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Introduction: Infectious diarrhea is still one of the leading causes of losses of newborn calves. Therefore the prophylactic use of probiotics, which are supposed to inhibit the propagation of pathogens through repression from colonization on the gut, seems very promising. So the balance of the intestinal flora is affected in a positive manner. Another way to control infectious diarrhea consists of oral or parenteral application of specific antibodies (origin could be serum, milk, colostrum or chicken eggs) against the most common pathogens. Methods: In a field trial 198 neonate calves (48.5% female 51.5% male) of mainly the breed 'Deutsches Fleckvieh' have been divided according daily treatment into five groups (n = 39/40): I [control]; II [5 g probiotic powder with Bacillus cereus var. toyoi (ToyoCerin) from LAH, Cuxhaven]; III [10 g egg yolk powder containing 200 mg IgY with specific antibodies against rotavirus, coronavirus and Escherichia coli K99 (F5) pilus antigen (modified GLOBIGEN 88) from LAH, Cuxhaven]; IV [10 mL colostrum (SERIMMUN 2000) containing 1 g bovine immunoglobulins with specific antibodies against rotavirus, coronavirus and different Escherichia coli antigens from LAH, Cuxhaven]; V (egg yolk and probiotic powder according to groups II and III). The prophylactic feed additives were given together with the milk from day 2 to day 14 postnatum. In the case of diarrhea the procedure was continued in addition to therapeutic treatments. The effectiveness of the preparations was estimated through clinical examinations including measurements of the body weight gain and determination of serum immunoglobulin concentrations by means of ELISA. Furthermore the presence of infectious agents in feces was proved by Lactovac (Hoechst, UnterschleiBheim) and BioX (Bvd. Edm. Machtens, Bruxelles) ELISA. Results: 62% (123 animals) of the calves showed diarrhoea; in 80% of these pathogens could be found in feces. Among all calves rotavirus infections (31%) predominated coronavirus (7%), Escherichia coli K99 (1%) and cryptosporidia (23%) infections. Relating to frequency of the pathogens and incidence intensity, beginning and duration of diarrhoea there was no statistical significant difference between the groups. But the combined application of probiotic and egg powder or of the probiotic alone reduced tendentially the occurrence of rota- and coronavirus infections and, in the combined group intensity of diarrhea during infections with rotavirus and such with cryptosporidia was lower. Also, the calves of group II and of group V became ill with diarrhea on average I d later than the others and, if pathogen positive, they had a slightly shorter duration of diarrhea. The greatest body weight gain at day 14 showed group V with 7.7 kg (control: 5.8 kg); this parameter was for the pathogen positive animals of group V with diarrhea (6.0 kg) nearly statistically significant in comparison with the corresponding ones in the control group (3.4 kg). Serum concentrations of IgG differed between diarrhea positive (4.4 mg/mL) and negative (5.6 mg/mL) calves without any influence of the group treatments. Conclusion: To ensure the positive effects seen in this trial it will be necessary to further investigate the dosage and the time schedule of application of these feed additives.