Do you vaccinate.......

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I vaccinate everything. New arrivals are quarantined and vaccinated. I usually wait a while to vaccinate new born calves. They get the booster too and everything is recorded.

The "closed herd" mentality doesn't set well with me. You have to bear in mind all the places around me run cattle and some bust fences. Then there are the feral hogs eating practically anything they can (dead animals and earth worms out of cow pies) going from place to place. Deer and other animals doing the same travels. Buzzards drinking out of the stock tanks. The list goes on. If I vaccinate, I don't have to be as concerned.
 
gertman":3lnx760e said:
your adult cows and bulls for blackleg? If vaccinated will it pass some protection to the unborn calf?

No, we never vaccinated for blackleg - never had a need to do it. Yes, if you vaccinate the antibodies will be passed on to the calf through the colostrum and protect them until they are old enough to be able to utilize the vaccination themselves.
 
We vaccinate everything for blackleg each year. In the U.S., your best broad blackleg vaccine would be Cavalry 9 by Schering-Plough (9 Way plus Tetanus). :cowboy:
 
grannysoo":1svxlcwr said:
We do not. Never had a need to. You never hear of any blackleg in our area.

Used to be the same here too, BUT there is always the first one and usually the first one isn't the last either.

I vaccinated with the Supavax/Duovax combination because it was handy as it did anthrax and botulism and blackleg all in one shot. I started finishing bulls for a production sale and fed them the evening all of them being 100% healthy with excellent appetites. The next morning when I went to feed the best one was lying there dead and swollen to twice its size, suspected blackleg, but send a meat sample in for analysis just in case.

Clostridium Septicum (gas gangreen) was isolated and the only Clostridium strain not covered in the vaccnies I used. Moved the bulls that same day and vaccinated the whole herd that same day with Multiclos, repeated that after two weeks and again 6 weeks later (as per recommendation in case of an outbreak), was lucky not to loose anymore. Some of the neighbours weren't quite as lucky.

Blackleg typically affects fat cattle under the age of three years and most often in fall and early winter.

The "closed herd" mentality doesn't set well with me. You have to bear in mind all the places around me run cattle and some bust fences.

Closed herd or not, the Clostridial strains live in the soil and can live for generations without surfacing, one day the conditions will be ideal and a susceptable animal will happen to pass that spot and get infected, cattle are nosy creatures and likes disaster and everyone in the herd will go and sniff the dead animal. As fas as other diseases, like BHB said there are many vectors outside the bovine world to help spread a disease.

The passive immunity passed on through the colostrum to the newborn calf is enough incentive to go ahead and vaccinate your older cows as well.

When it comes to a vaccination program its not so much a case of can you afford to than its a case of can you afford NOT to vaccinate?
 
We vaccinate all calves at weaning and replacement heifers are vaccinated prior to breeding. Once they are over two years of age, we no longer worry about blackleg.
 
TNMasterBeefProducer":ojd3lqih said:
gertman":ojd3lqih said:
your adult cows and bulls for blackleg? If vaccinated will it pass some protection to the unborn calf?

Anything over two yrs old we do not vaccinate for blackleg. Only 3 months to 2 years get vaccinated for it. Never had any trouble doing it this way. It could perhaps put the blackleg antibodies in the colostrum if you vaccinate a bred cow. In my opinion vaccinating anything over two years of age is throwing your money away just like vaccinating newborn calves is throwing money away as the immune system is not developed yet. It is extremely rare for a cow over two years of age to get blackleg. At least I have never seen any that have.

Same way we do it around here TNMBP. We vaccinate for blackleg and pinkeye (combo shot) right around 3- 4 mths old. If I do bring some new animals onto the place, we vaccinate them as well.
For those of you who do NOT vaccinate for blackleg, and have never had a problem with it; I would highly recommend doing so. For over 20+ years we never vaccinated for blackleg, until about 5 years ago, when we lost 4 great calves (about 500 lb'ers)to that nasty disease. After that, its been a regular routine to just include the blackleg/ pinkeye shot when we work the calves. Its a pretty cheap alternative.
 
Yep, sure is. I also think it is a waste to vaccinate anything over 2 years of age. I never heard of a cow or bull that old getting blackleg.
 
I vaccinate what I take care of but I know alot of people who don't. They don't have any problems.

I don't know the facts on this but supposetly my grandfather had a place years ago that blackleg went through and whiped out a large portion of the herd. He sold the place shortly after I assume because he thought it was an area thing. Like I said, not sure the facts or if that is even possible, just what I have heard. (By the time I get to hear the story straight from his mouth, it won't matter any more. :))
 
I always vaccinate for blackleg.

Yes the whole herd, not just calves.

It may be that mature cows are less succeptible to contracting the disease - BUT - the vaccine that includes blackleg (7 way or 8 way) covers a lot of other diseases that mature cattle can get. To be on the safe side I always vaccinate cows and calves with the 8 way vaccine.
 
Everything under 2. a 50cent shot is cheap when they steers are falling over dead
have had cases in area
We use covexin 8
 
Yes, I vaccinate the cows, bull and calves (when old enough) for blackleg as well as the other 'standard' vaccines.

I'm with backhoe regarding 'closed' herd. There are other cows not far from us, plus plenty of deer, dogs, buzzards, a bear now and then that all come through this place. The cost of the vaccines is a small price for me to pay for some peace of mind.

I too have a neighbor and a couple of friends/aquaintances who don't believe in vaccines. Some will give one 'shot' one time for blackleg at the age of 6 mos and call it a day.

Katherine
 
We vaccinate for everything. Cows get black leg every other year. Vet says that is good enough to keep the passive transfer up in the colostrum.
If we had a problem that could have been prevented by vaccinating, and we did not vaccinate, i would be non to pleased with myself that is for sure.
 
I vaccinate and worm everything every year - period. I don't have a problem with Blackleg but then, maybe that's the reason.
 
I vaccinate everything every year. Actually I am more concerned with redwater than I am blackleg but the Ultra Bac 8 that I use covers both of them. The blackleg vaccine is so cheap I don't know why a person would skip it.
 

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