Control and Prevention
No CommentsAdd Rumensin to the weaning or receiving ration at the rate of 30 g/ton. This level will provide 15 mg /lb of ration and will prevent an outbreak in an estimated 95% of the groups of calves in your operation. Rumensin has the reputation of reducing feed intake but experience has shown that little reduction is seen if Rumensin is in the ration at the initial feeding. Calves will adapt to Rumensin at the same time they are adapting to a new ration. Bovatec can be used in a similar manner but is not as effective as Rumensin in controlling coccidiosis and is much less effective in reducing bloat and also costs more to feed on a daily basis. While Rumensin is not cleared by FDA for bloat control, it is an ancillary benefit that has been noted by research and practical use programs such as calves grazing wheat pasture. It should be noted that bloat reduction improves on stocker calves as dose is increased.
Deccox is an effective control product for controlling coccidiosis but as seen in the data above on daily feeding costs, your daily feeding cost will be approximately 34 cents /head/day for a 500 lb calf compared to about 1.5 cents for Rumensin. Deccox is a static product which means it doesn’t kill the coccidiosis organisms.When you remove Deccox from the ration at 28 days you “open the gate” on the coccidia that are in the gut and they will continue their maturation and migration thru the intestines if you don’t have a cidal product such as Rumensin in the second ration, thus a disease outbreak may occur.
Practical management would indicate that Rumensin started on day 1 is the logical choice. If you feed Deccox beyond 28 days you are in violation of the label and are buying an expensive product needlessly.
Treatment:
If an outbreak occurs quick action is required to minimize the damage to the intestinal tract of the calves. The damage done to the intestines will effect their performance possibly for their entire life if the outbreak is serious. We would recommend that Corid be on hand or readily available.
If an individual calf shows signs of a coccidiosis infection as described in the diagnosis section, drenching with Corid as described on the label is the best alternative. Treatment should continue for 5 days.
If an entire pen of calves shows symptoms of coccidiosis then treating the water with Corid is the easiest and most effective program. This regime requires knowledge of the capacity of the water source or an automatic dosing device to treat the water as it flows into the tank or trough were the calves drink. Other sources of water must be eliminated while the calves are being treated.
