Bovine viral diarrhea virus 1 (BVDV-1) subtype b was isolated from premature Holstein calves from a dairy herd that experienced an outbreak of premature births, late-term abortions, brachygnathism, growth retardation, malformations of the brain and cranium, and rare extracranial skeletal malformations in calves born to first-calf heifers. Experimental inoculation of 3 colostrum-deprived calves ...

Abstract Neonatal and weaning periods are the most challenging phases for enteric infections in dairy calves. While different approaches used to minimize calf health issues, neonatal diet remains core approach enhance pre- post-weaning animal performance. Previous studies have shown that bioactive compounds, including oligosaccharides present of calves, enhanced their growth performance post-we...

Current Johne's disease control programs primarily focus on decreasing transmission of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) from infectious adult cows to susceptible calves. However, potential transmission between calves is largely overlooked. The objective was to determine the extent of MAP infection in calves contact-exposed to infectious penmates. Thirty-two newborn Holstein-Fri...

Blindness attributed to vitamin A deficiency afflicted 47 out of 197, and 15 out of 29 new-born dairy calves on 2 farms. Other clinical signs included doming of the forehead, thickening of the carpal joints, incoordination and weakness. Gross lesions in 8 of the calves examined consisted in hydrocephalus and thickened occipital and sphenoid bones. In 4 of these calves the optic nerves were cons...

The aim of this experiment was to better describe early behavioral responses of calves to illness to help improve early detection. We examined the behavior of calves after injections of very low doses of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Fifteen dairy calves of 2 ages (3 and 20 wk), housed in individual pens and fed milk and concentrates with free access to hay and water, were injected i.v. w...

Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) were observed preying on elk calves (Cervus elaphus) on 60 occasions in Yellowstone National Park, with 29 confirmed kills. Some bears were deliberate predators and effectively preyed on elk calves for short periods each spring, killing up to 1 calf daily. Primary hunting techniques were searching and chasing although some bears used a variety of techniqu...

Severe enteric colibacillosis, characterized by profuse watery diarrhea, dehydration, apathy, hypothermia, and inability to stand, was produced in seven of eight newborn, colostrum-fed calves from nonvaccinated dams after oral challenge of calves with 10(11) viable cells of Escherichia coli strain B44. Twenty-nine of 32 calves from dams vaccinated with various preparations of E. coli strain B44...

The study evaluated possible transmission of Mycoplasma bovis from sand bedding to naive dairy calves. Screening of a closed herd showed 99% probability that the herd was free of mycoplasma in calves. Neonatal calves (n = 12) from the herd were blocked by weight and height and randomly assigned as controls (n = 6) bedded with quarry sand, or exposed (n = 6) bedded with M. bovis-positive bedding...

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Enterococcus faecium 669 supplementation on performance, health, parasitological, microbiological, and hematological responses pre-weaning dairy calves. Forty-two newborn Holstein female calves [initial body weight (BW) 44 ± 4.5 kg] were used in present study. At birth, ranked by initial BW assigned 1 2 treatment groups: 1) whole milk (CON; n = 21) 2)...