Pink eye issues advanced questions

[Runaway Deere]

I am wondering if there are any other people on the board that run densely populated stockers on irrigated pasture? We have had a heck of a pink eye problem this year, we have no problem treating it and even catch it early but the real problem is we are processing nearly whole herds once a week. It goes like ride cattle Id watery squinty eyes, next night get them in or move from pasture down the street to our facility, process and then repeat next week. We know record all work but there is no rhyme or reason . We do not vaccinate for pink eye because we have heard of mixed results. We also have mixed results with fly bags and the ph white rub. Any good input would be helpful thanks

 

[Howdyjabo]

Get rid of any Stemmy pastures and/or excess dust.
Treat for flies with a good pour on. Basically improve the eyes condition and try to slow the spread.

It will end soon as it finishes cycling thru.

I had a bad spell around 10 years ago. I was cycling loads thru every 6 weeks constantly bringing in new calves. It would spread from one group to the next. I brought up EVERY calf we had on the place and squirted vinegar(change the pH) in all their eyes and treated every one with a symptom. I also treated them all with a pour on for flies. It was alot of work but I was getting desperate and felt I had to do something.
It stopped. But, it may have been ready to stop on its own anyhow.

 

[Chris H]

We use one of the newer pinkeye vaccines that only needs 1 shot. It's not for young calves but stockers should be OK. Our newborns get the 20/20 vision.
We try to keep the flies under control. Clipping seedheads of the grass also keeps the irritation down, and helps eye health. Keep a good mineral mix out helps overall health too.
We use vetericyn(sp) to flush eyes that are watering & irritated.

We had a few cases of pinkeye late in 2011 and they cleared up well. We added the new vaccine last year and didn't have any pinkeye last year. We haven't had any cases so far this year.