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As spring calving progresses, good hygiene in calving pens and calf creeps is crucial to reduce the risk of any disease outbreak. Calving pens present a major disease risk to new-born calves.
Once born, a calf can pick up an infection such as scour from wet or soiled bedding within the first few hours of life. This can occur before the calf gets its first feed of colostrum making it much harder to treat.
While cleaning pens out after every calving is not always practical, you should try to clean them every other day.
Apply plenty of fresh, clean straw to the pen before each calving. Limit cows to one or two days in the pen after calving to limit the amount of of soiled bedding.
Cows should be moved to a larger loose house. Again, these pens should be kept clean with provision of a dry, straw bedded creep area free from draughts.
If weather and ground conditions permit, turning the calf outdoors to a sheltered paddock is a better option.
When cleaning pens, make sure you let the floor dry properly before re-bedding.
Spreading ground lime in the pen after cleaning is also a good idea.
If you have an outbreak of scour, it is essential that you isolate sick calves for treatment.
Clean out and disinfect the pen and any adjacent pen before re-bedding.
Beef management notes: coccidiosis
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