Vaccination questions

[LauraleesFarm]

Please share your vaccination program. Specifically, what do you give your cows and calves and at what times of year?

Is there any reason to blackleg a mature cow or bull?

How long can you safely store and keep a vial of vaccine that has been accessed with a sterile needle and aseptic technique?

My herd is small enough that I cannot use all of the 50 dose vial but would have to order several of the 10 dose vials. Can the rest of the vial be used later?

Do you use an injector system or needles and syringes? If you use needles and syringes, do you give each cow a fresh set or do you reuse them multiple times?

How old do you first vaccinate your calves? Do you revaccinate them again in 4 to 5 weeks? Or after they are 6 months old?

All of your comments are appreciated. I would like to see if there is anything I should do differently with my program. We have done our own vaccine at times, and other times we've had the vet do it. We have usually blacklegged everything under age 2 and give virashield to everything. We vaccinate the calves usually once around 2 to 4 months and then once again after weaning. We calve year round so the timing of the virashield with breeding back is not always ideal. But I am told that it covers for 6 months. So we generally work/vaccinate around May 1 and Nov 1. For us, each cow gets a fresh needle and syringe mainly because I can prepare the doses in advance and have them ready.

 

[bse]

Vaccinate all fall clavers around Nov 1st 30 days before breeding they get dectomax inj,bovi gold fp5 vl5 hb,ultra choice 7,and multimin. The bovi gold is MLV so i wouldnt use that on a year round calving herd, the ultra choice is blackleg and i do vaccinate all cows with it maybe not needed just cheap ins. then 2 weeks prior to weaning about 4 months after breeding date i give the cows staybred vl5, dectomax inj, and ultraboss(for lice)and pull blood for preg check.
2 weeks prior to weaning the calves get bovi gold 5, ultrachoice7, dectomax inj, multimin, and ultra boss,2 weeks later at weaning they get another round of bovi gold 5,and ultrachoice 7.
i use a bottle mount syringe change the needles out i dont have to draw it up each time. Not sure how long the killed stuff lasts id think it would depend on how fast you used it. i do use the ultra choice 2 weeks after the first round but the MLV you have to throw away.

 

[Lucky_P]

LL,
There's really no 'one size fits all' vaccination program - they all need to be tailored to your own specific needs/risks/desires. If you're constantly moving new cattle in/out, buying new cows, taking calves to shows, etc., - or if your neighbor across the fence is a cattle trader - you'll need a more extensive program than someone like me with a closed herd and no fence-to-fence contact with other cattle. This is one instance in which you really ought to visit with your veterinarian for their recommendations.

I used to be of the opinion that cattle that were adequately vaccinated against the clostridial organisms as calves were protected for life - but I've seen enough cases of blackleg/malignant edema in adult cattle - most frequently animals in an estrus synchronization program - that I routinely re-vaccinate my mature cows every 2-3 years. It's cheap insurance.

We ordinarily 'blackleg' calves here somewhere between 10-30 days, then booster when we're doing pre-weaning viral vaccinations. It's not exactly by label instructions, but it's worked (so far).

I have, for years, retained and used partial bottles of killed bacterin/toxoids - IF aseptic technique was used - no dirty or used needles in/out of the bottle, etc. Guess I feel better about minimizing bad results with 2-3 leftover doses in a 10-dose bottle than 30 doses in a 50-dose bottle - but I've held and used leftover 50s in the past. But, if you had a 'vaccine failure' or adverse response, it would all be on me(or you), because manufacturer's instructions were not followed, and they'd be 'off the hook', so far as any damages might be concerned.

I've detailed my problems with BLV infection in my herd before - upshot being: no potential replacement heifer or heifer/cow born here since we did our initial herd test, back in '07, EVER gets stuck with a needle or palpated with a sleeve that's been in another cow. Known BLV-infected cows and steers - yeah, I'll reuse needles - but I don't stick needles that have been in an animal into a bottle of vaccine or medicine.
Same concern holds if you have a history of anaplasmosis in your herd or in your area - work done at KSU showed that reusing a needle that had previously been stuck in an Anaplasma-infected carrier animal resulted in transmission of the infection almost 60% of the time. Oftentimes, when folks have a 'herd outbreak' of anaplasmosis, if they'd look back at the calendar, it often starts about 6 weeks after they 'worked the herd'.