David Hanson

“About a third of our calves went down with scour about two years ago and one was so poorly it was at death’s door. We had recently changed vets and he recommended that we tried Rehydion, so we gave it a go. Our initial thoughts were ‘wow, why haven’t we tried this before’; we thought that the very sick calf would be dead by the morning, but Rehydion was the ‘miracle factor’ as after two or three doses it was back suckling on the cow!

“We now use calf jackets for autumn calving, which has made a huge difference since the scour outbreak a few years ago, and if we see a calf with scour then we give it Rehydion, which will clear it up within a few doses, so they can be back drinking off the cow as soon as possible.

“Scour can be frustrating to manage as we don’t really know what causes it, but we need to keep our calves as healthy as we can as they lose condition so quickly when they’re young; within three days they can lose a third of their body weight and take eight months to catch up, with some always behind. We don’t get attached as such, but when you’re with a herd twice a day, every day you live and breathe cattle, so it can be stressful when one of them is sick.

“We have found that Rehydion has revolutionised how we manage scour. It is dead easy to use – there’s no faffing about – and it is a small price to pay to keep a calf alive and in good health.

“My advice to other farmers managing scour in their calves is to keep calves drinking milk and keep them hydrated with Rehydion – you’d be crackers not to use it!”