Calf scours is the most common disease of calves.  Regardless of the cause of the scours, most of these calves die from dehydration.  The most economical method of rehydrating calves that are mildly to moderately dehydrated is by administering oral rehydration solutions.  Calves that are severely dehydrated should be treated with intravenous fluids.  In the past, oral rehydrating solutions consisted of mostly electrolytes and water and milk was not used.  However, it has been shown that these solutions only provide 20% to 50% of the maintenance needs of the calf.  Within a few days, these calves will become weak and intestinal function decreases.  The addition of small amounts of milk to the electrolyte rehydrating solutions is now recommended to increase the energy level of scouring calves and aid in healing of the intestine.  However, bicarbonate based rehydrating solutions should not be used with milk as the bicarbonate can decrease the absorption of the milk and increase the diarrhea.  So make sure of the ingredients in the electrolyte solutions you purchase, or ask your veterinarian. 

In the past it was also believed that it was much better for the calf to suckle a bottle than to be tube fed.  Although suckling a bottle is excellent, many calves are too weak to do so.  The suckling causes the esophageal groove to close in the calf’s stomach, which allows the oral solution to go directly into the abomasum where immediate absorption can occur.  However, even though calves that are tube fed have a slight delay in absorption, this delay is insignificant.  Therefore, tube feeding these calves with diarrhea is easy on the calf and owner and should be started immediately if a baby calf will not suckle the bottle.  Contact your vet for instructions on rehydrating scouring calves.