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Grass Fed--Vaccinations--Worming?
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<blockquote data-quote="SRBeef" data-source="post: 683139" data-attributes="member: 7509"><p>My oldest daughter is a family practice doctor and she is a strong advocate of preventive medicine - keeping people healthy rather than treating illnesses after the fact - where ever possible.</p><p></p><p>I think the same holds true for our livestock as it does for people. We vaccinate our kids against diseases which may not be currently in our town. Where vaccines exist for serious illnesses I think we should use them even though there may not have been cases of that disease around. Once various diseases DO show up they can be very difficult, and expensive to handle. We all took polio vaccines as kids even though there was no polio in our neighborhoods didn't we?</p><p></p><p>As a preventative medicine program I have my vet come in twice a year in my spring calving herd. He comes in early June when the calves are about 6-8 weeks old and we run everyone thru the corral, scale and chute. Calves get first shots, older animals get booster shots, bull calves get cut, everyone gets pour on dewormer (amount is closely controlled by weight of the animal). It goes amazingly quickly - maybe 1 minute per head except for cutting bull calves which maybe adds another minute. </p><p></p><p>Vet comes back in the fall in late October or early November just prior to weaning. He preg checks all females, anything open gets nothing since they will be going to the processor. Pregnant females and all calves get pour on dewormer again and booster shots. Anything going to the processor in the next 90 days or so gets nothing. My vet sees a lot of cattle, has cattle of his own and he determines what immunization shots to use. He knows more about vet medicine than I do.</p><p></p><p>The two vet visits per year total about $20-$25 per head per year. I think that is an investment with a good ROI. Although you admittedly are never quite sure. On a finished steer I probably have $30-40 of preventative medicine costs in him (2 or 3 visits) depending on when harvested.</p><p></p><p>I do not use any hormone implants and don't look at them as "medicine".</p><p></p><p>Preventive medicine and vaccinations/immunizations are ok with "natural beef". Hormones and background antibiotics are not. If an animal needs antibiotics it will get them but not be sold as natural beef. I don't look at antibiotics as "preventive medicine".</p><p></p><p>My daughter says she sees a lot of kids who do not respond to normal antibiotic treatments that used to work. I think we should reserve antibiotics for when they are really needed.</p><p></p><p>This is just my opinion and method of operation. I feel MIG does NOT reduce the need for vaccinations. I strongly agree with the comments above that whether you have one head or 100 you must have at least a simple (homemade posts and boards) way to corral your cattle and get them single file (an alley). Most vets have a portable chute they can back up to your homemade alley when needed. You don't need to buy an expensive chute etc. Just locate your corral and alley where a vet can back his chute to the alley outlet. Jim</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SRBeef, post: 683139, member: 7509"] My oldest daughter is a family practice doctor and she is a strong advocate of preventive medicine - keeping people healthy rather than treating illnesses after the fact - where ever possible. I think the same holds true for our livestock as it does for people. We vaccinate our kids against diseases which may not be currently in our town. Where vaccines exist for serious illnesses I think we should use them even though there may not have been cases of that disease around. Once various diseases DO show up they can be very difficult, and expensive to handle. We all took polio vaccines as kids even though there was no polio in our neighborhoods didn't we? As a preventative medicine program I have my vet come in twice a year in my spring calving herd. He comes in early June when the calves are about 6-8 weeks old and we run everyone thru the corral, scale and chute. Calves get first shots, older animals get booster shots, bull calves get cut, everyone gets pour on dewormer (amount is closely controlled by weight of the animal). It goes amazingly quickly - maybe 1 minute per head except for cutting bull calves which maybe adds another minute. Vet comes back in the fall in late October or early November just prior to weaning. He preg checks all females, anything open gets nothing since they will be going to the processor. Pregnant females and all calves get pour on dewormer again and booster shots. Anything going to the processor in the next 90 days or so gets nothing. My vet sees a lot of cattle, has cattle of his own and he determines what immunization shots to use. He knows more about vet medicine than I do. The two vet visits per year total about $20-$25 per head per year. I think that is an investment with a good ROI. Although you admittedly are never quite sure. On a finished steer I probably have $30-40 of preventative medicine costs in him (2 or 3 visits) depending on when harvested. I do not use any hormone implants and don't look at them as "medicine". Preventive medicine and vaccinations/immunizations are ok with "natural beef". Hormones and background antibiotics are not. If an animal needs antibiotics it will get them but not be sold as natural beef. I don't look at antibiotics as "preventive medicine". My daughter says she sees a lot of kids who do not respond to normal antibiotic treatments that used to work. I think we should reserve antibiotics for when they are really needed. This is just my opinion and method of operation. I feel MIG does NOT reduce the need for vaccinations. I strongly agree with the comments above that whether you have one head or 100 you must have at least a simple (homemade posts and boards) way to corral your cattle and get them single file (an alley). Most vets have a portable chute they can back up to your homemade alley when needed. You don't need to buy an expensive chute etc. Just locate your corral and alley where a vet can back his chute to the alley outlet. Jim [/QUOTE]
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