Cuttin_up
Member
For those of you who band at birth, how much dosage of tetanus do you administer?
Banding at birth
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HEREFORD ROADHOG
Well-known member
I have a neighbor that cuts them at a day old & has for years.
randiliana
Well-known member
We don't use any. All our bull calves are banded within 24 hours of birth. So far we've had no problems.
pdfangus
Well-known member
over thirty five years of banding, cutting, etc at time of calf hood tagging and have never given any tetanus shots and never had any problems. when cutting I used to dab on some topical for the wound. for banding nothing.
Tetanus is needed for older calves because the wound is a lot bigger and longer lasting.
Tetanus is needed for older calves because the wound is a lot bigger and longer lasting.
We band from birth to 3 months and don;t give anything. The oldest calves we've banded (calicrate bander) was 7 months, those we gave shots. Now anything older then 3 months we just knife. Actually the vet does at fall workup. We'll have 3-4 this fall to do that way. Last year we had one get in infection in his bag, but a week later a heifer came into heat and he rode her enough that he broke the bag open and it drained and healed
A hundred years ago (or so it seems) we knifed everything and just slapped a handfull of pinetar on the wound. Had one bleed to death so that's when we started banding
A hundred years ago (or so it seems) we knifed everything and just slapped a handfull of pinetar on the wound. Had one bleed to death so that's when we started banding
JHH
Well-known member
dun":1i3io8sb said:
Dad always used pinetar for alot of stuff, that included. Must not of cut that one in the right sign Dun. I seen my dad do the very same thing. Cut a 600 lb bull calf and he bled to death. I had seen him cut lots of hogs and calves but he must have done something wrong on that one.
AngusLimoX
Well-known member
dun":18s8d85l said:
Yes breeding would be on my mind too if my balls had just been cut out and I had an infected bag!!!
There's that "benign neglect" thing kicking in again.
We have banded at birth, pinched and cut, with no shots and no problems. I am recalling reading somewhere that some regions/environments may have more of a tetenus concern than others??
It didn;t look all that bad, I figured it was just swelled form the operation.AngusLimoX":1c7i14ws said:dun":1c7i14ws said:
Yes breeding would be on my mind too if my balls had just been cut out and I had an infected bag!!!
There's that "benign neglect" thing kicking in again.
We have banded at birth, pinched and cut, with no shots and no problems. I am recalling reading somewhere that some regions/environments may have more of a tetenus concern than others??
Our vet feels that if there haven;t been horses around for 20 years that the chances of tetananus are very low. Don;t know what the validity of that is
In all my life of banding calves and that goes back to the mid '80s (and yes I know you were retired by then, dun) I've never had a single one get tetanus and have never given a shot. Lost one lamb to tetanus a few years ago when docking tails.
Cuttin_up
Member
Seems pretty cut and dry. I think I will hold off on giving the shots. Thanks for all the responses.
ga.prime
Well-known member
I don't give tetanus shots either but I would if I had horses. Never had a calf even be discomforted for more than a few seconds from being banded. There was a lady in my neighborhood when I was a kid back in the sixties that got "lockjaw" and the word was that she got it through a cut in her finger while she was putting horse manure in her flower beds.
DavisBeefmasters
Well-known member
Well to stray from the pack a little -- we do give shots... we band, brand, dehorn, and tattoo when the little buggers are 4 to 5 months old and then boost everything at weaning.
We give a shot of Bovishield Gold FP5 L5 and a shot of Covexin-8 for their clostridial shots which includes tetanus as a precaution. Covexin-8 with tetanus costs just about 15 to 20 cents more per shot than if we used a clostridial vaccine without tetanus (Ultrabac 7 or the like).
Best thing to do -- ask your vet what is best for your area and your herd management practices.
We give a shot of Bovishield Gold FP5 L5 and a shot of Covexin-8 for their clostridial shots which includes tetanus as a precaution. Covexin-8 with tetanus costs just about 15 to 20 cents more per shot than if we used a clostridial vaccine without tetanus (Ultrabac 7 or the like).
Best thing to do -- ask your vet what is best for your area and your herd management practices.
randiliana
Well-known member
We also give tetanus shots, but the calves are banded at birth and most of our calves will be 1-3 months old when we do our branding and spring work up. So the tetanus shot wouldn't be much good for the banding.
djinwa
Well-known member
Some general thoughts, from old memories, so correct me where needed.
When speaking of giving shots, one needs to be more specific. If speaking of a vaccine, they take weeks for any benefit. Vaccines are a killed/weakened bacteria/virus, or toxin from bacteria in the case of tetanus, which stimulate the calf to produce antibodies, which takes time. Once the immune system is primed for production, an animal is protected for years.
The other shot is the antibodies already made, so are immediately effective. Tetanus antitoxin is given for immediate protection, but the antibodies will only last a few weeks.
The other way to administer pre-made antibodies is through the colostrum. So if the cow had been vaccinated, it should protect the calf. Also, any antibodies passed from cow to calf would bind up a vaccine given to a new calf and make it useless. Many vaccines should wait weeks to be given after the antibodies in the calf (from cow) have declined.
Anyway, if tetanus is included in older calf or cow vaccines, and antibodies passed through colostrum, that may be a reason no problem in calves, although tetanus probably isn't much risk to begin with.
When speaking of giving shots, one needs to be more specific. If speaking of a vaccine, they take weeks for any benefit. Vaccines are a killed/weakened bacteria/virus, or toxin from bacteria in the case of tetanus, which stimulate the calf to produce antibodies, which takes time. Once the immune system is primed for production, an animal is protected for years.
The other shot is the antibodies already made, so are immediately effective. Tetanus antitoxin is given for immediate protection, but the antibodies will only last a few weeks.
The other way to administer pre-made antibodies is through the colostrum. So if the cow had been vaccinated, it should protect the calf. Also, any antibodies passed from cow to calf would bind up a vaccine given to a new calf and make it useless. Many vaccines should wait weeks to be given after the antibodies in the calf (from cow) have declined.
Anyway, if tetanus is included in older calf or cow vaccines, and antibodies passed through colostrum, that may be a reason no problem in calves, although tetanus probably isn't much risk to begin with.
Banded tons of calves at birth never one problem with tetanus. Now when we band bigger calves up to a year we give the tetanus but never to small calves.
If you knife cut then to prevent bleeding pull the testicle clear out and NEVER use a knife on the testicle cord ever. I have cut so many this way I don't want to talk about it but whatever age do not cut the cord or a certain percentage will bleed to death. Never had one die after pulling out the cord even up to over one year of age.
If you knife cut then to prevent bleeding pull the testicle clear out and NEVER use a knife on the testicle cord ever. I have cut so many this way I don't want to talk about it but whatever age do not cut the cord or a certain percentage will bleed to death. Never had one die after pulling out the cord even up to over one year of age.
