What diseases of calves exist

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Calf diseases can be a real headache for a farmer, especially a beginner. If you have decided to breed this type of cattle, you should be informed about what health problems the animal may have, because only a healthy individual is able to generate income from milk, meat or the sale of offspring. Providing your pets with proper care, balanced nutrition and veterinary care is likely to avoid health problems for your livestock. Let's move on to what diseases of calves and their symptoms are most common.

Calf diseases

Varieties of infectious diseases

This group of diseases causes maximum damage to livestock, often leading to its death. The owner must at least learn to recognize the first signs of the disease in order to start treatment on time. Otherwise, the chances are high that the livestock will die and the calf disease will spread to other domestic animals.

It is worth saying that it is worth describing the disease only in a comprehensive manner, that is, telling everything in order: symptoms, disease and treatment of calves, as well as preventive measures. What infectious diseases of calves are more common than others? It:

• Diplococci;
• Colibacillosis;
• Cryprosporidioz;
• Salmonella;
• Enteritis;
• Desentery.

These ailments can be confidently called the most dangerous, since the symptoms develop quite quickly, and the infection spreads in many ways. It is necessary to provide such conditions for keeping livestock, in which the risk of an illness will be minimal. The complex of activities includes the following:

• hygiene of the barn and the surrounding area;
• quality fresh food and water.

Even if the animal does get sick, under normal conditions, the recovery process will be much faster and easier. You can also protect other animals from infection, thereby making it easier for yourself and your veterinarian to treat.

Let us describe each of the listed calf diseases in more detail.

Colibacterium infection

This disease is called colibacillosis, young animals most often suffer, so newborn calves are at risk. The disease in calves is caused by E. coli, which gets into the food or water of livestock.

Symptoms of colibacillosis:

• Increase in temperature indicators.
• Significant enlargement of the mucous membrane.
• Diarrhea: frequent, frothy, green or yellow stools.
• Calves are apathetic, weak.
• Appetite worsens or absent altogether.
• The folds near the mouth and lips swell noticeably.

If one or more of these signs become noticeable, you should immediately seek help from a veterinarian. If you leave colibacillosis without treatment, there is a high probability that the animal will die from intoxication or dehydration.

How is colibacillosis transmitted? As mentioned earlier, most often the route of transmission is food, that is, through food or water. However, the option of spreading bacteria from an infected animal to a healthy one is not excluded. It is also worth considering that not only calves, but also young pigs, goats and other representatives of domestic animals, suffer from colibacillosis.

An error in feeding can provoke the development of colibacillosis, especially at a time when the calves are breastfed. For example, if a cow has a dirty udder or an inflammatory process, the risk of infection increases markedly. If you keep a close eye on the cleanliness of the barn, and the food and water are changed according to the schedule, you can significantly reduce the risk of this disease and keep the calves healthy.

Diplococcus infection

Diplococcal infection is a disease that cannot be ignored when talking about diseases of calves. Just as in the previous case, the disease most often affects young animals: calves from the moment of birth to six months of age. The danger lies in the fact that the animal literally melts before our eyes. From the moment the first sign of illness appears until death, it can take only a few days.

How to recognize the development of a diplococcal infection? The calf becomes lethargic, weakness appears, as intoxication increases. Traditionally, with infectious diseases of calves, the temperature rises and the classic symptoms of poisoning appear, which makes it impossible to immediately make the correct diagnosis and choose the right treatment at the very beginning. After that, the cow's condition worsens, inflammation in the joints is added, then the pathogen makes its way into the respiratory system. The cause of death is usually either pulmonary edema or massive bleeding in any vital organ. The pitfall of this disease is that the pathogen changes the composition of the blood, thus blood clotting is significantly reduced. In the terminal stage, the animal can die from any injury, including from a shallow scratch, since the blood loses the ability to clot.

How is diplococcus spread? Despite the fact that the scale of the lesion is amazing, because almost the entire body suffers, there are only two ways of transmission:

• through the gastrointestinal tract (through food or drink);
• airborne.

To minimize the risk of cattle falling from this insidious disease, it is worth paying sufficient attention to hygiene and preventive veterinary examinations. Calves should be fed only fresh and high quality feed.

If you still failed to save the calf, you do not need to self-medicate, it is too risky in this situation. It is recommended that you contact your veterinarian immediately after the onset of at least one of the above symptoms. The doctor will be able to identify the pathogen and prescribe adequate treatment, if it is relevant at this stage of the disease. The task of the farmer at this stage is to isolate the calf from the rest of the animals and conduct a thorough pest control of the premises.

Salmonella

Infection with salmonella is called salmonellosis or veal paratyphoid fever. Young individuals feeding on mother's milk are most susceptible to infection. Let's find out what symptoms this disease may have:

• a sharp jump in temperature;
• respiratory failure: shortness of breath appears, the cow breathes shallowly, sleeps and wheezes;
• the classic picture, as with food poisoning: diarrhea and vomiting, sometimes with blood impurities;
• gait is disturbed, as the inflammatory process passes to the joints and bone tissue.

The danger lies in the fact that it is difficult for a person to distinguish the onset of salmonellosis from ordinary poisoning, for this reason, treatment often begins when there is no point in it.

The causative agent of salmonellosis enters the calf's body, usually through the alimentary tract with poor-quality contaminated food or water.The options for the development of the disease can be different. It so happens that a calf dies in a week, but there are situations when the disease becomes chronic. It depends on the state of the animal's immune system, what is its weight and nutrition, what are the conditions of detention, and so on. The chronic form of the disease is considered the most insidious, since throughout her life the cow is the carrier of Salmonella, infecting other domestic animals and humans as well.

The chronic form occurs in those animals that have recently suffered from salmonellosis, but the treatment did not have the desired effect, but only dulled the symptoms. Thus, the conclusion suggests itself that the treatment should be carried out only by a specialist - an experienced veterinarian in order to bring it to its logical conclusion and completely kill Salmonella. The same applies to diagnostics; it will not be possible to independently record the presence of salmonella in the blood or feces of a cow.

The peak incidence falls on the period of mass calving of cows, it is at this time that you should devote maximum time to hygiene and cleaning in the barns. Unfortunately, there are no vaccinations and other preventive measures.

Cryptosporidiosis

Another serious disease for calves is cryptosporidiosis. The disease is caused by a parasite - the simplest unicellular creature - Cryptosporidium. As with salmonellosis, the diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis is difficult. Traditionally, like many infectious diseases at the very beginning of their development, cryptosporidiosis can be confused with poisoning.

When starting the treatment of this disease, it is worth worrying about safety, since cryptosporidiosis can infect a person. Even in spite of the fact that for a person he does not pose a mortal danger, his treatment is quite troublesome and costly. As for animals, depending on age, the course of the disease can be different. So, the younger the cattle, the more difficult cryptosporidiosis is.

Symptoms:

• High temperature, often above 40 ° C. Moreover, you should not rejoice if the temperature readings decrease, this is not a sign of recovery, but the imminent onset of death of the animal.
• General weakness of the calf.
• No appetite.
• Diarrhea with blood, later the stool becomes completely watery, which only aggravates the dehydration process.
• The respiratory system is affected almost immediately.
• The presence of seizures is allowed.

Cryptosporidium can enter the calf's body by airborne droplets or by eating contaminated food. Infection can occur both from cow to cow and from other domestic animals. In order to minimize the risk of mass infection, it is worth carrying out pest control in cowsheds and in places where calves and other pets are walking. If a sick individual is found, it is necessary to immediately isolate the animal and ensure complete quarantine. Naturally, treatment should only take place under the supervision of a veterinarian.

Dysentery disease

If the farm has fallen victim to this dangerous infectious disease, it is guaranteed to suffer significant financial losses. There are several types of the disease, its anaerobic form is considered the most dangerous, even sucking newborn calves get sick with it. Moreover, the peak of the disease ends already at 1-2 months of life. If a newborn calf becomes infected with a disease of dysentery, then in 95% of cases it is not possible to save the animal, death is inevitable.

It is a well-known fact that a person also suffers from dysentery. For this reason, it is worth treating and providing care, observing maximum precautions, that is, using personal protective equipment, because even in a person, dysentery is quite difficult and difficult to treat, leading to death in some cases.

How to recognize the presence of dysentery:

• frequent liquid diarrhea;
• violation of appetite;
• there are blood clots in the stool, which indicates a violation of coagulation;
• autopsy reveals ulcers and even areas of necrosis on the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract.

It is the presence of such internal wounds that aggravates the course of the disease and makes its resolution almost impossible.

Since it is almost impossible to fight dysentery, scientists have developed a serum (vaccine) that gives artificial immunity to this terrible disease. It is also important to keep the barn hygienic to prevent bacteria from multiplying. A sick animal must be urgently isolated and, if the treatment does not have the desired effect, be slaughtered, and the corpse disposed of. Moreover, it is important to burn the body completely, since neither the skin nor the meat are suitable for use.

Non-communicable diseases of calves

It should be said that calves are susceptible not only to infectious, that is, infectious ailments, but also to non-infectious ones. The fact that the disease is not transmitted to another cattle often misleads the owner, as he may underestimate the seriousness of the situation. As for the signs and characteristic symptoms, they often overlap with infectious ones, which complicates the diagnosis. To make an accurate diagnosis, it is best to use the services of a veterinarian.

Which non-communicable diseases of the calf are considered the most dangerous for calves:

• pneumonia and bronchitis (refer to respiratory diseases of calves);
• white muscle disease;
• rickets;
• tympany;
• enteritis;
• bezoar disease.

Despite the fact that all these are non-infectious diseases, in some cases they can be no less dangerous and lead to the fall of livestock, albeit not so massively. Let's learn about each of the problems in more detail.

White muscle disease

The reason for the development of this ailment is usually the wrong conditions for keeping cattle: unbalanced nutrition or unsanitary conditions of the premises. White muscle disease often affects young animals, especially those breastfed calves. White muscle disease is also called muscular dystrophy, since it affects the muscles, depleting them to the limit. If the disease occurs in the winter, then more than half of the brood may die, even though the disease is not considered contagious. Here, the large number of sick cattle is explained by the fact that the conditions for everyone are the same.

How to recognize the onset of the disease? The first symptoms usually appear in the first months of a calf's life, that is, it is one of the diseases of newborn calves up to 3 months of age. Outwardly, a change in gait, a decrease in physical activity, and even rare convulsions are noticeable. Sometimes, in more advanced cases, white muscle disease can lead to paralysis, complete or partial. If you carefully examine the sick calf, you will notice that its skin and mucous membranes have become noticeably paler. Also, muscular dystrophy negatively affects the respiratory and cardiac systems, shortness of breath appears and the heartbeat is disturbed. It is worth saying that these changes are irreversible, that is, they do not return to normal even after the treatment.

Rarely, white muscle disease can be fatal. Death usually occurs from the fact that a violation of vital systems leads to depletion of the heart muscle and the appearance of lung dysfunction. In order to protect the animals, it is worth paying due attention to cleaning in a room with cows, as well as a responsible approach to the issue of feeding. The calf's diet should contain all the necessary vitamins and minerals that are required at a given age.

Rickets in calves

Rickets is also a non-infectious disease that is neither viral nor microbial. It occurs due to poor care and insufficient number of walks in the fresh air, especially in sunny weather.In the most advanced cases, rickets can be combined with muscular dystrophy, then we can say that the calf is doomed to death. If we are talking only about the defeat of rickets, then the disease is not fatal. Dangerous is not so much the outcome as the course of the disease. Rickets exhaust the animal, leaving a mark for many years.

Rickets is a seasonal disease, so, in winter, the number of cases increases significantly. Of course, if the cattle does not receive proper care, rickets can develop in the summer, but this happens much less often.

Rickets can be identified by its characteristic features:

• The calf does not gain weight and height well.
• Frequent injury to the limbs due to the fact that the bones have become more fragile.
• The spine is often bent, which can be seen in the photo or video describing rickets in cattle.
• With complicated variants of the course of rickets, the respiratory system can also be affected.

To save the animal from torment, you just need to revise the conditions of keeping and grazing, as well as add vitamins to the usual diet. It is especially recommended to pay attention to vitamin D, because it is its deficiency that is the cause of the development of rickets in most cases. If you manage to compensate for its deficiency, then 2 most important nutritional components - calcium and phosphorus, which are so necessary to maintain the strength of bone tissue, will automatically be absorbed normally. Foods that are high in vitamin D are fish oil, ground bone meal, or regular chalk.

Bezoar disease

Like all the previous diseases described, bezoar disease affects young animals, that is, those calves that feed on milk or have recently weaned from the mother's udder. The disease is considered so dangerous that it can affect entire herds, often leading to death. The peak incidence occurs during the winter months, although outbreaks can occur at any time of the year.

What leads to the development of the disease? Most often, the reason is the lack of milk in lactating heifers or an incorrectly composed menu: the predominance of coarse food in the calf menu. A situation in which calves walk a little will negatively affect the course of the disease. What is bezoar disease? This is primarily a violation in the digestive system. During this ailment, undigested clots of food and wool particles form in the gastrointestinal tract. These lumps interfere with the normal digestion of food.

It is possible to suspect the development of this ailment when cows and bulls begin to eat soil or any other inedible ingredients more often than usual. This suggests that similar bezoars have formed in the body. Outwardly, you can see that the calf began to gain weight poorly, its wool coat became dimmer, and its belly was swollen. In addition to the fact that bezoar formations negatively affect the general well-being of the animal, they also suppress the immune system, which makes the cattle more prone to various infectious and non-infectious diseases.

To prevent the development of bezoar disease, proper attention should be paid to barn hygiene and proper feeding of the calves. Moreover, feeding should be balanced for all categories of cattle: cows, bulls and young animals. The menu must include light feed, which does not require a lot of time to process. If the animal cannot cope with food, it is worth helping it by adding special drugs to the food that improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract and dissolve such clots. If such therapy does not help, it is worth seeking help from a specialist as soon as possible, who will decide what is the best way to remove bezoars. It should be said that in most cases, surgical methods have to be used.

Calf pneumonia

Pneumonia in calves has many similarities with the human course of the disease, belongs to the group of respiratory diseases.Just as in the case of a person, in especially advanced cases it can cause death. Pneumonia suppresses the effect of immunity so much that the animal can get sick with something else against the background of a severe course of the disease. It is these complicated courses of the disease that cause the death of livestock, especially young individuals.

Quite often, pneumonia develops against the background of existing diseases, such as white muscle or rickets, so the peak incidence occurs in the winter season. This is also facilitated by the change in temperature conditions on the street, humidity indicators.

The development of pneumonia can be suspected by the presence of such signs:

• The temperature rises to 40 ° C and above.
• There is a whitish or green discharge from the nose.
• Breathing becomes rough, wheezing, shortness of breath appears.
• In some cases, disorders of the digestive tract - diarrhea or constipation - are added to the main symptoms.
• The animal looks tired, exhausted.
• Appetite worsens or disappears.
• The heart also suffers, arrhythmia or heart failure develops.

Pneumonia is considered one of the most dangerous diseases, as it often leads to death, and its causes can vary:

• All systems of the body are depleted and become unusable.
• Pulmonary insufficiency sets in, the animal suffocates.
• Secondary infection with an infection. A new one is connected to the pathogen that already affects the calf's body, and the immune system is no longer able to resist.

To prevent the development of pneumonia, or at least to reduce the chances of its onset, it is necessary to provide normal living and housing conditions for livestock. Naturally, the food should correspond to the needs of the animal, contain all the necessary amino acids, vitamins and trace elements, all this will have a beneficial effect on the immune system of the cow.

Treatment of pneumonia is carried out only by a veterinarian, because only a specialist is able to choose the right method of dealing with an ailment, which usually consists of several antibiotics at once. Self-medication will most likely kill the animal, so you shouldn't try your hand.

Parasitic group of diseases

In addition to the fact that there are infectious and non-infectious diseases, there is another group of ailments that are caused by parasitic diseases. Despite the fact that there is an opinion that these are harmless diseases, they should not be underestimated. Parasites in cattle can in some cases kill animals. Moreover, the death will be so painful that it cannot even be compared with death from dysentery or pneumonia.

The danger of being infected by parasites is also that they spread at lightning speed in the territory of the barn, which makes the disease widespread. In addition, there are many diseases that can be carried by seemingly ordinary parasites. We will learn about the most dangerous and common parasites that parasitize the body of cows and calves.

Gadfly

The gadfly is a flying insect that causes a lot of inconvenience to cattle when grazing in the meadow. Outwardly, it is a small midge with a yellow abdomen, which, as part of a swarm, circles above the cow herds. This insect lays offspring in a cow's skin, and after hatching, the larvae parasitize on the skin, which gives the animal a lot of unpleasant sensations. Young animals suffer the most, namely dairy newborn calves up to 3 months old, whose skin is thinner. If a gadfly settles on the skin, this can cause irritation and extensive ulcers.

You can suspect the presence of a gadfly if there are small hard bumps on the skin - scars. Most often they are located in the back and on the sides. This is how the gadfly nests, where the female of the parasite laid eggs, manifest themselves. Since the parasites cause the animal to constantly itch, this leads to the fact that the cows can inflict various injuries on themselves.

As the larvae mature, their need for food increases, so they try to crawl as deep as possible under the cow's skin. At this stage, the healing process becomes even more difficult. By the way, only a specially trained person, that is, a veterinarian, should treat the disease. If you decide to remove the parasites yourself, the risk of infection in the wounds will increase, which will further undermine the health of an already weakened animal.

Cow scabies

The causative agent of scabies in cows is the scabies mite. As in the case of the gadfly, the onset of the disease is difficult to miss. The mechanism of damage is very similar to that of gadflies, as the scabies mite tries to penetrate as deep as possible into the skin of the cow, thereby causing it to constantly itch. The calf experiences constant itching, which makes it impossible to even eat and drink. In especially advanced cases, the cow loses hair in these places, bald patches are formed. The danger of the situation lies in the fact that the parasite can infect not only animals, but also humans.

Parasitic disease is treated locally, special ointments and creams are applied to the affected areas. In addition, it is necessary to carry out a complete disinfestation of the room in which the infected animal lives in order to prevent re-infection and further spread of the scabies mite.

As a conclusion

From the above article, we can conclude that there are many diseases that can affect cattle, and, in particular, calves. These diseases are especially dangerous in the early period, that is, until the calf reaches the age of one year.

Thus, it is worth treating the maintenance of the animal with all responsibility: to provide proper care, observe sanitary conditions, and also choose the right balanced diet. You should not save on these items, otherwise you will have to incur large losses during the treatment of the cattle or because of its death.

The manifestations of diseases in newborn calves should be treated especially carefully, because it is this group of cattle that needs most care. So in no case can you ignore the disease after detecting their signs, so you can be left completely without livestock.