vaccinating multiple animals what do you do about needles?

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BARNSCOOP

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Spinning off the Aquacillin thread I am very interested to know what most people do when vaccinating , injecting dewormer, etc.
These are questions not nessessarily my practice.

1. Do you use a different needle per animal?
2. If not how many animals do you average per needle?
3. Do you stick the needles back into the bottles , drawing out more,vaccine after they have been used on animals?
4. Same question for dewormer?
5. If not do you keep a "master" needle in the bottle and reattach a syringe when needed like Kenny Thomas?

Thanks in advance for the answers.
 
Adding to what I already said if giving vaccines I use the same needle for about 4 calves. If giving more than 1 type don't mix the needles. If giving antibiotics I only use it one time. Buy them a by the box for 8 cents each. Put the used ones in a 2 liter coke bottle when done with them. To qualify for the quality assured program here this was taught in one of our classes. Also are suppose to fill the bottle with concrete when it is full of needles before disposal.
Maybe too much but I never have any problems since I started doing this.
I don't use injectible wormer but would do the same if I did.
 
I used to use a needle for each med. and used them until they broke. A couple of years ago, however, I attended a class given by LSU concerning the spread of diseases in cattle. I looked at the cost, and realized that as Kenny said, the needles are inexpensive and not worth the risk of infecting a cow/calf. Using seperate diposable tips is an insignificant cost when compared to the (possible) cost of losing a calf or cow. So when we work now, I have someone designated as the med. person that switches tips and refills syringes between cows going through the chute. If I had a bigger operation I'd have to change, but as long as I'm under 100 head I can't see me buying a machine type injector.
 
BARNSCOOP":n8t4ks92 said:
Spinning off the Aquacillin thread I am very interested to know what most people do when vaccinating , injecting dewormer, etc.
These are questions not nessessarily my practice.

1. Do you use a different needle per animal? No, my pistol grips hold enough for 25 calves, I change after that, more often is ok too.
2. If not how many animals do you average per needle?
3. Do you stick the needles back into the bottles , drawing out more,vaccine after they have been used on animals?No, I don't.
4. Same question for dewormer?I do the same as vaccines.
5. If not do you keep a "master" needle in the bottle and reattach a syringe when needed like Kenny Thomas?Yes

Thanks in advance for the answers.

Larry
 
We take all used needles to the vet to dispose of. As well she takes in the empty bottles of drugs, expired drugs and the dewormer bottles.
We do not interchange the needles and the drugs. One needle one drug...dispose of needle. A clean needle *usually* goes into the bottle of antibotics.
We use pour on dewormer for our cows. It hangs quite nicely chute side.
When making up the calving kit, the syringes are marked so as to not mix up the vitamins and what ever else is in the tool box.
When vaccinating we use the needle a few times and then switch the needle. However the last batch of needles seem to bend after every animal so i went through alot. We always use detectable needles house just in case one breaks. If they bend i do not use in the next animal for fear the needle will break off in the animal.
We use the repeater guns and i like the allfex the best. The vet says they are more accurate than the metal w/ glass repeaters. and i have broke my share of glass tubes while vaccinating.
We do our best to make sure all vaccinations are kept cool - Pfizer gave out free zipper cooler bags for this purpose - and shaded. They are also mixed as needed rather than a whole bunch at a time. Can slow things down abit, but for the cost of the vaccinations, I want the stuff to work the way it is suppose to.
http://www.verifiedbeef.org/producer_resources.htm
Here is a link to the verified beef program in Canada. I am sure the States is very simillar
 
BARNSCOOP":35o7ltlc said:
Rockridge,
Good point about keeping them cool! I started using a small hand held cooler for that reason.

I forgot to mention that point, but all medecins stay in a small ice chest the whole time we are working. It may hut the cows a little more to be injected by a cold substance, but I don't need any meds to go bad. And whatever you do, don't dip you needles in a disinfectant between injections - this will render many medications useless.
 
We use disposable needles for each animal and buy them by the box. Use different syringe for each different medication: Mark the syringe with felt marker to note its vaccine. After doing a group of cattle for the session we toss the syringes. Next session, new syringes (buy those by the box also).

Keep meds in cooler with ice pack. Our vaccine stock is kept in small refrigerator between vaccination sessions.

Disposable syringes and needles is cheap insurance against cross-contamination and transmitting an "infection" between animals. Sharp new needles makes it easier to insert and easier on the animal.
 
I change needles after each animal but I will use the same syringe as long as its the same meds.
 
I buy my needles by the box, will use the same syringe for same vaccine (or de-wormer when using injectable). If for some reson I have mis-counted how many needles I need, I have been known to use a needle 2X. I have a "master" needle in the bottles, I never insert a 'dirty' needle into a bottle. I too keep the bottles in a small Playmate type cooler filled with ice during workings. The needles are put into an empty soda bottle, as Kenny does, but I do not fill it with concrete.

Where I work, the 'pistol-grip' injection guns are used, and needles are switched out about every 10 to 15 cows or so.

Katherine
 
If you don't know your animals' BLV status - or if you do - I'll strongly recommend a fresh, new needle for every animal - or at least for every test-negative animal in the herd. It's what the experts recommend, what I recommended to my own clients when I was in active veterinary practice. It's a pain in the butt to do, but disposable needles are pretty cheap - but I still didn't do it with my own herd, and now I'm paying the price.

I knew I had BLV(Bovine Leukosis Virus) present in my herd - I'd lost a 10+ yr old cow every couple of years for the past 5-6 yrs to lymphosarcoma - malignant tumors of the lymphatic system, which occurs in about 5% of cows infected with BLV. Lost two this past winter, and it bothered my farm manager(wife) enough that we finally bit the bullet and tested the entire herd, including every heifer over 6 months of age.
Out of 45 cows, 40 were BLV positive; fortunately, out of the 10 heifers we retained for this spring's breeding, only 1 was infected.

So...from now on, all negative animals get a fresh new needle every time. And a fresh new OB sleeve if we're palpating or inseminating. Just because they were negative 6 months ago, I can't guarantee they're still 'clean', so I'll use a new needle for each 'clean' animal - I won't take the chance of using the same one on 3 or 4 'clean' animals, running the risk that one or more of them may now be infected.

For multi-dose vials of vaccine, I stick one fresh new needle in the top and withdraw through that needle, and that needle only - no going in and out with a needle that's already been stuck in a cow - I use the same syringe on 'clean' or 'dirty' animals, but not the same needle.

Ear taggers, tattoo sets, etc. need to be disinfected between animals, as any transfer of blood can result in transmission of BLV to the next animal.

The BLV-positive animals? Well, the damage is done - they're infected for the rest of their lives, so I don't bother using a fresh new needle on them - I do re-use the once-used needles from the 'clean' animals to vaccinate 'dirty' cows.

All the BLV-infected cows are on a 'fast-track' to be culled. Any infected cow is gonna leave once she reaches 10 yrs, regardless of her production record. I anticipate that almost all of the current BLV+ cows will be gone within 5 yrs.

Even with these safeguards(clean sterile single use needles & OB sleeves on 'clean' cows, not contaminating vaccines, etc.), there's still a risk of horizontal transmission - animal to animal - and vertical transmission from dam to offspring, so I'll have to re-test 'clean' cows on a yearly basis to keep up with whether they've actually remained free or have become infected. All retained heifers will be tested somewhere between weaning and 10 months of age. Depending on infection rate in heifers, I may start culling on BLV status as heavily as I do on appearance and genetic potential.

So...please save yourself - and your cowherd - the possibility of spreading this disease by using clean sterile needles.
BLV infection is pretty widespread in both beef and dairy herds - you may or may not know whether you have it in your herd, but if you've ever lost a cow to lymphosarcoma, chances are your herd may have a fairly high infection rate, like my own.
 
we use the automatic syringe the bottle sits on or the hose attaches to. it is much better and worth $20 apiece. we use one for each different med and change needles when needed. you can get them when you order so much med or wormer. some hold big bottles and some hold smaller ones
 
Yes, I always change needle and syringe, the risk of introducing bacteria, disease, etc is to great, and the cost of needles & syringes are fairly inexpensive. I always pull back before injection as well, so I do not inject into a blood vessel. I had a couple of times I would go sub-q or IM and I had blood in my syringe, glad I pull back, better safe than sorry.
I would never stick the needles back into the bottles again for the same reason the risk is to great for a loss of an animal.
I do not use injectable dewormer.
 
Well, when we are working the whole herd, it comes down to time. We use the 50 ml automatic syringe, and I just got one of the ones that the bottle stays on with a hose, I like it. Needles get changed when they bend or become dull, could be 2 cows, could be 25 cows. We don't use a master needle, although, that is definitely a good idea. We DO keep the vaccine cold, stored in a cooler with ice packs, and only removed to fill a syringe, syringes go in there too, if we have a break in the action. Dewormers we do the same thing as vaccine, just that we don't store it in the cooler.
 
randiliana,

I just bought a gun for the injectable dewormer that has the hose and attaches to the bottle. Is this the one you like or is it for the pour-on?
 
We also use the "Bottle-Mount-Vaccinator". we have a couple Allflex & a Prima Tech. Prefer the Prima Tech and am getting ready to get another one.
We give our vet the bottle of needles.
Like most, we use 1 needle in the bottle - NEVER use one that has been injected in an animal to draw meds/vaccines. Reuse needles til bent or dull - use same syringe for 1 vaccine.
Use pour on and drench with long hose & gun.
Mix vaccines as needed, rest kept in a cooler with ice packs.
Buy needles & syringes by the box.
Strickly BQA standards.
 
BARNSCOOP":2twe5l3e said:
randiliana,

I just bought a gun for the injectable dewormer that has the hose and attaches to the bottle. Is this the one you like or is it for the pour-on?

Yes, this is the one I like. Only thing I don't like is that it doesn't have any way to hang it so the bottle is up high. I have one that was made by Dectomax (or maybe cydectin) and we bought one this spring that is for vaccines.
 
We've used about everything, bottle and hose, bottle on the vaccinator, and the only thing I got against it is that when the thing is not working properly, its too hard to tell until you've done quite a few wrong. When I pull that pistol grip, I can see that the calf got the right amount. We use the Roux 50ml, they're cheap, work well, and my vet stocks the parts. I reckon it's what ever you get used to.

Larry
 

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