Clostridium perfringens has been incriminated as a cause of death in fast growing lambs and milk fed calves for a long time. On the dairy farm this bacterium is common to manure from adult animals and soil. Why it picks a particular calf, time or place to attack is not well understood. Treatment is often too little and too late to save its victims. Death can be within a few hours of first signs of a problem. The toxins associated with clostridial organisms are very potent.
Adult cattle have their own version of this problem known as HBS or “hemorrhagic bowel syndrome”. The track record of saving these cases can be as dismal as that of the calves. Seven and 8-way clostridial vaccines of various “types”, commercial or specially manufactured from farm isolates vary in effectiveness. A mold, Aspergillus fumigatus, received a good deal of attention a few years ago as the smoking gun behind HBS. The question today remains, which of these organisms are truly primary versus secondary in the course of this disease and what feed quality issues might act as triggers.
On the calf side, a bacterium totally unrelated to clostridia known as Sarcina ventriculi was identified several years ago in association with clostridial-like bloat in calves less than 3 weeks of age. Unlike clostridial bloat and enteritis cases, the abomasums of these calves were greatly enlarged with gaseous thickening of the stomach wall and some of the adjoining small intestine. Classic clostridial bloat does not exhibit nearly the gas that Sarcina cases show. What is odd about this organism is that it can be easily found in the rumen of cattle, but is very difficult to culture for study. It is genetically similar to clostridia, but looks nothing like it.
The Diagnostic Laboratory at Cornell has investigated many cases of classic clostridial enteritis as well as Sarcina associated bloats. There are some interesting observations that have been compiled. The following are presented as thought provokers not scientific evidence.
• cleanliness of feeding equipment and colostrum collection seem to be a factor
• more cases are found associated with milk replacer than whole milk feeding
• higher risk in the winter
• higher incidence without free choice water or quickly freezing free choice water
• usually occurs at 7-21 days of age, but has been seen in older calves
• consistency of milk replacer from feeding to feeding may be a factor (intervals, concentration of powder to water)
• Too high of a concentration of milk replacer is an apparent correlation
• May be more common in higher protein milk replacer use
• More common with higher feeding rates
• Seems to be associated with early intake of starter; indigestible carbohydrates as a result of a naïve rumen?
• lactose level appears not a problem
• 4-5 farms noted increasing temperature of water used for mixing replacer by several degrees only (108 to 114 as an example) was coincidental with start of problems
• Water un-palatability (hard water) seems associated with eating grain closer to liquid feeding; possibly leading to nutrient overload of the gut?
• One farm had the problem disappear by changing to city water from well water
• Farms increasing liquid feeding rates in the cold weather on a 2X basis could avoid the problem by feeding 3X
These observations bring to mind the need to provide feed and water to calves consistently with quality in mind. The spike in milk protein prices has driven milk replacer costs through the roof. Cheaper, lower quality products are a digestive challenge to the calf particularly in the first three weeks of life. Stresses come in tandem, rarely as single entities. Young calves are the most susceptible population we have on the dairy. Treat them nicely.
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