vaccination

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onecarl2002

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I have a cow calf operation and I have been having young 2 to 4 month old calfs every year maybe 2 or 3 of them get a respirtory problem. They start coughing and it gets worse they hold their head and neck out straight like they are having trouble getting their breath. So I started looking into a vaccination I could start giving my mommy cows and calves it seems like everyone i talk to says there is no need to vaccinate calves till weaning time and a lot says that you cant vaccinate cows while they are pregnant but I run a bull with my groups of cows year round so it is hard for me to catch them when they are not carrying. Any information would help thanks.
 
A lot of views without comment... so I'll take a stab at it

1. A good vaccination program for your herd will build the immunity of your herd as well as the calves. You should check with your local vet, neighbors, etc. for recommendations. Additionally, vaccinations could (I say could not will) allow you to get paid more for your calves depending upon how you market them. Your vet can work with you on the type of vaccine (killed virus versus modified live that you can give to work with your breeding program)

2. In the opinion of our vet, vaccinations for calves do not begin until they are at least 4 months of age because this is when they have/are developing their own immune system seperate from the cow. As such we do our initial vaccinations at 6 months of age, with their booster shots given at weaning 4 weeks later. Any animals retained within the herd then receive yearly boosters. That being said -- we do some initial calfhood shots within the first 24 hours of birth to give some added protection which is simply Bo-Se (we're in a selenium deficient area), TSV-2 intranasal to assist in prevention of calfhood pneumonia, iodine (actually now Betadine) the umbilical cord as prevention to navel ill, weigh the calf, and apply the ear tag for ease of sorting... multiple bulls and purebred registered herd so we need to know which cow goes with which calf when we seperate them into the breeding pastures.

So with what you've described I do have some questions....

- do you calve in the same pasture every year?
- at the 2 month to 4 month age is there a condition that occurs consistently? dirt lot? windy? that's when you move them into a different pasture?
- how do you treat this cough?
- does it come with a temperature?
- any other symptoms that come along with it? droopy ears? drainage of any sort? lethargic?
 
They may act a little lethargic and weak mostly you notice the bad cough and it always seems like we start seeing it this time of year in the fall when rainy season starts and temperatures start cooling down.
 
All I wanted to add we have acorns real bad here in WV and this the time of year when we bring cattle out of pastures and woods and turn them in are hay feilds and meadow pasture to keep them away from the oak trees. Usually when I notice a calf coughing I start either penicilin or LA 200.
 
onecarl2002":1zdk03w8 said:
Usually when I notice a calf coughing I start either penicilin or LA 200.
Just a small suggestion onecarl. If you suspect pn'a in these calves, you may wish to use a more effective antibiotic. We use Draxxin in the feedlot and Resflor or Excede on the younger calves. In my experience, LA 200 and penicillin are good for a few things but not pn'a.
 
jillaroo":3jooogg2 said:
onecarl2002":3jooogg2 said:
Usually when I notice a calf coughing I start either penicilin or LA 200.
Just a small suggestion onecarl. If you suspect pn'a in these calves, you may wish to use a more effective antibiotic. We use Draxxin in the feedlot and Resflor or Excede on the younger calves. In my experience, LA 200 and penicillin are good for a few things but not pn'a.
LA200 and pen do nothing for respitory.we use resflor and even that dont always work.would like to try draxxin but too much$$.
 
piedmontese":1v3b2fxk said:
would like to try draxxin but too much$$

Draxxin has never let us down. Too bad it is so pricey as it's a silver bullet for footrot and pinkeye too.
 
jillaroo":3bhjms1g said:
piedmontese":3bhjms1g said:
would like to try draxxin but too much$$

Draxxin has never let us down. Too bad it is so pricey as it's a silver bullet for footrot and pinkeye too.
how much do u pay for a 100 bottle of draxxin? i did a little research today and draxxin is actually cheaper to use than resflor when you figure that resflor dosage is 6 per 100lbs and draxxin is 1.1 per 100lbs.resflor does have the banamine already mixed in and that is nice.
 
onecarl2002":18w37dyz said:
I run a bull with my groups of cows year round so it is hard for me to catch them when they are not carrying. Any information would help thanks.

A whole lot of us run a bull year round. If not, mine would be bred by any one of the neighbor's bulls. I've even had heifers in different pastures bred to young by neighbor's bulls. Got one neighbor who can't catch his bull and the bull is wrecking fence all over the areas. Good fences.

I vaccinate. Period. Cows get their vaccines while they are carrying. No problems. Calves get their vaccines in the working rotations and then a follow up vaccine too.

Do a business case analysis. Can you afford to lose calves? Vaccines aren't expensive.
 
piedmontese":23j8ggbf said:
jillaroo":23j8ggbf said:
piedmontese":23j8ggbf said:
would like to try draxxin but too much$$

Draxxin has never let us down. Too bad it is so pricey as it's a silver bullet for footrot and pinkeye too.
how much do u pay for a 100 bottle of draxxin? i did a little research today and draxxin is actually cheaper to use than resflor when you figure that resflor dosage is 6 per 100lbs and draxxin is 1.1 per 100lbs.resflor does have the banamine already mixed in and that is nice.
If you have a good working relationship with your vet he will probably sell you a syringe with the needed dosage in it so you don't have to buy the entire bottle. Or even 3 or 4 doses if he feels you'll need that much. More expensive in the long run but if you don't need it that often might be the best way to approach it.
 
You might check these vaccines out, they cover pretty much everything and they are suppose to be safe for pregnant cows. Safe for calves too.

Ultrabac 7/Somubac
Cattlemaster Gold FP 5 L5
 

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