Pinkeye plan for 2011

[jsramer]

I know it is early in the year for a discussion on pinkeye, but would like to get a plan laid out for this year. I'm interested in hearing what others plan is this year to help reduce the chance of their cattle getting pinkeye. Last year was the worst I have ever seen, so not completely comfortable that doing the same thing as in the past is the right course for this year for me.
Thanks in advance for your comments.
Jeff

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Fortunately, that is not a problem for us. Not saying we don't EVER get it, just an occasional issue.
Interested to hear others comments, because I've been told that the vaccines really don't work - they are too specific for 1 strain.
People out here will talk about fly problems :lol: :lol: they don't know what a fly problem is out here. When we lived in Kansas, it was easier to figure how much of the cattle's body WASN'T covered in flys :banana:

 

[dun]

I look at last summer as being a fluke. I really think I caused a lot of the pinkeye problems we had by not clipping the pastures as short as usual. Since we were droughty (no rain for 4 months) I didn;t want to lose that couple of inches of grass so I clipped high and left 10 inch stems (seed stems) that irritated the eyes as they grazed.
So, this year we'll do like we have in the past, rotate pastures, have fly wipe mops at the entrance to the water points and use IGR minerals. If we get droughty again I'll clip shorter and just resign myself to having to feed hay during the summer

 

[jsramer]

Dun, have you much experience with IGR minerals, apparently you feel they work or you would not be using. I know my neighbor says they are not worth the money, but again I dont always beleive he knows what he is talking about either.

 

[dun]

We've used IGR mninerals, pasture rotation and flywipes and last year was the first time in 15 years we had pinkeye. It could be like the elephant repellent, "put some out and haven;t had an elephant on the place since". There is no silver bullet, just IGR alone or anything else isn;t going to do a lot of good. The pinkeye we had started about 2 weeks after I clipped the pastures, the only ones to get it were the littlest calves, I think because they had to get their heads further down into the stems to get to the grass so their eyes got irritated the worst.

 

[George Monk]

We were having a terrible time with pinkeye. We got an autogenous vaccine to help out. This has seemed to help. If you vaccinate for pinkeye IMO you MUST give the booster.

Another thing we have done is give a pinkeye shot 4-8 weeks to the cow prior to calving. We hope this is caring some antibodies through the colosterum. Seems to help but of course we have no proof

 

[TexasBred]

Dun, have you much experience with IGR minerals, apparently you feel they work or you would not be using. I know my neighbor says they are not worth the money, but again I dont always beleive he knows what he is talking about either.

The IGR minerals definitely work. They're never going to get rid of all flies but use it and it will keep them under control at least. I start putting it out in February while it is still cold and use it almost year around. Just try to make sure you get a mineral the cattle will eat to ensure they get the 4 oz. per head per day usually recommended. If you're late getting it out pen the cattle if possible and spray for flies first.

 

[jsramer]

What I been thinking about doing is using IGR mineral, vacinating the cows for pinkeye in May while preg checking and then was thinking about buying the felt cover that distributes an insecticed to install on my bull master mineral feeders. Have any of you used the "Fly Killer Kover's" before?

 

[fitz]

I use the IGR minerals and agree you have to have it out early. Last couple years have vaccinated for pinkeye. I think the grass height is something to watch. Cows usually keep it in check if it's dry. Keep backrubs treated with diesel & permethrin.

fitz

 

[m&kCattle]

Always heard you wanted to vaccinate 4 weeks before flies started, not sure if there is any truth to it. Anyone try the Pilgaurd +7 or something similar? I was thinking of trying it this year around the first / middle of March.

 

[Santas and Duhram Reds]

Another important factor a lot of people seem to ignore is the care the cows got the prior fall. All the fly eggs that have laid dormant through the winter will come out in the spring and a lot of people think what they are doing in the spring is a joke or isn't working when the problem is just the result of last fall.

 

[Aaron]

I used the XT4 pinkeye vaccine from Novartis last year. One of the big key factors is to vaccinate everything. It is a one dose vaccine and the total cost to do the entire herd in the spring was about $75. Never had one case last year. Usually I have a dozen or so.

 

[tsmaxx47]

i usually do the vaccine thing early in the Spring with a booster. i don't know if the calf picks up immunity. the main thing is the fly control and i spray pretty heavy for that. so far i have been able to keep pink-eye in check or the cases mild and i guess that is about all you can expect. it definitetly works better than doing nothing, which is some peoples' approach. it's really not too early to start talking about pink-eye, i'll start vaccinating next month!!

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I used the XT4 pinkeye vaccine from Novartis last year. One of the big key factors is to vaccinate everything. It is a one dose vaccine and the total cost to do the entire herd in the spring was about $75. Never had one case last year. Usually I have a dozen or so.

Aaron, a per head price would mean a little more. $75/hd or $75/100 hd is a little different!

 

[Aaron]

I used the XT4 pinkeye vaccine from Novartis last year. One of the big key factors is to vaccinate everything. It is a one dose vaccine and the total cost to do the entire herd in the spring was about $75. Never had one case last year. Usually I have a dozen or so.

Aaron, a per head price would mean a little more. $75/hd or $75/100 hd is a little different!

Made a mistake. That was for 5-way respiratory. Pinkeye Shield XT4 was $100.32 for the year, or $0.836/hd.

 

[backhoeboogie]

I know it is early in the year for a discussion on pinkeye

Worst outbreak I have ever had was in December. It may be our climate

 

[jkwilson]

I know it is early in the year for a discussion on pinkeye

Worst outbreak I have ever had was in December. It may be our climate

Two years ago I had something being treated for pinkeye from before Thanksgiving to after New Years. Felt like I'd forgotten something when I could finally leave the house without a bottle of antibiotic and some needles and syringes.

All of them were slow to recover too, even though we watched closely and caught them all early after the second one. I don't know what it was, but I don't want it again. Normally don't have to chip ice out of the chute or hold my glove in my teeth while I'm giving shots.

The purple spray we use looked pretty on the snow!

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I know it is early in the year for a discussion on pinkeye

Worst outbreak I have ever had was in December. It may be our climate

Two years ago I had something being treated for pinkeye from before Thanksgiving to after New Years. Felt like I'd forgotten something when I could finally leave the house without a bottle of antibiotic and some needles and syringes.

All of them were slow to recover too, even though we watched closely and caught them all early after the second one. I don't know what it was, but I don't want it again. Normally don't have to chip ice out of the chute or hold my glove in my teeth while I'm giving shots.

The purple spray we use looked pretty on the snow!

That was more likely IBR. "Usually", eye problems in the winter (where we really have winters!) is not pinkeye. Pinkeye will have the white spot directly in the center, but IBR will be off-center (if I'm remembering correctly - Dun is more aware of this).

 

[S&S Farms]

IGR work but they work better if your neighbors use it too. Flies in Kansas do not respect fences.

 

[DavisBeefmasters]

Our neighbors had a terrible bout of the pinkeye last year...

knockin' on wood here, but the brahman influence of a beefmaster really does have a direct effect on disease resistance because we had the whopping ZERO cases last year and the common fence that our cows line up on for about 2 months when we rotate pastures was shared by a whole lot of black angus pirates last year...