9RANCH":1coofmet said:
Hey Every one i finally found a great forum for the thing i love and want to do most. here is the deal everyone my father was a beef and dairy farmer.i was to young to pick up on any tips and learn vital details. i now want to continue where he left off and start my own cattle ranch up i got most of the basics up with pasture feed etc. the question i wanted to get too is at the branding stage for your herd what vaccines are you suppose to provide your herd with. I also remeber very vaguely some spray being sprayed over them aswell. And would the vaccines explain the ear tags or is that some thing else i know 1 ear tag is identifaction tag by government law. THANk you VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME All THE BEST JOE.
OK, branding season is here. First off, you must have a registered brand. This is done through your provincial ag department.
As for vaccines, at the very least you should give a 7 or 8 way clostridal vaccine. There are many others out there, and the best way to know what you need would be to talk to a local vet, you'll need him to get ahold of most vaccines anyway, or a local cattle producer. You can also give a dose of ivermectin, either injectible or topical.
Cows should be vaccinated about 3 weeks before breeding with a vaccine that covers BVD, IBR and PI3. Express 10 is an example of this. We prefer to use a live vaccine, but you can also use a killed one.
The CCIA/RFID ear tags are a separate deal from vaccines. They simply carry herd of origin info with them, along with age verification info if it has been added to the database.
It is also a good idea to have some sort of herd ID system so that you can match cows and calves together. This makes it easier to know which calf goes with which cow, and therefore, which cows are not producing up to your standards. It can be as simple or elaborate as you want. We simply tag a calf with the same eartag # as their mother has.