MLV or Killed Vaccines?

[Lucky]

I've been going over our vaccination program and would like an opinion on a MLV's.
Most of the new vaccines I see are modified live vaccines and we've always given killed vaccines except for Pyramid 5 +presponse to the calves when they get weaned. I'm worried about the MLV aborting the cows or not being administered correctly by the help.What our yalls thoughts on this?

 

[Ebenezer]

Opinions are all over the board. I want MLV for the first shot on weaned heifers which are potential replacements and double on all market heifers and steers. Otherwise, it is KV to not upset the bred back. This is Vet recommended but just my Vet.

 

[TCRanch]

Have a frank conversation with your vet. I use a MLV for newborn calves with Inforce 3, calves at weaning with Bovishield Gold One Shot and retained heifers get 5-way VL5, administered by my vet when she pelvic measures/BANGS. Otherwise, I always use a killed vaccine for calves/retained heifers and none of my cows or bulls get MLV.

 

[wbvs58]

What are you trying to protect them from? All these names of vaccines you are quoting are not any diseases I have heard of.

Ken

 

[Lucky]

Talked with my vet supply guy today and he advised against using any MLVs on cows unless we tried Cattle Master 5 I believe. I was wanting to go with one company for all meds to get the Value Added tag at sale time but he says rarely adds any actual value. He did suggest we start giving cows and bulls a blackleg shot and move the Scourguard shot from November to January. I'd have to catch the cows an extra time for that so we'll see.

 

[Warren Allison]

Dunno about cattle, but for my horses I use MLV that I get from the vet. I can get the killed virus at feed & tack stores, or order online from horsehealthusa.com, but killed virus is not as effective as live virus.

 

[gcreekrch]

Talked with my vet supply guy today and he advised against using any MLVs on cows unless we tried Cattle Master 5 I believe. I was wanting to go with one company for all meds to get the Value Added tag at sale time but he says rarely adds any actual value. He did suggest we start giving cows and bulls a blackleg shot and move the Scourguard shot from November to January. I'd have to catch the cows an extra time for that so we'll see.

Killed to my memory are more expensive than live = more profit for vet possibly.

If you have a defined calving period naive cows should be vaccinated in the open period a month before the bulls go out. Do the bulls too. We have brought cattle that were on a killed program into our herd and they got sick. That convinced me to not use it on our herd…. However, any new bred cattle coming in are double vaxxed with killed and kept separate from main herd until shortly before calving and then put on live program.
Calves are vaxxed with a live at branding and any retained are given a second at weaning and a third in spring.
We give a cheap blackleg shot with the scour vaccine pre calving. It has greatly reduced the incidence of enterotoxemia in young calves.

 

[GoWyo]

Cows here are not on MLV and get Cattlemaster (killed) at preg check time. Calves get MLV at branding and preconditioning. My vet advises that the calves receiving MLV do not affect the cows and contends it is a CYA warning by the vaccine companies. Seems to work fine here.

 

[SBMF 2015]

Everything is on MLV. Calves on cows, cows at prebreeding, calves at weaning, cows at Preg checking. Bulls at BSE time.
We have good conception rates. All replacement hfrs get two rnds of BoviShield Gold L5 HB .
Once they get exposed to the MLV as opens I'm not concerned about causing abortions when they're boostered.

 

[farmerjan]

Prices here vary more with the company than the "type".

Each to their own preference. Everything here gets killed. We used MLV ONLY if we were going to sell cattle in the special sales that the county organization deals with, as it is their protocol. But we have gotten as good or better money with our cattle lately at the regular sales.... people that have bought our cattle in the past usually ask if we have any at the sale when we go nowadays.

 

[Dsth]

I use MLV on calves at 2-4 months old before turning out on pasture. repeat about 3-4 weeks before weaning. PYRIMID 5+ Presponse SQ for both shots. also get vision 7 vaccine before pasture turn out. any vaccines after that are killed vaccines. Vet claims using MLV on cows before breeding begins causes cows to delay cycling and reduces conception rates.

 

[SBMF 2015]

MLV on cows before breeding begins causes cows to delay cycling and reduces conception rates.

It can. We are very careful not to vaccinate with anything about 3 weeks prior to A.I.ing or bull turn out.

 

[Lucky]

We've done the same thing for years now. In the spring the cows get Virashield 6+VLHB and an injectable wormer. The calves (5-90 days old) get Virashield 6+ somnus and Calvery 9. In the Fall cows get Valbazen, injectable wormer, and scourguard. The calves get Vision 8 w/spur & somnus, Pyramid5+presponse, and wormer. The calves are weaned at this time. The cow meds were recommended years ago so we stuck with it. The calf meds are a mix of advice and what was required from a special sale we sold in a few times. We've always been warned about MLVs causing abortions or interrupting cycling in cows so didn't give them.

We rarely have sick cows. We'll have one or two that get really thin and don't do good every year but don't seem to be sick? I did Dr a cow for pneumonia last week but haven't had to do that in years. We also rarely have sick calves. The reason for wanting to change meds was just to get a better understanding of what we where giving and why. I'm definitely going to stop the Valbazen but doubt we'll change much other than what brands we use. Most likely stick with Elanco and Merck.

Now that we have more time to tend to the cattle I'll probably take the ill doers that get thin to the vet and see what the deal is there. We had one earlier in the year but she was just old and got thin.

 

[gcreekrch]

I use MLV on calves at 2-4 months old before turning out on pasture. repeat about 3-4 weeks before weaning. PYRIMID 5+ Presponse SQ for both shots. also get vision 7 vaccine before pasture turn out. any vaccines after that are killed vaccines. Vet claims using MLV on cows before breeding begins causes cows to delay cycling and reduces conception rates.

Recommended to give 30 days prior to breeding. I think our breeding program has spoken for itself.

We did try using MLV twice at preg test time as recommended once all have been on live regime. We felt there were a few too many open cows at calving than previously experienced so we went back to doing them at branding 4 to 6 weeks prior to bull turnout.

I can see those who have longer calving windows or don't pull bulls going with killed but not here.

 

[Lucky]

I can see those who have longer calving windows or don't pull bulls going with killed but not here.

We have a 90 day calving season is reason for not wanting to use MLV vaccines. We always have a few late calvers from not getting bulls out on tim also.

I think our breeding program has spoken for itself

Y'all have a very impressive breeding program. A breed up like you guys have is almost unheard of here.

 

[SBMF 2015]

In the Fall cows get Valbazen, injectable wormer, and scourguard.

Just curious; Why are you giving Valbazen and injectable wormer at the same time? Or am I misunderstanding?

 

[Lucky]

Just curious; Why are you giving Valbazen and injectable wormer at the same time? Or am I misunderstanding?

We give Valbazen for liver Flukes and a cheap generic wormer in the fall. For along time we just gave Valbazen but they spit so much out I don't really trust it. We always seem to have wormer on hand so started giving them a shot or pour on whichever we have. I've been studying on liver flukes and am getting mixed results on wether we need to worry about them or not.

 

[gcreekrch]

We have a 90 day calving season is reason for not wanting to use MLV vaccines. We always have a few late calvers from not getting bulls out on tim also.

Y'all have a very impressive breeding program. A breed up like you guys have is almost unheard of here.

The years we have kept lates for various reasons they have been vaccinated as late as end of June and turned with bulls a week later. We keep them in on pasture and many of them have caught up as much as 2 cycles. Maybe them already being on the program has something to do with it. Who knows?

 

[StrojanHerefords]

I don't worry about giving calves getting a MLV vaccine causing their mothers to abort. I am much more concerned about having protocol that is effective without putting undo stress on the calves. I don't give any vaccines before 90 days of age because they won't take because of maternal antibodies. At branding, I give a modified live respiratory vaccine and an eight way blackleg. 45 days before weaning, I repeat the MLV respiratory, add blackleg with shipping fever and give a pinkeye implant. So the immune system is ready when the stress of weaning happens.
I don't vaccinate the bulls that I leave intact because I want to put selection pressure on health.

 

[StrojanHerefords]

I don't worry about giving calves getting a MLV vaccine causing their mothers to abort. I am much more concerned about having protocol that is effective without putting undo stress on the calves. I don't give any vaccines before 90 days of age because they won't take because of maternal antibodies. At branding, I give a modified live respiratory vaccine and an eight way blackleg. 45 days before weaning, I repeat the MLV respiratory, add blackleg with shipping fever and give a pinkeye implant. So the immune system is ready when the stress of weaning happens.
I don't vaccinate the bulls that I leave intact because I want to put selection pressure on health.