Steer has constant scours, what to do?

[fordkindagirl]

My steer has had scours for a while, we have tried a lot to get it taken care of but he still has it. We cut back his feed (has been on cutback feed for 3 weeks) and gave him 4x the hay. We gave him Anti-Diarrhea medicine (Kaolin Pectin) several times but it didn't do much. He has been dewormed (every 45 days) so I don't think it is worms or anything like that. Right now I am giving him electrolytes in his water and he is still drinking and going to the bathroom, a lot. We are thinking about drenching him but don't think it's going to fix it permanently. I don't want to have him constantly on anti-diarrhea medicine so not sure what to do. Anyone know what could be causing it? or how to stop it?

 

[LostFarmer]

If he was mine I would pull a sample and have the vet take a look.  I have gone to a friend who butchers beef and pressed the liquid out of a pile of gut contents from a cow.  I then drenched the cow with the gut juices and probiotics.  Not a fun task but it got the guts back to working. 

 

[lightnin4]

Have a vet check the stool for coccidia or just treat him with Corid.

 

[rackranch]

Does it have a strong stink to it??? yes I would have a sample tested and would start on corid today as mentioned.  Take feed completly away and give hay only... go to feed store and get some sulfur bulus...you will need to buy a bulus gun and i would get the plastic one b/c its only 3-4 dollars.. depending on weight 4-5 will do the trick.. if he is better in the morning slowly start back on feed and repeat the bulus in 48 hours... take 3-4 days to get back on full feed and don't rush it...

 

[HAB]

is your hay straight grass hay?  I would remove all grain and molasses, and a good dose of probiotic paste wouldn't hurt.

 

[fordkindagirl]

Forgot to mention he is on probiotics. And it does have a relatively strong stink.

 

[crown33]

i know some people who had a steer that had the same thing and they took it to iowa state and he had ulcers...i dont know for sure what they did to him..but maybe you could give iowa state a call

 

[QMC]

It may be a selenium deficiency, MU-SE wouldn't hurt anything to try

 

[fordkindagirl]

My dad ordered the liquid Corid for drenching, but can we pour it on his feed? I don't mind drenching him but my dad doesn't want to. I don't think pouring it on his feed will work cause he will probably just go off feed.

 

[DL]

How old is the steer and where did he come from? Is he bright and alert and eating and drinkng but still pooping his brain out? Is he drinking a lot of water? Is he loosing weight? Although unusual it is not unheard of that yearling steer calves have scours because they have Johne's disease? If all the things you have tried don't work it might be worth either having the vet out to examine him or sending a sample of manure for JD PCR.

 

[fordkindagirl]

How old is the steer and where did he come from? Is he bright and alert and eating and drinkng but still pooping his brain out? Is he drinking a lot of water? Is he loosing weight? Although unusual it is not unheard of that yearling steer calves have scours because they have Johne's disease? If all the things you have tried don't work it might be worth either having the vet out to examine him or sending a sample of manure for JD PCR.

We do not know how old he is or where he came from. It is a school district show (FFA) and all the steers were purchased through the livestock show asscociation. He is bright and alert, and I would say he poops at about a normal rate, but he is still gaining 2-2.5 lbs a day. Right now we are treating him with Corid, but maybe it could be Johne's disease.

 

[WhoaFlicka]

give it a shot of nuflor 10 cc and only grass hay for awhile

 

[tnt cattle]

use a pig wormer called spectrum 5 cc  down the throat give him about an hour it will work    this is no joke  i have a heifer that i had to do it to now as a yearling shes fine

 

[rackranch]

Update??? Hows the steer doing???

 

[fordkindagirl]

Update??? Hows the steer doing???

Currently treating him with Corid and he is doing great! His scours cleared up after a day of treatment (powder you put in water). Now we are just going to continue through the five day treatment then drench him with electrolytes. (also do the 21 day preventative soon)

 

[rackranch]

Glad he is doing well.. now get that dude up to 16-18lbs of feed a day until it cools off here in Texas...