Calf Rearing
Calves
Coccidiosis in Calves — Bloody Diarrhoea in the Crowded Pen
Updated 12 Oct 2026 • By Falah Nutrition Desk, Animal Nutrition Advisor
A calf of a few months, straining with its tail up and passing dark, bloody, mucus-streaked dung, is a classic picture of coccidiosis — a parasite of the gut lining picked up from contaminated bedding and water. It rarely kills outright, but it steals growth for weeks, and in a crowded pen it spreads to every calf.
आम लक्षण
- Diarrhoea with streaks of blood and mucus, often dark
- Straining with the tail raised, sometimes with little passed
- Dirty, stained tail and hindquarters
- Rough coat, pot belly and growth falling behind pen-mates
- Calves 1-6 months old, several affected within days of each other
- Loss of appetite and dullness in bad cases
संभावित कारण
- Coccidia eggs in dung contaminating bedding, feed troughs and water
- Overcrowded, damp pens where dung and feed mix
- Stress: weaning, transport, a cold snap or a sudden feed change
- Poor nutrition and worm burdens lowering resistance
- Water buckets placed where calves can dung in them
किसान को क्या जाँचना चाहिए
- Is the dung dark and bloody rather than pale and watery (scours in younger calves looks different)?
- How many calves share the pen and how often is bedding changed?
- Are feed and water raised off the floor, away from dung?
- Any recent stress — weaning, moving, cold?
- Has a dung sample been examined by the vet to confirm?
फ़ीड मार्गदर्शन
Recovery needs a gut that is fed gently and a pen that is cleaned hard. Keep calf starter available in small fresh amounts — GOKA Calf Starter is palatable and digestible, which matters when appetite is low — and offer clean water constantly, replacing it as soon as it is dirtied. Good quality soft hay supports the healing gut lining. Do not withhold feed; a starved calf heals slowly. Growth lost to coccidiosis is partly recoverable with steady feeding over the next two months, so keep the starter and later GOKA Heifer going without gaps.
संबंधित GOKA प्रोडक्ट्स
Heifers (Growing Young Cows)
Early breeding readiness & strong growth
पशु चिकित्सक से कब संपर्क करें
Bloody diarrhoea in calves needs a veterinary doctor to confirm coccidiosis with a dung test and prescribe the correct anti-coccidial medicine for every calf in the pen, not only the sick ones. Dehydrated calves may need fluids.
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