Buffalo Calf Diarrhoea and Worm Tests

A buffalo calf with watery dung usually needs a dung test first, because worms, tiny gut parasites and several germs can all cause it. A rapid kit can look for common germs in one go, and a worm egg count shows whether worms are laying eggs. Your vet decides the next step, and a scouring calf should be seen without delay.

Why do buffalo calves get loose, watery dung?

Loose dung in a young calf is often called scour. A calf's gut is still learning to cope with the germs around it, so many different things can upset it. Viruses, bacteria, tiny single-celled parasites and worms are all possible causes, and the dung can look much the same in each case.

A scouring calf can lose body water fast and turn weak. Please call your vet at once and do not wait for a lab report. Tests help your vet choose the next step, but they never replace an examination of the calf.

How do you collect a dung sample?

Fresh dung gives the clearest answer. Old, dried or soil-mixed dung can hide eggs and germs, or add unrelated ones. These steps help:

• Wear gloves and use a clean, dry container with a tight lid.
• Take dung the calf has just passed, from the top part that has not touched the floor. Your vet can also take it straight from the calf.
• A heaped spoonful is enough. Do not add water or any chemical.
• Write the calf's tag number or name, the date and the time on the container. Use one container for each calf.
• Keep it closed, in shade and cool, and hand it in soon.

Tell the lab and your vet what the calf has been fed lately and any medicine already given.

Which dung tests look for worms and gut parasites?

Three dung checks are common.

• A Stool Routine looks at the colour and thickness of the dung, checks for blood and mucus, and examines a small portion under a microscope. It is a sensible first look.
• A Fecal Worm Egg Count for Cattle & Buffalo counts worm eggs in a measured amount of dung. It shows whether adult worms are laying eggs and roughly how heavy the load is. Very young worms do not lay eggs yet, so a calf can carry worms and still show few eggs. In young buffalo calves, a large roundworm is a well-known cause of poor growth and loose dung.
• A Coccidia Oocyst Count (OPG) counts oocysts, the tiny egg-like cysts that coccidia shed. Coccidia are parasites that live in the lining of the gut and trouble mainly young animals. Finding a few oocysts does not prove they caused the diarrhoea, so the count is read with the calf's signs.

What does the rapid calf diarrhoea kit show?

The Calf Diarrhoea Rapid Test (Rotavirus, Coronavirus, Cryptosporidium & E. coli K99) checks one dung sample for several causes at once. Rotavirus and coronavirus are viruses. Cryptosporidium is a tiny parasite. E. coli K99 is a type of bacterium that harms the gut of very young calves. The exact germs depend on the kit, and the lab confirms them when you book.

A positive line can point your vet towards a cause quickly. A negative line does not rule other causes out, because the kit looks only for the germs it was made for, and a sample taken late may hold too few of them.

Cryptosporidium can pass to people. Wear gloves, wash your hands well after touching the calf or its dung, and speak to a doctor if anyone at home develops loose motions.

What does your vet decide next?

A registered veterinarian reads the results with the calf's age, how well it is suckling, how dry its mouth and eyes look and how long the dung has been loose. The vet may start treatment, repeat a test, ask for blood work, or look at the shed, the mother's health and the way the calf is fed.

If several calves are scouring, say so. One calf's result may not describe the rest of the group, and more than one sample can help.

For a wider check, the Calf Health Check Pack typically combines a blood count, a blood parasite smear, a check of colostrum protection (colostrum is the first thick milk) and dung checks such as the coccidia count. The exact list is confirmed when you book, and your vet can still add or drop tests.

Read next

For more on how egg counts work and when a repeat makes sense, see Fecal Worm Egg Count for Cattle and Buffalo: When and Why. To understand the first milk and early checks that protect a newborn, read Calf Health in the First Weeks: Colostrum and Lab Tests.

Testing in Bhopal

You can hand the labelled dung container in at C-200, C Sector, Shahpura, or ask for it to be collected from your shed or farm anywhere in Bhopal at no charge. Farmers outside Bhopal can send dung by courier, bus parcel or through their local vet. Call or WhatsApp +91 88175 01118; the lab confirms the method, sample needs and reporting time when you book, and a vet usually takes any blood sample.