Respiratory Issues....

[Bright Raven]

TC isn't too far from me. Sunday, we had 60mph wind and 6" of snow. My calves are showing the stress of it now. Their respiratory vaccination hasn't done a lot to protect them. Local animal health store said many are saying the same thing.

What vaccination did you administer for Respiratory diseases?

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

We too give Inforce 3, and I treated 14 of 16 calves on Sunday for respiratory. Resflor Gold works wonders! I treated another one yesterday, 105.6 temp!!! Our weather goes from 15 to 60 in 24 hours, it is super hard on the calves!!!

 

[Chocolate Cow2]

I used Inforce 3 going to grass. Then, Sept 22, they had Vista Once. I lost 2 today. :cry2: One went really fast. I saw him last night just at dark-right at the same time my other half knocked the windshield out of the tractor. I brought him in this morning and gave him Excede. He died about 4 pm. The other one was treated yesterday. Nothing seemed to work on these two. Guess they kept their sickness hidden until it was too late. Today, after seeing how quickly this stuff advances, I got very aggressive treating my calves. If they were by themselves, cough, have their head dropped, anything that catches my attention-they're got an antibiotic and I put them in a different pen away from the ones I haven't had to doctor.

 

[True Grit Farms]

We must not have that strain of pneumonia here and I'm sure glad for it, that stuff sounds terrible. We don't vaccinate calves for anything till their a couple of months old and have less than an 4% loss overall in our herd. When it's nasty weather around here I feed the cows corn and put a few rolls of my worst hay out directly on the ground and all the calves will be laying on it.
I always ask myself how did the old timers get by without all this modern medicine and technology? And the weather was as bad or worse, and life or death had real meaning.

 

[Bright Raven]

I used Inforce 3 going to grass. Then, Sept 22, they had Vista Once. I lost 2 today. :cry2: One went really fast. I saw him last night just at dark-right at the same time my other half knocked the windshield out of the tractor. I brought him in this morning and gave him Excede. He died about 4 pm. The other one was treated yesterday. Nothing seemed to work on these two. Guess they kept their sickness hidden until it was too late. Today, after seeing how quickly this stuff advances, I got very aggressive treating my calves. If they were by themselves, cough, have their head dropped, anything that catches my attention-they're got an antibiotic and I put them in a different pen away from the ones I haven't had to doctor.

Thanks for the reply. You got something very aggressive. Hopefully your efforts will save the rest.

 

[Bright Raven]

We must not have that strain of pneumonia here and I'm sure glad for it, that stuff sounds terrible. We don't vaccinate calves for anything till their a couple of months old and have less than an 4% loss overall in our herd. When it's nasty weather around here I feed the cows corn and put a few rolls of my worst hay out directly on the ground and all the calves will be laying on it.
I always ask myself how did the old timers get by without all this modern medicine and technology? And the weather was as bad or worse, and life or death had real meaning.

I think with the modern movement of cattle, the more aggressive microorganisms have been more widely distributed.

 

[True Grit Farms]

We must not have that strain of pneumonia here and I'm sure glad for it, that stuff sounds terrible. We don't vaccinate calves for anything till their a couple of months old and have less than an 4% loss overall in our herd. When it's nasty weather around here I feed the cows corn and put a few rolls of my worst hay out directly on the ground and all the calves will be laying on it.
I always ask myself how did the old timers get by without all this modern medicine and technology? And the weather was as bad or worse, and life or death had real meaning.

I think with the modern movement of cattle, the more aggressive microorganisms have been more widely distributed.

Could be or it might be we're raising wimpy whiners not fit for the environment their being raised in. And by nature not culling the weak, and modern medicine they've become dependent on others to survive. We've sure done and allowed that too happen in the human race. Like people there will always be freeloaders, deadbeats and welfare cattle. And the lucky one's might live long enough to make it to SS and Medicare if it's still available.

 

[True Grit Farms]

We must not have that strain of pneumonia here and I'm sure glad for it, that stuff sounds terrible. We don't vaccinate calves for anything till their a couple of months old and have less than an 4% loss overall in our herd. When it's nasty weather around here I feed the cows corn and put a few rolls of my worst hay out directly on the ground and all the calves will be laying on it.
I always ask myself how did the old timers get by without all this modern medicine and technology? And the weather was as bad or worse, and life or death had real meaning.

I think with the modern movement of cattle, the more aggressive microorganisms have been more widely distributed.

We're trying to import stuff from other countries so we can have even more fun.

 

[Bright Raven]

Could be or it might be we're raising wimpy whiners not fit for the environment their being raised in. And by nature not culling the weak, and modern medicine they've become dependent on others to survive.

I doubt cattle are any weaker today than they were when my dad raised cattle.

He was born in 1921. Except for service in the US Army during World War II, he always had horses and cows.

Listen very clearly - They DIDN'T cull anything for half the traits we talk about on this forum. Granted, he is only one data point but cattle were not culled on the same scale they are today. Most cattleman at least in Kentucky operated like he did and BTW, they had cattle die then just like the ones here who are losing calves.

It is entertaining to use ANECDOTAL evidence to conversate on but you have no data to argue either way and neither do I.

 

[True Grit Farms]

Could be or it might be we're raising wimpy whiners not fit for the environment their being raised in. And by nature not culling the weak, and modern medicine they've become dependent on others to survive.

I doubt cattle are any weaker today than they were when my dad raised cattle.

He was born in 1921. Except for service in the US Army during World War II, he always had horses and cows.

Listen very clearly - They DIDN'T cull anything for half the traits we talk about on this forum. Granted, he is only one data point but cattle were not culled on the same scale they are today. Most cattleman at least in Kentucky operated like he did and BTW, they had cattle die then just like the ones here who are losing calves.

It is entertaining to use ANECDOTAL evidence to conversate on but you have no data to argue either way and neither do I.

I'm not arguing or debating, just stating a possibility. Animals and people will cull themselves if left to survive on their own. Where do you think that "only the strongest will survive to breed came from" fact is we've bred ourselves and our cattle down compared to our ancestors. Like the 6 million dollar man you can build a bigger, faster and stronger specimen. All it takes is a little time and money.

 

[TCRanch]

So Fire Sweep & Chocolate Cow2 both used Inforce 3 & still ended up with pneumonia. CC2 I'm very sorry for the loss of your two calves! Which begs the question: is it worth it in the first place? Or similar to the flu vaccine, which may or may not target the particular strain & half the people that get flu shots still get smacked with the flu.

My vet said he's never dealt with or heard of as many ranchers treating pneumonia & losing calves this year. And once again, the 10 day forecast is predicting huge variations in the weather from upper 50's, then rain/t-storms, drop in temp, snow & lows in the teens. :bang:

 

[True Grit Farms]

So Fire Sweep & Chocolate Cow2 both used Inforce 3 & still ended up with pneumonia. CC2 I'm very sorry for the loss of your two calves! Which begs the question: is it worth it in the first place? Or similar to the flu vaccine, which may or may not target the particular strain & half the people that get flu shots still get smacked with the flu.

My vet said he's never dealt with or heard of as many ranchers treating pneumonia & losing calves this year. And once again, the 10 day forecast is predicting huge variations in the weather from upper 50's, then rain/t-storms, drop in temp, snow & lows in the teens. :bang:

Take a grain wagon of whole corn and crack the gate and drive through the cows till you put out about 5-8 lbs per head including the calves and then just feed your best hay. Do this before a cold front is going to push through. I truly believe like in people, what you eat makes a big difference. I have no idea why corn works so well, but I feel it makes a big difference. I know that very few deer winter kill where they grow corn compared to where they don't.

 

[TCRanch]

So Fire Sweep & Chocolate Cow2 both used Inforce 3 & still ended up with pneumonia. CC2 I'm very sorry for the loss of your two calves! Which begs the question: is it worth it in the first place? Or similar to the flu vaccine, which may or may not target the particular strain & half the people that get flu shots still get smacked with the flu.

My vet said he's never dealt with or heard of as many ranchers treating pneumonia & losing calves this year. And once again, the 10 day forecast is predicting huge variations in the weather from upper 50's, then rain/t-storms, drop in temp, snow & lows in the teens. :bang:

Take a grain wagon of whole corn and crack the gate and drive through the cows till you put out about 5-8 lbs per head including the calves and then just feed your best hay. Do this before a cold front is going to push through. I truly believe like in people, what you eat makes a big difference. I have no idea why corn works so well, but I feel it makes a big difference. I know that very few deer winter kill where they grow corn compared to where they don't.

We've never fed corn but happen to have a tote full of it for hubby's deer feeders. Worth a try! We've been alternating feeding prairie when it's nice, switching to brome, bermuda or alfalfa when it's cold.

 

[Bright Raven]

So Fire Sweep & Chocolate Cow2 both used Inforce 3 & still ended up with pneumonia. CC2 I'm very sorry for the loss of your two calves! Which begs the question: is it worth it in the first place? Or similar to the flu vaccine, which may or may not target the particular strain & half the people that get flu shots still get smacked with the flu.

My vet said he's never dealt with or heard of as many ranchers treating pneumonia & losing calves this year. And once again, the 10 day forecast is predicting huge variations in the weather from upper 50's, then rain/t-storms, drop in temp, snow & lows in the teens. :bang:

Hold on! Inforce 3 provides immunity for ONLY 3 viral types of pneumonia- IBR, PI3 and BRSV. Fire Sweep and CC2 do not know what microbe (or microbes as it could have been more than one) caused their pneumonia cases. The Bovine Respiratory Disease group of bacteria and viruses is huge.

 

[Stocker Steve]

I truly believe like in people, what you eat makes a big difference. I have no idea why corn works so well, but I feel it makes a big difference.

Stress is a huge factor with some diseases. So minimizing nutritional stress and minimizing handling stress can really help alot. Too many folks are relying on meds alone.

 

[gcreekrch]

Have any of you done a post mortem and is Pasturella a concern in your areas?

We have been giving PM Once for several years and now have added Inforce to our calves at birth. The numbers born should not affect management for health. I can say that respiratory problems decrease every year.

 

[76 Bar]

Excellent post.

 

[TCRanch]

Have any of you done a post mortem and is Pasturella a concern in your areas?

We have been giving PM Once for several years and now have added Inforce to our calves at birth. The numbers born should not affect management for health. I can say that respiratory problems decrease every year.

I've only lost the one steer last year (treated for pneumonia) & not posted. Don't know if Pasteurella is a concern here - never had one diagnosed with it.

 

[Bright Raven]

This relates to Gcreekranch's comment about Pasteurella and necropsies. Pasteurella (Mannheimia) is a concern EVERYWHERE. The most common bacterium found in pneumonic lungs of cattle as a result of necropsies is Mannheimia haemolytica (formerly Pasteurella haemolytica). Also common is Pasteurella multocida. Both are part of the bovine respiratory disease (BRD) complex. According to the Merck manual these bacteria are ubiquitous in cattle are occur in the upper respiratory tract of most cattle.

As long as these two organisms only inhabit the pharynx or upper respiratory tract, clinical respiratory disease, or BRD associated with them is uncommon. The animal's normal bodily defenses keep these bacteria in check: in a healthy animal, they replicate slowly, are destroyed by antibodies and removed by macrophages. Respiratory tract infections (pneumonia) due to these two bacteria occur when the organism is inhaled. Under conditions of impaired pulmonary defenses, a severe necrotizing fibrinous pleuropneumonia develops. Spread of these organisms is by direct contact, or by ingestion of feed and water contaminated by nasal and oral discharges from infected cattle. Therefore these two bacteria are easily spread between cattle, especially when calves are crowded (as in shipment) or closely confined (as in a dairy calf nursery).

 

[Chocolate Cow2]

TC-Thank you for your kind words.
Another miserable week-end weather event here. This time, all calves are under a roof. We split them into 3 groups to accomplish this but they are really enjoying being warm & dry. Their human caretakers-not so much-as we're hauling feed to them but 'ya gotta do what 'ya gotta do.