What are the causes of calf diarrhea and what are the prevention and treatment methods?
The calf is a crossbred cattle type. It is mainly produced by using improved beef breeds such as Simmental cattle, Charolais cattle, and Limousin cattle as the sire, and Luxi Yellow cattle as the dam for crossbreeding improvement.So what should be done about calf diarrhea? What are the causes of its occurrence and the prevention and treatment methods?
1. Causes of calf diarrhea
1. Environmental stress factors reduce the resistance of newborn calves
The structure and function of the digestive organs of newborn calves are not fully developed, and the central nervous system has a relatively poor regulatory function over the gastrointestinal tract. When induced by certain unfavorable factors in feeding and management, opportunistic pathogens will multiply in large numbers. At this time, changes occur in the intestinal flora, especially changes in the ratio of normal dominant bacteria such as bifidobacteria and lactobacilli to opportunistic pathogens such as pathogenic Escherichia coli and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, leading to the occurrence of calf diarrhea.
2. Environmental pollution in intensive cattle barns
Intensive livestock production not only causes a sharp increase in the content of airborne microorganisms and dust inside and outside animal barns, directly affecting the health of livestock and the expression of production performance, but also leads to the spread of infectious and opportunistic infectious diseases and biological pollution of the environment. According to reports, the air in cattle barns contains Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, aerobic spore-forming bacteria, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas, and molds; studies have also shown that the total number of aerobic bacteria in cattle barn air is 31-562 per cubic meter, including non-pathogenic bacteria, pathogenic bacteria, and selectively pathogenic bacteria. High levels of selectively pathogenic bacteria can, with the help of non-microbial factors, cause infectious opportunistic diseases in susceptible animals. In the process of intensive animal production, selectively pathogenic bacteria pose a greater threat to animal health than traditional infectious diseases.
3. Control of pathogens
Available information indicates that calf diarrhea is a disease caused by viruses, microorganisms, parasites, and bacteria. Although there are vaccine preparations for preventing calf diarrhea, anti-rotavirus and anti-coronavirus vaccines often trigger outbreaks of gastroenteritis in calf herds; and Escherichia coli has many serotypes, so if the pathogenic Escherichia coli present on the cattle farm does not match the serotype of the strain used to make the vaccine, the effect of preventing Escherichia coli is not ideal.
2. Comprehensive prevention and treatment measures for calf diarrhea
1. Increase the body resistance of calves, promote the rapid formation of normal flora in the calf intestines, and improve the ability of the intestinal flora to maintain balance.
2. Use different methods to purify the environment inside the barn, reduce the content of airborne microorganisms in the barn (especially pathogenic microorganisms), and enable calves to avoid infection by pathogenic microorganisms.
At present, strengthening ventilation and disinfection are the most commonly used methods for reducing microorganisms in cattle barns. The commonly used disinfection methods in cattle barns are spray disinfection or fumigation disinfection. Spray disinfection is often uneven and may also lead to increased humidity in the barn; fumigation disinfection is more irritating and cannot be carried out with animals present.
3. Use vaccines or veterinary drugs to prevent and treat calf diarrhea.
When cattle farms use vaccines to prevent calf diarrhea, they should not only pay attention to the type of vaccine and the selection of suitable strains, but also pay attention to the side effects of the vaccine. For the Escherichia coli that causes calf diarrhea, large-scale cattle farms should pay attention to the isolation and identification of pathogenic Escherichia coli and use isolated strains to make their own vaccines, which often achieves the expected purpose. When using antibiotics to prevent and treat calf diarrhea, it is best to conduct a drug sensitivity test before medication.
4. Strengthen the feeding and management of calves.
Regularly clean the cattle barn to ensure a quiet and clean environment; feed high-quality feed at fixed times and in fixed amounts, and supply sufficient clean drinking water; before and after weaning, appropriately supplement anti-stress substances.