Creating treatment protocols

Most treatments in a calf shed aren't one-offs. You treat scour the same way 90% of the time. You treat pneumonia the same way 90% of the time. You treat foot abscesses the same way 90% of the time. A treatment protocol is a saved regimen — name plus drugs plus doses plus durations plus withdrawals — that you can fire off with one tap. It's the difference between a shed where every worker can treat correctly and a shed that depends on the manager remembering the dose.

Who can do this

Admins only.

Where to find it

Top nav → Treatments → Protocols. Or directly: /treatment/protocols.

Treatment protocol vs Task protocol

An easy confusion, an important difference:

Define a protocol — field by field

• Name (required) — plain shed language. "Pneumonia", "Scour 3-day", "Foot abscess".
• Condition tag (optional) — short label that shows as a badge on the protocol card. "Pneumonia", "Scour", "Lameness".
• Notes (optional) — guidance for whoever's about to start this. The vet's reasoning, what to watch for, when to escalate.
• Drugs table — same columns as a custom treatment session. Tap Add drug as many times as you need.

Worked examples

Pneumonia

• Name: Pneumonia
• Condition tag: Pneumonia
• Notes: Use if temperature >39.5°C and respiratory rate elevated.
• Drugs: Resflor | Antibiotic | 6 ml/45 kg | 1 day | 42 days · Metacam | Medication | 0.5 ml/10 kg | 1 day | 15 days

Scour 3-day

• Name: Scour 3-day
• Condition tag: Scour
• Notes: Pull from milk for 24h. Resume milk gradually day 2.
• Drugs: Vytrate electrolyte | Electrolyte | 100 g / 2 L | 3 days | 0 · Metacam | Medication | 0.5 ml/10 kg | 1 day | 15

Severe scour (with antibiotic)

• Notes: Use only if calf is dehydrated AND temp >39.5°C. Vet call if no improvement at 48h.
• Drugs: Vytrate, Metacam, Excede (8-day WHP)

Foot abscess / lameness

• Notes: Clean and pare hoof first. Topical iodine after.
• Drugs: Penethaject | Antibiotic | 1 ml / 50 kg | 5 days | 5 days · Metacam | Medication | 0.5 ml/10 kg | 1 day | 15 days

Not a prescription — your vet drives the drugs and doses. The point is the shape.

How workers use protocols

1. Treatments → Start treatment.
2. Top of the screen: protocol cards. They see the names, the condition tags, and the maximum withdrawal period (longest WHP across drugs).
3. Tap the protocol card → all drugs and durations are filled in.
4. Tick the calves who need it.
5. Tap Start treatment.

A 15-second treatment start, error-free, repeatable across shifts.

Editing and disabling

• Tap a protocol row in the All protocols table to edit.
• Disable stops it appearing on Start treatment but keeps in-flight treatments running and historical doses intact.
• No hard delete — disable is the safe equivalent.

Four tips from real sheds

• Build 4–6 protocols. Cover scour (mild), scour (severe), pneumonia, lameness. That handles 80% of treatments on a typical calf shed.
• Run them past your vet. Have them name and dose the drugs the way they'd want. Pin a printed copy in the shed so the vet recognises what you're starting if they pop in.
• Use condition tags consistently. They're the same list as the Health page condition chips. Keeps reports clean.
• Don't try to model every scenario. Custom / one-off is always available on Start treatment for the weird cases.

What's not there

• No protocol versioning. Editing applies to future starts; old treatments keep their original drugs on the calf passport.
• No conditional logic ("if temp >39.5"). The protocol is a fixed regimen; clinical judgement is yours.
• No dose-by-day variation. For tapering, use two protocols back-to-back.

One thing to take away

A good protocol set turns a worker who's only been on the farm two weeks into someone who can treat correctly. Spend the hour. Get the protocols right. Then your shed stops depending on any one person's memory.