Can a calf be too young to Vacc. for Black Leg?

[Santas and Duhram Reds]

???

 

[KNERSIE]

Yes, the passive immunity gained from the dam's colostrum would negate the effect of the vaccination. Usually you'd wait till about 4 months to be sure the vaccine can do its job properly.

 

[Santas and Duhram Reds]

We have a calf that died of blackleg yesterday. Calf was born in late March. Figure we beter starts vaccinating the rest of them but most all calves are about 3 mos. of age. A few that we are working on getting to join the rest of the herd's calving interval are only 2-3 weeks old.

This will have been my 3rd run in with blackleg in the past 15 years. I have this land that I know must carry the bacteria in its soil b/c everytime we have experienced it, the cows have been on that land. Is it "active" in the summer, can it happen in the fall?

 

[KNERSIE]

The late fall and early winter would be the most likely time to have a break out in our climate, not sure about your colder climate.

In your circumstances I'd vaccinate every calf now and give give a booster 4 -6 weeks later and those that are still younger than 4 months at the time of the second booster I'll give another booster 4-6 weeks later. A few extra shots will be petty change compared to the loss of calves, especially when an outbreak will seldom stop at one animal.

Make sure you cover all the clostridial strains, including septicum. Clos.septicum is often not present in the one vaccine does it all jobs. Also send a meat sample in to be analysed to isolate the strain that caused it to adapt your vaccination protocol accordingly.

 

[TXBobcat]

We have a calf that died of blackleg yesterday. Calf was born in late March. Figure we beter starts vaccinating the rest of them but most all calves are about 3 mos. of age. A few that we are working on getting to join the rest of the herd's calving interval are only 2-3 weeks old.

Are your cows on a vaccination program? I would think that would be a good place to start. I do not vaccinate our calves until 5-6 months of age. I believe the cows will pass on the necessary immunity until that the calves are ready to wean.

 

[dun]

Paranoia can be a wonderful thing. We vaccinate for blackleg at speing work up. The calves will range from a month to maybe 2 months of age. The vaccine is cheap and better to use it and not need it then to have needed it and not used it. Kind of like the elephant preventer. Never have had an elephant on the place so the elephant preventer must be working.

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Paranoia can be a wonderful thing. We vaccinate for blackleg at speing work up. The calves will range from a month to maybe 2 months of age. The vaccine is cheap and better to use it and not need it then to have needed it and not used it. Kind of like the elephant preventer. Never have had an elephant on the place so the elephant preventer must be working.

years ago my neighbor lost some to black leg,, would hit with the vaccine while they was still wet

 

[Santas and Duhram Reds]

We don't vaccinate our cows for black leg. It is primarily a disease that effects animals under the age of two.

We will probably go ahead and vaccinate all of them regardless of age just b/c its not that much more work or cost. Thanks

 

[KNERSIE]

We don't vaccinate our cows for black leg. It is primarily a disease that effects animals under the age of two.

We will probably go ahead and vaccinate all of them regardless of age just b/c its not that much more work or cost. Thanks

An old neighbour always used to say that you can also save yourself to bankrupcy.

Part of your problem is that you don't vaccinate your cows. Although I agree that mostly animals under the age of 3 will be affected and therefore you could argue that they are relatively out of harms way and don't need to be vaccinated. However if you don't vaccinate your cows they won't have the antibodies in the colostrum to pass onto their newborn calves so what you saved on not vaccinating the cows you lose in immunity in their calves.

Typically calves from vaccinated calves will be protected for the first 6 months of their lives from the immunity gained from their dam's colostrum. This buys you time to vaccinate them ahead of time. The ideal age would be to give the first shot at 4 months and the booster at 5 months, but if they are from vaccinated cows timing usually isn't as crucial.

 

[novatech]

My understanding is that black leg lies dormant in the soil. When it is tilled you gain in the risk of cattle getting it.
I have had a vet vaccinate one of my calves at 2 weeks just because we happened to be there at the time.

 

[msscamp]

???

Absolutely! The immune system of a calf does not develop fully until around 3-4 months of age, so vaccinating before that is a waste of time and money because the vaccine cannot be utilized. That is why colostrum - and passive immunity - is so very important. If you want your calf protected from a specific illness/disease, vaccinate his/her mother and the immunities will be passed on in the colostrum/milk. At the proper age, you can then vaccinate the calf to continue the protection.

 

[Dee]

The first two years I had cattle I lost a few calves that were less than 4 months of age to black leg. Since then the calves get black leg (Ultra bac 7) as soon as they are born. Never lost another one. I vaccinate them again when they are 3-4 months old, when they go to pasture, and at weaning again. Any heifers I keep get vaccinated again prior to breeding, and that's it. It is fairly inexpensive, and the vets words were "it can't hurt." So either I have been lucky the past 5 years, or it's really working?!?

 

[harry]

We vaccinate with Alpha 7 at birth. Always figured it was 65 cents well spent.

 

[KNERSIE]

We vaccinate with Alpha 7 at birth. Always figured it was 65 cents well spent.

It certainly can't do any harm, as long as you still vaccinate at an older age with a booster within the correct timeframe it probably is 65cents well spent. Just don't rely on just a vaccination given at birth.