As we approach the spring-calving rush on so many farms, one area which is particularly important is hygiene.

So many of the bugs we see calves picking up can be due to reduced immunity and/or increased infection pressure. Infection pressure is the amount of a bacteria or virus that is in the environment and, if that reaches very high levels, even healthy animals become susceptible.

Most of the scour-causing pathogens thrive in intensive systems. They build up over time often leading to problems midway through or towards the tail-end of calving. That is why it is even more important as numbers build in the calf sheds to pay maximum attention to hygiene.

Reducing the risk of calves to this infection is vital in controlling diseases in the newborn.

Stopping the spread of disease

By paying particular attention to good hygiene practices, we can dramatically reduce the spread of disease. This begins in the calving pens. Both individual calving pens and group-housing cows at calving can work well when managed correctly.

At this stage, most farms will have cleaned and disinfected calving pens. This process should be continued throughout calving, whenever the opportunity arises. Having the maternity area clean and disinfected is critical to reduce pathogens building up to infective levels. I personally think plenty of fresh straw-bedding and regular liming is adequate when done properly.

I’m often asked about where calves initially pick up the bugs that cause scour. It often begins in the calving pens and is usually spread in the dung or faeces of the dams. What happens over time as this infection builds up, is that infected calves then become the source of new infection. So it’s critical to minimise the newborn calf to faecal exposure at birth. This is why the snatching of dairy calves and prompt removal from dams is advised to reduce infections or scours.

It is so important to move calves to clean fresh pens after calving

When the newborn calf is on the ground, it is important that the environment is as clean as possible. The main routes for bugs to get into the calf are through the mouth, navel or nostrils. So, navel hygiene is so important. I advocate navel washing with chlorohexidine or iodine/alcohol solution. Due to the fact that the navel is a tube, it is far better being washed than sprayed. Why? Because washing will disinfect the inside of the cord where bacteria tend to invade upwards, causing navel infections and septicaemia.

Recent studies have shown navel washing to be useful, but much of the focus should be on hygiene in the calving area and, of course, colostrum to prevent navel infections.

It is worth noting that calves will spend 80% of their time lying down, so it is critical that they are lying on clean bedding. Just kneel on the straw yourself and make sure it doesn’t leave marks on your knees. For that reason, it is so important to move calves to clean fresh pens after calving. Again, these should be regularly disinfected and cleaned right throughout the calving season. This regular cleaning will reduce the build-up of infections and the spread of disease.

It is important that sick calves are isolated in sick pens. These pens should be completely separate and this is where hygiene should be at another level. Interestingly, two of our best farms with calf health have a separate waterproof pants/jacket for the calf house.

Everyone entering and leaving the calf shed should disinfect their boots and overalls. Have a visible deep fresh disinfection bucket and brush at the entry point of the calf house. Make sure that everyone uses it. The newborn calf housing should be treated with the kind of hygiene standards you would see in a maternity unit in a hospital.

Daily cleaning

So why am I so obsessed with this? Well most of our newborn calf scours are viral or protozoan (cryptosporidium), meaning that there is no treatments for them. To eliminate the risk, we must reduce the spread and exposure of young calves to these bugs. Yes, it takes time to carry out these hygiene practices, but it takes longer and is much more expensive to treat sick calves.

Finally, all equipment used for calves need to be cleaned and disinfected regularly. I advise having two separate stomach tubes – the first for sick calves and the second for colostrum management.

It is also vital to ensure stomach tubes are cleaned regularly or dipped into a Milton-type solution.

Never use a power washer in calf sheds with calves in them. This creates huge potential for aerosol spread of disease.

Avoiding disaster zone

All calf-feeding equipment also need to be cleaned daily. This again might seem extreme, but I have seen where it has been done and has hugely reduced the problems with calf scour.

It is important also when group-housing calves that we minimise the build-up of moisture in pens. Ideally, pens like these should have a lie-off area and a feeding area that can be cleaned regularly. Where using automatic feeders, particular attention should be paid to reducing the build-up of moisture and manure around them. I have seen these as potential disaster zones when placed in areas of poor drainage. Remember, this is the area where calves will be drinking and, most likely, defecating.

So, yes, these measures may appear to be adding to your workload, but in the long-term they will save your time and your calves.

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