Vaccines for show heifers

[jschoolcraft86]

I'm relatively new to the world of showing but we plan to have our daughter start showing a brahman heifer born at home. With the commercial herd I have always used Covexin 8 and Cattlemaster Gold but I'm concerned about the lumps that sometimes pop up with Covexin and how they might impact the heifer in the show ring. I've considered splitting the 5 mL shot up into two different sites to help minimize the size of any lumps but I've never tried this before to see if it even works that way. I figure instead of trying to force Covexin to work it's might be easier to see if there is a different vaccine that is preferable for this situation. Do yall think my concerns about the lumps are legitimate or am I overthinking it, and what kind of shots do yall generally give your show cattle? Thanks for any info!

 

[sim.-ang.king]

Yeah, splitting it up will be your best bet, and clean the area with some alchohol helps also, to prevent foriegn objects from getting in.
But it's also just depended on the animal if they have a reaction or not. Couldn't tell you if there is a vac that does it less.

 

[TCRanch]

Calvary 9 is supposed to leave a smaller reaction lump and it's 2cc vs. 5cc. I switched this year to see if it makes a difference. So far, I've only vaccinated the bulls but don't notice any lumps, working the rest in a couple weeks.

 

[jschoolcraft86]

Thank you both

 

[Buck Randall]

Not that it's BQA approved, but most of the show people I know will give vaccines places where lumps are harder to notice. Brisket, tailhead, etc.

 

[jschoolcraft86]

Not that it's BQA approved, but most of the show people I know will give vaccines places where lumps are harder to notice. Brisket, tailhead, etc.

That's another good idea, thank you

 

[dfm]

Give your show calves a rabies shot also. Kids around them daily, the cattle are penned usually close by the barn around feed and water attracting skunks. I speak from experience.

 

[simme]

Give your show calves a rabies shot also. Kids around them daily, the cattle are penned usually close by the barn around feed and water attracting skunks. I speak from experience.

Had a mature cow to die of rabies in the pasture. Had seen several skunks there. Symptoms are such that a person might be inclined to stick their hands in the cow's mouth and look for an obstruction. Cow was necropsied and confirmed rabies. I now vaccinate all my calves and cows for rabies yearly. Takes several months for the rabies to travel to the brain. About 100% fatal at that point - for cows or people. Too much of a risk for me to not vaccinate.