Bovi-Sheild Gold Products

[gildehbc]

I have a group of younger cows that we have vacinated using the Bovi-Shield GOLD FP protocol with annual boosters....I also have an older group that have not gone through this program and have just been vaccinated with lepto and pinkeye.....will the new Bovi-Shield Gold FP5 VL5 (5 way) be acceptable to use on my older group or do I need to continue/maintain to use two vaccination programs? Does anyone have any experience to share with Bovi-Sheild Gold?

 

[milkmaid]

Are the older group pregnant?

 

[gildehbc]

yes....fall calving....

 

[Hook]

Wait until after they calve. The 5 way can cause abortions

 

[inyati13]

I have a group of younger cows that we have vacinated using the Bovi-Shield GOLD FP protocol with annual boosters....I also have an older group that have not gone through this program and have just been vaccinated with lepto and pinkeye.....will the new Bovi-Shield Gold FP5 VL5 (5 way) be acceptable to use on my older group or do I need to continue/maintain to use two vaccination programs? Does anyone have any experience to share with Bovi-Sheild Gold?

I had similar circumstances last fall. I was vaccinating heifers that I was preparing for breeding in December 2013. There were older cows in the herd and a couple of heifers that had missed the BS Gold FP 5 protocol because they were pregnant. Therefore, I used CattleMaster Gold FP 5 on the pregnant cattle. I did call the Zoetis technical assistance number. I spoke to a man who works their technical assistance line but is a private practicing Vet. He said the risk is low but I decided not to take the risk of causing an abortion. As soon as my older cows had their calves (this spring) I have vaccinated them while they were open with the BS Gold FP 5 VL5 product. My entire herd has now had exposure to the the BS MLV protocol. In the future, I can vaccinate them as one program.
BTW: I called him because I had what I thought was an open heifer come into my herd that was later found to be pregnant. I vaccinated her with BS Gold FP 5 and she did not abort. When the calf was born, I sent a wedge of the ear to the vet and it came back negative for all the BVD persistently infected.

 

[Dave]

I buy heifers from the sale barn. Some of them end up being teen pregnancies. All of them get Bova-Sheild Gold when they arrive at home. Over half of the pregnant ones abort. It is not just that the Bova-Sheild can cause abortion, it will cause abortions. I would wait until after the cows calf out to vaccinate.

 

[Shanghai]

I'm leery of a live IBR vaccine

In fact, Jones says, both the virulent strains of IBR and the modified live vaccine strains of IBR go into a form of "latency" -- more or less a hibernation -- after the animals' bodies overcome them. The animals will carry these latent organisms the rest of their lives and the IBR can be awakened from latency and become active again by a stressful event such as pregnancy or a immune suppression.

http://farmprogress.com/story-stop-usin ... e-14-64594

 

[gildehbc]

OK....Thanks for the information......no reason to chance......

 

[inyati13]

I buy heifers from the sale barn. Some of them end up being teen pregnancies. All of them get Bova-Sheild Gold when they arrive at home. Over half of the pregnant ones abort. It is not just that the Bova-Sheild can cause abortion, it will cause abortions. I would wait until after the cows calf out to vaccinate.

Dave, I think the condition of the cows or heifers is a factor. The Zoetis agent related to me that "if the cow or heifer is in good health", the studies they have conducted and the independent studies they have referenced, indicate that the abortion rate in cows is rare. It is about 15 % in heifers. See my case number reference with Zoetis below. I have the one personal experience with my heifer to present. I am not disparaging your experience with abortion, I respect anyone's personal experience; I am referencing that your experience is far greater than what studies show.

I had the heifer from Rocking P that came into my herd in Late Fall 2012. She was purchased as open. In fact, she got a shot of lut from Keith before he shipped her to me. I gave her two BS Gold FP 5 shots about 30 days apart before planned breeding in the spring of 2013. I never could catch her in heat so I turned her out with the bull.

In Sept 2013, I saw her bag dropping and getting loose. I thought that was impossible. I calculated back and found that she had to have been pregnant when she came. I called Keith and he realised she was with yearling bulls before she left. There is a window when the lut will not effectively abort the fetus. Then, the fetus held in the face of two shots of BS Gold FP 5 MLV 30 days apart. I sold the calf for about $1,000 at 545 pounds about a month ago at 7 months of age.
Encouraged by Lucky_P, I sent a wedge of the ear to University of KY and tested for BVD persistently infected and it was negative.

You mentioned that you buy "heifers" at a sale barn. You may have had a high abortion rate (over 50 %) as a result of other factors being involved. Health/condition and stress related to coming into your program. Based on the research, the abortion rate is relatively low for healthy "cows". I agree that regardless of the rate of occurence, the risk is not worth adopting the practice of vaccinating pregnant cows/heifers.

Here is the reference to my case with Zoetis. I posted it on CT.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=86709