Pinkeye or IBR

[Lucky]

I posted several months ago that we had a pinkeye breakout in our calves. We noticed one at first then 3,4,5 etc. We got the cattle up and vaccinated though entire herd. We also Dr the calves that had pinkeye with a shot of Draxxin and LA 300 in the infected eyes. I'd guess they Dr 10 or 12 calves. We weren't able to separate the calves so watched the herd close for the next few months and had to give 2-3 more calves a shot a Draxxin. There's 85 cows, 75 calves, and 4 bulls in this group. We noticed that he only calves that got Pinkeye were the calves out of a set of 20 bred heifers we bought back in January. We did vaccinate these calves for IBR and all the normal things back in March. We have never vaccinated or had a pinkeye issue until this popped up.

I say all that to ask if anyone has any thoughts on this since the only thing that got pinkeye was the calves on the new heifers out of this fairly big group. I know IBR can show in the eyes also. We were advised by 2 vets not to do a sample or bring a calf in but at the time I didn't realize it was only the heifers calves getting infected.

 

[coachg]

I don’t have any answers for you . We had terrible pinkeye last year . Seems like every day a new calf or cow had it . We aren’t set up to easily catch our herds so I use a dart gun . Knock on wood we didn’t have a single case this year . No difference in our health protocols, vaccinations, minerals , etc . Flies were worse this year than last too . The only difference i know of is we had a really wet spring and early summer . Last year was a bad dry year . You tell me ?

 

[farmerjan]

We had some serious pinkeye this year and it was in mostly cows with calves, not heifers with calves... and yes, there were serious fly issues... and it was a very dry summer overall, we have been in moderate drought conditions for several months.

That said, we seem to nearly ALWAYS see more pinkeye in BOUGHT animals... probably 10 to 1... bought animals, as opposed to 'homegrown"... Meaning that bought animals will get pinkeye when no one else is showing it... mostly in the calves... a few of the bought adults. IF we keep heifers out of those bought animals, and they wind up getting bred and raising calves, they will have no more problems than the other "homegrown" animals. I think it has to do that the bought and just brought in ones, do not have the same resistance to the pinkeye "germ".... be it virus, or bacteria from injury/irritation. I am not a vet... but observation over many years has shown this to be pretty much "fact"... bought/brought in stock will get pinkeye more times than not, and at much greater numbers. Yes, I have kept records of who gets treated over the years too...

All brought in animals get Triangle 10... killed virus vaccine... and blackleg since we do not know how much immunity they have... calves get blackleg. When it comes time to wean the calves, the steers get Triangle 5 and the heifers get Triangle 10.. both get a 2nd blackleg then. Most steers are weaned 45-60 days when they get sold, heifers will get sorted out who we are keeping, and the ones that are not "keepers" will also go in 45-60 days. Then we will do a 2nd culling of heifers closer to breeding time...

We have vaccinated for pinkeye in the past and had very poor results/response. The one vet is pushing the autogenuous (sp?) one they make up... Son is talking giving it to one group to see if it helps... I am not so sold on it but willing to try a group if he wants.

 

[Lucky]

We had no prior experience with pinkeye and ended up giving the vaccine for the Bovoculi strain. This was recommended to us by one of BTOs in our area. I'm afraid we ended up with one calf that may not completely recover. We thought we were in the clear for about a month then she popped up with a pretty bad case. I couldn't find her this morning but the cattle were scattered out pretty good. Well that and the fact that she don't like a SxS anymore lol

 

[coachg]

If you have to dart them , first time no problem, second time they are suspicious, Heaven forbid if you have to give a third shot ; you better have a good dart gun and be a sniper !

 

[jltrent]

Three years ago, I had several with pinkeye and I darted them with the recommended amount of Draxxin. I couldn't tell it did anything. A couple had bad eyes, and I took them to slaughter and put in the freezer. I got lucky on some more as a guy bought them and gave me number 1 price. The last couple years I don't remember any pinkeye. I started feeding mineral high in Vitamin A, medicated, and two different fly controls in it year around. I also used a vetgun to thin the flies down on the cows, made sure to keep the back rubs soaked and most calves got pinkeye shots. Maybe that has help as I hope so and will continue.

 

[TCRanch]

Tough one because you don't know the history of the bred heifers you bought and whether they had ever been vaccinated for pinkeye. Passive immunity makes a difference. Moxarella Bovis is the most common strain but there is also Moxarella Bovoculi (which you vaccinated for) and Mycoplasma Bovis. Mycoplaz is primarily a respiratory disease but can (and does) affect the eyes. So, if you have a calf (in your case) with pinkeye and showing signs of respiratory (IBR), it may not just be "pinkeye" and maybe focus on Mycoplasma.

We had a pinkeye outbreak with (if I recall) 6 or 7 calves I had to treat a number of years ago. As did a lot of the county where I live. I was already vaccinating with an autogenous that protected against Moxarella Bovis and Bovoculi but out vet took samples and added Mycoplasma Bovis to the mix. Can't remember the last time I had to treat a cow for legit pinkeye (as opposed to an abrasion) and they're vaccinated annually.

 

[TexasJerseyMilker]

Here is a bull that lived across the road. He was 20 years old in this picture, blind in one eye but could still find a cow. He was a home bred, sired great calves so they kept him for 20 + years.

Pink eye was bad here but they said whatever vaccine was not working. This is how I prevented it.


No they were not robbing banks.

 

[elkwc]

Some around here had bad pinkeye, some bad foot rot and some both. Knock on wood we were fortunate. Had neither. Was wet here from spring to now. I have heard many theories over the years. Heard some vets say you might see a higher incident rate between calves and those on cows because the immunity level in the heifer might not be as high. I have watched for years and about the time I think I have it figured out something happens that shows a different result.

 

[ClinchValley86]

We're the heifers fed hard early in life you think? Enough so that it caused some sort of imbalance that would have transferred to the calves? Epigenetic type deal? Thats terrible luck! This group of heifers, did they get excessive protein while carrying their calves?

Maybe nothing to do w how they were fed. But definitely interesting to say the least. This post could be tied to the thread about retaining or buying heifers.

I sure hope the trouble is over with for ya, Lucky.

 

[jltrent]

We're the heifers fed hard early in life you think? Enough so that it caused some sort of imbalance that would have transferred to the calves? Epigenetic type deal? Thats terrible luck! This group of heifers, did they get excessive protein while carrying their calves?

Maybe nothing to do w how they were fed. But definitely interesting to say the least. This post could be tied to the thread about retaining or buying heifers.

I sure hope the trouble is over with for ya, Lucky.

Good points. Every time I bought a bull that had been pushed and looked like a butterball he had a short life with my cattle. I would rather buy a good bull in his work cloths than one just on papers and condition.

 

[Lucky]

They were fat when they got here but not overly fat. The man did feed them a custom mix from a mixer wagon so could have been really high in protein.

 

[ClinchValley86]

They were fat when they got here but not overly fat. The man did feed them a custom mix from a mixer wagon so could have been really high in protein.

Interesting for sure. Bet they looked good.