Umbarger and coccidiosis prevention

We have been feeding Umbarger Show Feeds to our show heifers for four years and love the results. We do have one problem and that we get a few breaks with coccidiosis from time to time where we get some loose manure. This usually responds well to sulfa antibiotics and corrid. However, I would like to prevent this from happening. Is anyone out there top dressing the Umbarger with Deccox or a Bovatec product? If so what product and how much are you using?

  Use either Deccox 10X or 20X according to label for 28 days straight and you will break the parasite's cycle and more than likely not have to worry about it again with that group of calves.

Great - Sounds exactly what I was thinking. I see a Deccox 10X product online - dosage is 1/10 lb. per 1000 lb. body weight. Short of buying a gram scale, have you figured out a cup/tablespoon size for a 1/10#? Also how is the palatability on the product? Thanks for the help.

We use a hanging digital fish scale which can be set to hundredths of a pound or oz.'s up to 50 lbs. Can also do metric.  Everything the  show cattle eat goes on this scale every day.  I think it's a Rapala brand from the sporting goods dept.  at Farm & Fleet.
We use the preventive dose of Corrid quite regular as we to fight a little low grade cocci.  There is Bovatec in our feed but no more grain than these heifers require a day they don't get enough product.

<cowboy>

I have tried longer levels of corrid crumbles in the past - seems like some of mine didn't like to eat it if they were getting pan fed. TBH I may have been overfeeding a little. When I need to treat one I have had more satisfaction drenching them individually, but this can be time consuming.

Thanks for the fish scale idea! I have tried some cheaper diet scales from walmart in the past but they don't seem to last long at our place and I didn't feel were real accurate. I was too cheap to buy a gram scale when I went looking for one on the internet before.

I have Bovetec mixed in my creep feed and have never had a case of coccidiosis.  It costs about $10 more to have it included.

Remember that whenever you have coccidiosis,  it is because of fecal contamination of the feed. 

I agree with having the Bovatec mixed in. The Umbarger brand is a not a custom mix, but a premade show feed. I am not sure why they don't include an ingredient in it for coccidiosis prevention. We do include bovatec in our custom mixes. Rumensin is another popular ionophore for coccidiosis prevention.

idalee said:

Remember that whenever you have coccidiosis,  it is because of fecal contamination of the feed.

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Idalee - while fecal contamination of the feed can cause coccidiosis, it is not the only reason. Our show calves are pan fed with very little fecal contamination. However our show lots don't get a lot of rest and we do have build up of the coccidia in our show runs. Cattle ingest grass or some stagnant water, ingesting the coccidia in the runs. Most cattle have been exposed to coccidia in their lives. Older animals develop resistance to it. Most younger animals are the ones at risk, so it is very common to include an ionopore (rumensin or bovatec) or other coccidiostat (deccox) in the feed to prevent the disease.

  The rate of inclusion for rumensin & bovatec in your common beef ration will not be even close to being able to control or prevent a outbreak of coccidiosis. The rates that they use are mainly for improving feed efficiencies. Coccidiosis is caused by a parasite. Once the threshold has been over ridden you are going to have an outbreak. Because it is caused by a parasite you can break the cycle of it's reproduction just as you can break the lice cycle by pouring them every 14 days to start with if you have a bad case or by timing your deworming protocol you are trying to interfere with their life cycle. As I said earlier in this thread if people with persistant outbreaks would make it routine to feed a deccox product at a prevention level for 28 days you are pretty much safeguarding your group of calves from a major outbreak of coccidiosis. I hope this helps to you to understand some whys and hows.

Remember that whenever you have coccidiosis,  it is because of fecal contamination of the feed. 

Or, water.  I have had calves get it from stock tank water.

Possum Trot Ranch said:

Remember that whenever you have coccidiosis,  it is because of fecal contamination of the feed. 

Or, water.  I have had calves get it from stock tank water.

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That is just not a true statement. Cattle can pick it up off of the ground or each other. When you have an outbreak it becomes much easier spread. I'm not saying that they can't get it from fecal material because they can but that is not the only way that they can contract the symptoms.
  May I ask how you know that they contracted it from the water source?
I have attached a article about this subject below. There are many, many more available online.

http://www.iowabeefcenter.org/Beef%20Cattle%20Handbook/Coccidiosis.pdf