Pink Eye Round Three

[Stocker Steve]

We tried a couple pink eye vaccines but did not seem to get consistent results. We spoke with our vet and he recommend pinkeye with the 7 way vaccine and then boostering with Triview. so we did that. Now we are still seeing pink eye this summer but fewer closed eye cases. Most cattle get a little weepy around the eye but then it seems to clear up by itself.

Any tips or comments?

 

[ollie?]

Good fly tags?

 

[frenchie]

Almost sounds like an Iodine problem.We usually feed an Iodine supplement If we have eye problems

You could ask faster horses at ranchernet. Shes pretty in the know

 

[Stocker Steve]

We use fly ear tags and a back rub with the tie on strips. This seems to work well except for the stable and horse flies.

I asked my feed guy about more iodine but he was worried about it being toxic. I do have some of the small packets of organic iodine. How much iodine per pound do you use in your home mixes?

 

[Mongoose]

It really all depends on where you live. We only had 1 pinkeye incident this year, and I had it cleared up in 2-3 days, with just one dose of LA-200. I just spray the cattle with Fly/Mosquito spray I got from tractor supply. It seems to work pretty good, but a cattle rub is also good.

 

[frenchie]

We use fly ear tags and a back rub with the tie on strips. This seems to work well except for the stable and horse flies.

I asked my feed guy about more iodine but he was worried about it being toxic. I do have some of the small packets of organic iodine. How much iodine per pound do you use in your home mixes?

I ,ll get back to you on that the iodine bag is in grams.I gotta convert it.

 

[MoGal]

Stocker Management
Swatting Flies And Pinkeye
Left to their own devices, pinkeye and flies, both those that transmit the disease and those that don't, can cost plenty in terms of lost performance and treatment cost. That's especially true when wet conditions prevail as they have unseasonably through the gut of the country this year.

In fact, stocker operators responding to Kansas State University's (KSU) landmark Beef Stock 2000 Survey cited pinkeye (81%) as one of the most prevalent health challenges they face after 30 days of receiving stocker cattle.

Although cattle can contract the highly contagious condition of pinkeye (infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis) any time of the year, they're more prone in the summer months when extra sunlight (ultraviolet rays), dust, rough pasture and flies can irritate the cornea enough to allow pinkeye organisms (typically Moraxella bovis) to take hold. According to researchers, the organisms responsible for infection spread more readily during the summer time via face flies and stable flies.

As such, producers have two avenues of preventive attack: decrease the infective organism itself and/or decrease the vector (in this case, that's the flies that carry the organism).

In terms of fly control, stable flies are often viewed as more of a challenge in confinement situations, such as feedlots, but KSU research indicates they're fast becoming a pasture problem. In summer 2001, stable-fly levels on pastured cattle in Kansas and Nebraska were documented to be the highest ever, as evidenced by the characteristic behavior of attacked cattle. This includes bunching (fighting to get in the center of the bunch), usually at corners of pastures; lying with the legs underneath; and spending long periods of time in water. In many situations, the numbers of stable flies caught on special traps used for measuring fly populations were higher than the numbers trapped at feedlots (as high as 820 flies/trap/day).

Keep in mind, because of the painful bites inflicted by stable flies during blood feeding, confined cattle might experience up to 1/2 lb./head/day in weight gain reduction.

Likewise, even though horn flies are not associated with pinkeye transmission, their negative impact on stocker performance means they should also be included in an effective fly control strategy.

As for decreasing the infective organism, sanitation may be the best weapon to eliminate or reduce stable fly populations by reducing the developmental habitats for larvae. Specifically, KSU researchers recommend selecting the least wasteful method for feeding round bales, plow the feeding grounds after winter feeding, and feed during winter with the aim of reducing or eliminating an over-supply of feed. Keep in mind that using bale processors (hay choppers) can result in similar problems if not done properly.

Several effective commercial bacterins are available for treating and preventing pinkeye. These include applications by injection, implanting and even air-driven "vaccine pellets" that can be administered from the back of a horse. However, first consult a veterinarian to determine the organism and its form in order to use the proper vaccine. When matched to the right organism and administered properly, research indicates a 6:1 return on vaccination, generated by saving pounds that would have been otherwise lost.

Keep in mind that cattle already suffering from health or nutritional stress have a difficult time mounting an effective immune response, no matter how high the efficacy of a vaccine.

Also, since infected animals become a source of infection, they should be isolated from uninfected animals until the pinkeye is controlled.

Studies also indicate that injecting and feeding oxytetracycline, or feeding chloratetracycline, are effective in treating infected cattle for pinkeye, as well as preventing it in uninfected cattle.

In studies at the University of Nebraska, the University of California-Davis and Virginia Tech, oxytetracycline proved effective in treating and preventing pinkeye when injected at about 9 mg/lb. and fed at about 2 grams/day for 10 days.

Likewise, in a KSU study, feeding chlortetracycline to pasture cattle at the rate of 150 and 450/mg/head/day as part of a free-choice mineral supplement reduced the pinkeye incidence significantly -- from from 6.9% in the control group to 1.8% and 3.5%, respectively.

You can find more detail at http://www.beefstockerusa.org.