Beef and dairy farmers are being encouraged to develop calf hygiene protocols as part of efforts to prevent scours in their youngstock.

Dr Tim Potter, senior clinical director of Westpoint Farm Vets, part of the VetPartners group, says ensuring a good level of hygiene is vital for preventing disease in calves.

“Scours remains the leading cause of morbidity and death in calves under one month of age and accounts for roughly 50% of all calf deaths in the UK,” adds Dr Potter.

“It can be caused by a number of different pathogens including Salmonella, E. coli, rotavirus, coronavirus or cryptosporidiosis.

“No matter which pathogen is involved, it is always transmitted by faecal oral transmission; this highlights the importance of maintaining good hygiene to try and break that cycle of infection.”

He says there is wide-spread understanding of the importance of getting sufficient, good quality colostrum into calves as quickly as possible after birth – however, poor hygiene often undoes this good work.

“On many farms, there is room for improvement in the hygiene practices around the collection and feeding of colostrum, as well as the feeding of milk or milk replacer,” adds Dr Potter.

“Studies have shown that high levels of bacterial contamination of feeding equipment are enhancing the spread of pathogens among calves[1], and farm hygiene practices aren’t what they should be.”

As an example, he says one study[2] found only 21% of farmers are cleaning colostrum collection equipment after every use, and less than half are using hot water to clean it.

Dr Potter recommends working with your vet to carry out a hygiene assessment and develop a hygiene protocol so all staff know exactly how to clean equipment – including details of water temperature and the disinfectant required – and how to dry and store it.

“For farms which are calving animals and feeding colostrum, the protocol needs to start with the collection and storage of the colostrum and then move onto how it is fed to calves and all subsequent milk feed preparation and administration equipment,” adds Dr Potter.

“For calf rearers, the focus will be on all the equipment used in the preparation and delivery of milk feeds.”

He says all hygiene protocols must include equipment that is only used occasionally, such as stomach tubes or bottles and teats for sick animals, as these can often be forgotten as part of the regular cleaning regime.

“Hygiene needs to be viewed as a disease mitigation tool because poor hygiene may not only be the cause of scour, but also the reason why it is more likely to be transmitted between animals,” adds Dr Potter.

“Making the cleaning process easy, by developing a hygiene protocol, will increase the chances of it being done properly.”

Example cleaning protocol for calf feeding equipment

1. Rinse off dirt and milk residues using warm water (approximately 32-38°C)
2. Soak in hot water (54-57°C) with a chlorinated alkaline detergent for at least 20-30 minutes
3. Scrub using a brush
4. Wash in hot water (at least 50°C)
5. Rinse again using an acid sanitiser to make it difficult for any remaining bacteria to thrive
6. Drain and dry before using again. Equipment should be hung up or left on drying racks to dry thoroughly

[1] Heinemann et al., 2021

[2] Hyde et al 2020 Frontiers in Veterinary Science