Antibiotics vs Vaccines

[Lane]

I have a question concering my practices with incomming calve.

I buy 3 wt. calves from 3 barns each week. My normal procedure is to pick up
calves after sales generally on Tues. and Wed. I hold these calves in a large
lot with shade and give them hay and feed and let them rest until Thur. after-
noon and work the calves. At this time I pull backtags, insert eartags, mass
medicate with Draxxin, give a vaccination for upper-resperatory, a vaccination
for pasteurella, a injectable wormer, and drench with an appetite enhancer.
This has worked well for me for a couple of years.

This past weekend I had a vet come in to write a set of health papers and I was
asking him if the combination of giving the antibiotic at the same time as the
vaccine could possibly decrease the efficiency of the vaccines? I feel like I need
the antibiotic because these little light calves have been under stress and I don't
really want to work these calves multiple times in the first few weeks. Any ideas?

 

[Gale Seddon]

I can't answer your question about whether or not the Draxxin decreases the efficiency of the vaccines, but I would ask why are you giving it routinely? For one thing, it's expensive; if the calves aren't sick, why give it? What did the vet say?

 

[rockridgecattle]

alot of feedlot guys around here do what you are doing. However, they start with LA200 and if a problem arises then they bring out the big guns. I hear larger feedlots use draxin like that though to help put of shipping fever

 

[Lucky_P]

The answer is no. Antibiotics will have no effect, one way or another, on the effectiveness of viral vaccines or bacterins(killed bacterial products).
However, modified-live vaccines containing BVD WILL impede immune response to bacterins - so, it's best not to administer Clostridium, Pasteurella/Mannheimia, Leptospira, etc. at the same time you give a mlv vaccine containing BVD if you really want/need those cattle to respond to the bacterin/toxoids.

 

[Lane]

Lucky P, I had hoped you would reply. Thanks. My local vet could not answer
my question.

To answer the other post- these 3 wt. calves are stressed to the max when I
get them. Most are being "weaned" at the salebarn. You have to understand
I am buying other folks mistakes. Over the years I have tried starting these
calves all kind of ways and this has proved to be the best. I am happy to trade
$15 worth of antibiotics for $450 worth of dead calf.

Thanks again. Lane

 

[larryshoat]

Lucky P, I had hoped you would reply. Thanks. My local vet could not answer
my question.

To answer the other post- these 3 wt. calves are stressed to the max when I
get them. Most are being "weaned" at the salebarn. You have to understand
I am buying other folks mistakes. Over the years I have tried starting these
calves all kind of ways and this has proved to be the best. I am happy to trade
$15 worth of antibiotics for $450 worth of dead calf.

Thanks again. Lane

You're correct, if you want to go back to losing calves and money just change what you are doing. There is a newer antibiotic named Zactran that may be worth a try. The use of a small amount of antibiotic up front is better than trying to treat a bunch of chronics for a month with multiple doses of every antibiotic on earth.

Larry

 

[Lane]

Larry, I looked into the Zactran just yesterday and although the price per
bottle is cheeper the dosage is higher. It is a little different chemical
(gamithromycin in Zactran, tulathromycin in Draxxin) and I don't know
about possible effectiveness for mycoplas. I try to look into anything that
might improve my program. Thanks. Lane

 

[hillsdown]

500 ml's of Zactran is $1000.00 here ,and the label says to discard all unused portions 28 days after opening the vial. . Won't be using it here, but I bet alot of lrg backgrounders and feed lots will be giving #2 and 3 cattle a one time shot when they come in JIC. Sometimes it is best to be proactive ,than to sit around and wait for them to get sick and start dying on you ,then try to figure out a plan of attack.