2006/S06 - Controlling Beef Calf Scours

Summary

Investigate by way of a comparative broad based trial, develop and adopt solutions which: 
a) Improve productivity by preventing current calf deaths due to calf scours. 
b) Improve profitability by developing methodologies which dramatically reduce the amount of supervision currently required to ensure calves survive the  first 12 weeks of life. 
c) Reduce the expense and potential health risks of purchasing and administering drugs, and the labour expense of catching calves and administering drugs. 
d) Reduce the mental trauma to farmers of seeing calves suffer and die from scours, and then having to sell the resultant dry cow. 
e) Improving the sustainability of breeding beef cattle in this region by maximising survive-ability of calves from birth to weaning, and maintaining a larger breeding herd by not having to sell, or carry with no economic gain, the dams of  lost calves.