another stupid question

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dressageophobia

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So, I have these two Hereford Heifers, who are now preggo and due in May. I have not killed them yet and they look great. When I bought them as weanlings the breeder had given them the vaccinations they needed for Oregon. I have wormed them, but have not given them any other vaccinations. They are now two years old.

Do I need to give them any meds/shots coming into spring for anything pre caving or just leave them be?
 
I would vaccinate them now forthe usual things that are done in your area. It will help the colostrum and won;t hurt the cows. Use killed vaccine rather then MLV. Worm them too, can;t hurt!
 
Thank you Dun.
I have not given them a shot before (I have given shots to horses and dogs), and I do not have a squeeze shute, but I can pat them hard on the neck and back while they eat grain and they do not bat an eye, so I figure I can give them a shot and they will likely not even feel it. Does anyone give shots in that fashion?
 
dressageophobia":16elsmaw said:
Thank you Dun.
I have not given them a shot before (I have given shots to horses and dogs), and I do not have a squeeze shute, but I can pat them hard on the neck and back while they eat grain and they do not bat an eye, so I figure I can give them a shot and they will likely not even feel it. Does anyone give shots in that fashion?

Not very succesfully. You need some way to restrain them even if all it is is a halter snubbed to a tree. All shots should be given in the neck area.
 
I would not attempt a shot unless you have a safe restraint i.e. headcatch minimum. I have damn near vaccinated myself even using a headcatchwhen they start jumping around. If you don't have access does your vet have a working setup at their clinic , ours does , trailer them in and let them work them safely. Also your talking 3-4 shots if you give a full range of vaccs plus possibly an injectable wormer
 
at the very least, without a chute or anything else. i would try pen them between the gate and the corral, but i really don't like that idea either.
better than nothing though.
 
dressageophobia":214t2jqc said:
Thank you Dun.
I have not given them a shot before (I have given shots to horses and dogs), and I do not have a squeeze shute, but I can pat them hard on the neck and back while they eat grain and they do not bat an eye, so I figure I can give them a shot and they will likely not even feel it. Does anyone give shots in that fashion?
If you do not have some way to restrain them when you give them shots, they will most likely kick, buck, jump, or run when you attempt to give them shots. So, if you do not have anything to "hold" them, I would suggest loading them up and taking them to the vet to have it done.
 
I know this sounds very dumb,,,,but it works with horses. You thump them on the neck like it is just what happens,,,they get used to it and compared to the thump, the needles is nothing. The Heifers let me thump on them while they eat,,,it does not seem like they would feel the shot at all. I would only give one shot at a time and wait until another day to give the next shot. When they get dry cob they do not come up for air,,,unless maybe Godzilla was coming over the horizon. I could be wrong and when I try to give the shot,,we will see, but I have been practicing the thump, thump, thump and they do nothing,,,,but eat.

Also I looked at the vacs at the feed store today,,,and well,,,gosh,,,there are alot of them, how many shots do you give your cows all at once? They do not make an 8 in one like they do for dogs? or horses?
 
dressageophobia":2cyckpo2 said:
I know this sounds very dumb,,,,but it works with horses. You thump them on the neck like it is just what happens,,,they get used to it and compared to the thump, the needles is nothing. The Heifers let me thump on them while they eat,,,it does not seem like they would feel the shot at all. I would only give one shot at a time and wait until another day to give the next shot. When they get dry cob they do not come up for air,,,unless maybe Godzilla was coming over the horizon. I could be wrong and when I try to give the shot,,we will see, but I have been practicing the thump, thump, thump and they do nothing,,,,but eat.

Also I looked at the vacs at the feed store today,,,and well,,,gosh,,,there are alot of them, how many shots do you give your cows all at once? They do not make an 8 in one like they do for dogs? or horses?

Having shot a lot of both, I would say the same thing as Dun, restrain them. If we don't hear from you for a while we will assume you decided to try the old thumping method and are now recuperating.

Seriously there's a better than average chance of breaking off a needle if they are not restrained, If you're gonna ask for advice please be prepared to take it.
 
Hey at this point it is all talk, and I am listening to you. Just because I ask a stupid questions does not mean I am going to try this!!
 
Cattle skin is a lot thicker than horses , horses are used to sitting still and being messed with , cattle are not.

Do you have a vet ? If not get one , call them and tell them you need vaccs , how many steers , and what the weights are. Most will set you up with the right , and best meds. If you try to give them shots without safe restraint you are foolish and will get hurt or whoever is helping you will get hurt or your cattle will get hurt. That's about as plain as anyone can say it . You need the restraint to take your time and do it correctly , to know your in the right area , not in a vein , not squirting thru the other side of your pinch , heck , I've done it all those and if not restrained it would have been a nightmare.
If you seriously don't believe the advise youre getting just take a sharp nail out with you and give em a poke and see what happens.
 
Get a rope on her, snub her up tight to a post. If they have halters on that will work too with a lead rope. As gentle as they sound that should be enough. If the post is out in the open and they want to go round and round, wire a corral panel to it to stop em. We have one corral that doesnt have a chute at all, and I set a big heavy "snubbin post" in the middle of the corral just for this purpose. It's all we ever used when i was a kid, never had a chute. I've done wild ones and mean ones this way as well. Yours will probably just stand there, but snub the rope up very tight to the post so movement is minimal.
 
P.S. Don't sweat the stupid questions, I feel they are all welcome here and that's what this site is designed to be used for.
 
I probably shouldn't let you all know how dumb I was but you'll figure it out later anyway.When I was younger we had a 2000lb plus bull that headgate wouldn't hold, his neck was alot bigger than head.WE were giving shots and had to put him on through. Now he was gentle, you could do anything to him or so I thought.When he came out of the alley I stuck him and he kicked missed my head by inches.Now to end this story I don't trust any bull ,cow or calf if they aren't held fast I don't mess with them.By the way that old bull was thumped on and messed with all the time.
 
dressageophobia":x42w90yi said:
I know this sounds very dumb,,,,but it works with horses. You thump them on the neck like it is just what happens,,,they get used to it and compared to the thump, the needles is nothing. The Heifers let me thump on them while they eat,,,it does not seem like they would feel the shot at all. I would only give one shot at a time and wait until another day to give the next shot. When they get dry cob they do not come up for air,,,unless maybe Godzilla was coming over the horizon. I could be wrong and when I try to give the shot,,we will see, but I have been practicing the thump, thump, thump and they do nothing,,,,but eat.

Also I looked at the vacs at the feed store today,,,and well,,,gosh,,,there are alot of them, how many shots do you give your cows all at once? They do not make an 8 in one like they do for dogs? or horses?


Hey dressage, you may have gotten yourself a new name for the board. :) Can we call you Thumper? :D
 
Cowdirt":1g5g1u3v said:
Hey dressage, you may have gotten yourself a new name for the board. :) Can we call you Thumper? :D

:lol: :lol2:


Since you only have two load them up and take them to your vets or a neighbor around you that will let you use their handling facilties..Call your vet anyways and tell them that you need vacc's etc, they will tell you exactly what you need..

Good luck and a cow btw is much different than a horse no matter how tame you think they are, once that needle hits them they know it.. :nod:


Work Safe...
 
I've got to ring in with everyone else. With a horse, their skin is relatively thin - you can use a small needle, and if your good they don't feel much. Even though, with my horses, I still halter them and have a lead rope attached and tied before I give any injections. With my horses I usually hide the needle from their line of site and slowly insert it in their neck. If they see you walking towards them with a big needle, they may even give trouble.

Cattle are completely different. They are thick skinned - hence leather, and you must use a thicker needle to get through. I don't care how tame a cow may seem, when they feel that needle they will not stand still and take it. This is asking to be hurt.

I do like thumper though!
 
They will feel the needle believe me. What you might want to do is to put in a headgate. If you are going to have cattle, you need facilities.
 
Grubbies suggestion is just the type of input that I really appreciate,,,thank you Grubbie! You are giving me great ideas!

Cypress Farm,,,thanks for explaining about the "leather skin".,,,and the needles being bigger...well duh,,that makes sense,,,and you can all call me Thumper,,,or Jumper or whatever,,,,

Yes, I have a vet,,,they are only two miles away,,,,
 

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