Type EE blackleg

[kenny thomas]

I can't believe you haven't been vaccinating for Blackleg DM. I am going to leave it at that, I am shocked.

I had done everything necessary up until this. We had never had blackleg, I always vaccinated the calves with 2 rounds, but since I had never had any kind of an issue I wasn't blackleging the cows. I made it 10 years with not 1 problem.

denver, I cant send a link to anything proving this but in the past i seemed to see blackleg in years like this where the ground gets torn up because it has been so wet. I have also read that things like discing or chain dragging can bring bring the blackleg out. Again I have no proof of this.

 

[Angus Cowman]

Denver which vet do you use you can pm me if you don't want to post on here

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Denver which vet do you use you can pm me if you don't want to post on here

I use Gary Spragg. I've used others around but for serious things like this he's about the only one I trust, the guy knows his stuff.

 

[Chris H]

Denver, I've been vaccinating our calves very young too, due to losing very young calves with the blackleg symptoms. I lost 1 last year at 7 days, the day I had planned on vaccinating him. I lost 1 this year at 3 days. I did lose a calf at 2 months this year, I suspect blackleg on him but can't be sure. I know I got him vaxed once, but no repeat vax.

Couple things I've noticed, 1) it's most often the calves getting the most milk that are most susceptible. 2)It occurs most often in one line of cows we have.
That line of cows are consistently heavy milking, so I don't know if observation 1 is true because of observation 2, or if observation 2 is true because of observation 1. Both the calves lost this year trace back to the same cow, 2 generations for one, 3 generations for the older calf.

What I have gotten from this thread is we're going to start vaccinating the older cows, too.

BTW, we have a heavy deer population, and 45+ years ago this was a large dairy farm. We could have it in the soil from both those factors.

 

[WalnutCrest]

Is there a soil test you can do to narrow down the list of potential problems?

 

[Stocker Steve]

Couple things I've noticed, 1) it's most often the calves getting the most milk that are most susceptible. 2)It occurs most often in one line of cows we have.

:nod:

There was a tread around that a break in the skin was needed for the bacteria to enter.
This guy had rented a new pasture with a lot of briars, so he cleaned them up and his black leg problem went away.