully prepared artificial foods, administered in proper q ntitie - .. .ARE AT BIRTH. . u': t "all, it is necessary at th t; ke care that the bowels he . ng calf act in a proper mei In a state of nature the young c i receives a natural purge / the first milk of the moth-, but when the calf does not receive this it will often be necessary to give a small dose of castor oil. Then, again, in regard to the food of the calves. Skim milk should be given as fresh as possible. It should be stored in clean vessels, and clean pails used in the handling of it, otherwise the decomposition which is sure to take place is bound to have a serious effect on the calves. There is no doubt, said Mr Broom, that the practice of feeding calves only once or twice a day is too great a departure from Nature to enable good results to be obtained, and he would strongly recommed feeding at least three times a day. The calf fed by its mother received sustenance at very frequent intervals. The more frequent feeding would present gorging, and gorging was injurious, distending the intestines and producing the pendulous abdomen so often seen in calves —in fact, some animals never seemed to recover proper shape. Frequent attacks of flatulence (tympanitis) in which the calf appears blown up, and diarrhoea and scouring, all indicate indigestion, brought on through faulty feeding and decomposed foodstuffs.. Calves also frequently suffer from a condition approximating frenzy. They seem to go mad, tearing about, gallop into fences, finishing up by running in a circle, and dropping down to die. This results from gorging, and on opening a calf dying in this way there is found in the stomach a hard, dry mass re-

sembling curd, and frequently twice as large as a man's fist.

DIVIDED TROUGHS

The feeding of the calves from a divided trough or pail rack is practised on some farms, and is strongly recommended in preference to the one common trough, which is so generally in use. By using the divided trough or pail rack each calf gets its proper allowance of food, and gorging by the strong calves ,is reduced as far as possible. The two most common symptoms of indigestion are flatulence and scouring. Of course, as a preventive, the first thing is to see that the food supply is kept as fresh and clean as possible. It is just as necessary, in order to have good calves, to keep that fresh, as it is to keep the milk fresh for the factory. Keep the utensils clean, and keep the troughs clean. If the milk is going wrong, or if the calv3S are going wrong with indigestion, a lot of good will be effected sometimes by giving a dose of bi-car-bonate of soda in the milk (a small teaspoonful each day) or lime water (about a wineglassful to each calf once a day), this being easily prepared on the farm. In any case of serious disorder this treatment should be preceded by a dose of castor oil (a wineglassful to each calf). NAVEL ILL. Another common complaint among young calves was navel ill, This was a form of bloodpoisoning, which is one of the complaints that are undoubtedly brought on by placing the young animals in dirty surroundings. This complaint commences within a day or two of calving, and runs a course generally of only a few days' duration, the symptoms becoming more intense as it progresses, and often terminating fatally. The germs of the disease gain entrance by the navel, the legs and joints swell, the calf breathes rapidly, there is profuse diarrhoea (usually known as white scour), the calf becomes greatly prostrated, and eventually dysentery comes on, which alters the colour of the discharge, making it red (giving rise to the name of blood scour). Treatment is simple. As the disease commences at the navel, by the entrance of putrid matter, preventive treatment will consist of keeping this part in a perfectly clean condition right from birth. Avoid putting the calves into dirty yards, old sheds or buildings, and especially avoid putting them into disused pigstyes, which are so convenient, for the pig also is a sufferer from this complaint and a great spreader of it. If the disease has already made its appearance amongst the calves treatment will consist in the application of an antiseptic dressing to the navel, and for this purpose carbolised oil is used with success. Apply it on the palm of a clean hand daily for the first week after birth. At the same time, administer lime-water daily with the milk in order to overcome the diarrhoea, which accompanies the disorders. STOMACH AND LUNG WORMS. Among diseases which make their appearance a little later on are stomach worms (parasitic gastritis) and lung-worm (parasitic bronchitis). In the first-men-tioned complaint the parasites usually commence their ravages among calves from the age of about six months, and may cause trouble during the first 18 months of a calf's existence, or even later. Symptoms exhibited by a mob of calves suffering from the presence of stomach worms are the usual unthrifty appearance, staring coat, arched backs, the calves " doing" badly' and wasting. At times there is diarrhoea, and a cough may be present. They show a peculiar haggard facial expression and a pendulous belly. The mortality caused by this complaint is very great. This disease is found, as a rule, where calves are paddocked on played-out pastures, and often when they drink from stagnant pools or slow-running creeks. The absence of suitable shelter also has a considerable influence in encouraging the disease. When a mob of calves is being attacked by the stomach-worm it becomes absolutely essential to remove them on to nutritious pastures. See that they have a supply of clean fresh water and suitable shelter. Over and above this, the addition of a nutritious diet will be very beneficial. This should consist of dry feed, such as crushed oats and chaff, which have a wonderful effect in combatting the disease. Great benefit has resulted from feeding even a few handfuls of this every day. Lungworm is fairly prevalent, but not nearly so prevalent as formerly. It is more easily recognised than stomach worm on account of the accompanying cough General treatment is the same as in the disease just mentioned. In this disease, as well as in para-

sitic gastritis, medicine will be found totally unavailing without strict attention to the other points mentioned —nutritious dieting and so on.

Many dairy farmers, said Mr Broom to a News reporter, do not seem to realise that it is impossible to rear healthy and welldeveloped heifers which have been stunted in growth by ailments when young. They could not expect a fine, healthy, wellmatured cow to be the product of a calf which in its upbringing had passed through a succession of disorders which it had just been able to survive.