What Vaccines should I give?

[Michelle]

Okay, I feel dumb, but I do not know what vaccinations beef cattle require!!!

I have searched the 'net, and found nothing. I myself am rather new to cattle, we had some when I was a kid, my grandpa had a bunch for many years, and my father in law had cows years ago...however, none of them were EVER vaccinated.

I know what all my horses need, but have NO IDEA what cattle need, besides I would suppose clostridium and tetanus, like goats. :lol:

What do you give, when, and how often? Also, How often should cattle be dewormed? Is the pour-on Ivermectin okay?

Thanks in advance!!!
:cboy:

 

[milkmaid]

Here's what I vaccinate for...

The virals
BVD (types 1 and 2)
IBR
PI3
BRSV

Lepto (all 5 strains)
Leptospira canicola
L. grippotyphosa
L. hardjo
L. icterohaemorrhagiae
L. pomona

Vibrio

The clostridials
blackleg (Clostridium chauvoei)
malignant edema (Cl. septicum)
black disease (Cl. novyi)
gas-gangrene (Cl. sordellii)
enterotoxemia and enteritis (Cl. perfringens types B, C, and D)

Other stuff...
red water aka bacillary hemoglobinuria (Cl. haemolyticum)
tetanus (Cl. tetani)

My preference is Bovishield Gold FP 5 VL5 (virals, vibrio, lepto) on open cows and calves, Virashield 6 VL5 on bred cows, and Ultrabac 8 (clostridials) on everything.

Here's something on vaccine reccomendations that might help you...
http://learningstore.uwex.edu/pdf%5CA3673.pdf

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

Nationally, all cattle should be vaccinated against Brucellosis (Bangs). In Texas heifers are vaccinated ONLY by a Vet for Brucellosis between age of 4 months and 12 months old.

We vaccinate for Brucellosis, Blackleg, Bovine Virus Diarrhea, Parainfluenza Virus (PI3), BSRV. Calves at 3-4 months & at weaning (~205 days). All animals get yearly booster vaccinatios in Spring working.

We de-worm with Ivomectin injectible (1 cc per 110# animal weight: Calves at 3-4 months and again at weaning. Others in Spring and Fall.

When the Vet does the Brucellosis vaccination on Heifers he puts a required metal tag in ear + Tattoos the other ear and reports this to the State of Texas.

Our annual cost for all vaccinations runs not more than $25. a year per animal.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!"

While Longhorns have a natural "disease resistance" more than other breeds, we still vaccinate for stuff not required by State "Law".

Ranchers that do not vaccinate are playing poker: hoping their animals won't get sick and/or die. Some are very lucky; others pay the price for not vaccinating. Losing ONE animal to disease (plus risk of infecting others in their herd) will pay for a LOT of vaccines!

In our 5.5 years of raising Longhorns we have never had an animal get sick and require treatment, or die.

If a rancher can document their vaccination program to prospective buyers of their animals it goes a long way to communicating to the buyer that they are getting a healthy animal. At Running Arrow Farm we are obsessive with our animals health and keep extensive records on all of our animals: these records are given to any buyer of our stock. We also have a Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) "TB Accredited and Brucellosis Certified" disease free herd: Our animals are tested yearly by our Vet with required paperwork forwaded to the TAHC.

 

[milkmaid]

Nationally, all cattle should be vaccinated against Brucellosis (Bangs).

I forgot about that one. I usually have my heifers done between 4 and 6 months.

 

[dun]

We've never vaccinated for bangs and have never had a problem shipping heifers or cows out of state.
The best way to insure that you get the vaccinations that are apporpriate for your area is to check with a good local large animal vet.

dun

 

[milkmaid]

We've never vaccinated for bangs and have never had a problem shipping heifers or cows out of state.
The best way to insure that you get the vaccinations that are apporpriate for your area is to check with a good local large animal vet.

dun

I guess bangs isn't a requirement there? It's always been required here, and lately testing is required for anything going out of state.

 

[dun]

We've never vaccinated for bangs and have never had a problem shipping heifers or cows out of state.
The best way to insure that you get the vaccinations that are apporpriate for your area is to check with a good local large animal vet.

dun

I guess bangs isn't a requirement there? It's always been required here, and lately testing is required for anything going out of state.

Correct, MO is bangs free. The sales, other then the salebarn types that we sell at require a vet health certificate anyway.

dun

 

[jcarkie]

check with a vet every area is different and require different shots. basic here is cows vibro-lepto, blackleg every 6 months. calves blackleg at 3 months and blackleg, respritory at weaning.

 

[Michelle]

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!"

... At Running Arrow Farm we are obsessive with our animals health and keep extensive records on all of our animals...

I am the same way with my horses!!! lol :lol:


Thanks so much for the info, I am going to copy it all and save it to my comp, I am also going to call a vet...Thanks so much!

 

[allenfarms]

I am like Running Arrow on this one. We go over and beyond what the state requires. EVERYONE SHOULD VACCINATE FOR BANGS PERIOD!!! They had some up in North Arkansas years back on a large farm there. Then it was a really nice farm and worth a nice chunck, now you can't give it away, people say the land is ruined. The owner had bought a bunch of cattle from out of state and they had bangs. Sad Story.!.

 

[Running Arrow Bill]

I am like Running Arrow on this one. We go over and beyond what the state requires. EVERYONE SHOULD VACCINATE FOR BANGS PERIOD!!! They had some up in North Arkansas years back on a large farm there. Then it was a really nice farm and worth a nice chunck, now you can't give it away, people say the land is ruined. The owner had bought a bunch of cattle from out of state and they had bangs. Sad Story.!.

Thanks for your support!

Just because a State has been "certified" as Brucellosis and/or TB free status DOES NOT mean that any given individual farm or ranch can't acquire or have one or more cattle infected. To NOT vaccinate is "Tempting Worse" in trying to save a couple of dollars for vaccines, etc.

If any breeder cannot produce documentation that an animal has been fully vaccinated we always RE-VACCINATE and quarantine the animal upon arrival at Running Arrow Farm. As such, any Longhorn someone buys from us has a complete vaccination record we give them. We want to sleep at night and ensure our "disease free" reputation is maintained.

 

[Michelle]

Do any of y'all vaccinate for rabies?

I've never heard of it in ruminants, but I would imagine they could get it, and I vaccinate my horses for it. Of course, Americans don't eat horses or dogs, so...???

 

[hayray]

Nationally, all cattle should be vaccinated against Brucellosis (Bangs).

I forgot about that one. I usually have my heifers done between 4 and 6 months.

I have never heard of vaccinating for Brucellosis, nobody does that in Michigan that I know of. Years ago they used to test for Brucellosis, now in Michigan we test for TB.

 

[allenfarms]

Bangs is bad it ruins the land also which is the worst part, your farm becomes useless

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

We vaccinate for Bangs (Bruc) - must be between ages 4-8 months by Vet.

we always RE-VACCINATE

Don't know how you can do that, unless you are purchasing very young heifers (or your state may have an older age). The vaccine approved for NY, will make the heifers have too high a titer if they are vaccinated at an older age and then if tested they will show POSITIVE.
Cattle CAN get rabies. If rabies is a big problem in your area, that is your call. We HAVE to rabies vaccinate anything we show in NY, within 12 months of show. Vet must give the shots in NY, so we only vaccinate show cattle, not the herd. We do all our own vaccinations other than Bruc & Rabies.
Besides IBR, PI3, BVD, BRSV, Lepto, Vibrio (if using a natural bull service), Clostridials, Deworm (2x year) we also vaccinate for Pasturella. But as said above, depends on the problems in your area.
Vaccines come in Killed & Modified Live Vaccine formulas.
Killed MUST be boostered withing 2-4 weeks (depending on product). Without the booster it is worthless.
MLV cannot be given to nursing calves or pregnant cows - unless you use Pfizer products and have vaccinated the COW when she was OPEN. (at least 2 weeks prior to breeding)
Research is showing Killed vaccines do not last more than a few months, and they think MLV may last a lifetime - although they still recommend yearly shots.
I am a STONG believer in MLV. We vaccinate all COWS & heifers with BoviShield 5L5 Gold prior to breeding - than calves are vaccinated with BS at 3 & 4 months (prior to weaning) and again at weaning.

 

[dun]

We vaccinate for Bangs (Bruc) - must be between ages 4-8 months by Vet.

we always RE-VACCINATE

Don't know how you can do that, unless you are purchasing very young heifers (or your state may have an older age). The vaccine approved for NY, will make the heifers have too high a titer if they are vaccinated at an older age and then if tested they will show POSITIVE.
Cattle CAN get rabies. If rabies is a big problem in your area, that is your call. We HAVE to rabies vaccinate anything we show in NY, within 12 months of show. Vet must give the shots in NY, so we only vaccinate show cattle, not the herd. We do all our own vaccinations other than Bruc & Rabies.
Besides IBR, PI3, BVD, BRSV, Lepto, Vibrio (if using a natural bull service), Clostridials, Deworm (2x year) we also vaccinate for Pasturella. But as said above, depends on the problems in your area.
Vaccines come in Killed & Modified Live Vaccine formulas.
Killed MUST be boostered withing 2-4 weeks (depending on product). Without the booster it is worthless.
MLV cannot be given to nursing calves or pregnant cows - unless you use Pfizer products and have vaccinated the COW when she was OPEN. (at least 2 weeks prior to breeding)
Research is showing Killed vaccines do not last more than a few months, and they think MLV may last a lifetime - although they still recommend yearly shots.
I am a STONG believer in MLV. We vaccinate all COWS & heifers with BoviShield 5L5 Gold prior to breeding - than calves are vaccinated with BS at 3 & 4 months (prior to weaning) and again at weaning.

We don;t necesarrily use Pfizer, but we were tol if the cow has been preciously vaccinated with MLV that it's safe for bred cows. That's the policy we've used for the past 4-5 years and haven't had any problems.

dun

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Dun is correct. ANY MLV given at proper timing is OK - BUT, Pfizer product is the ONLY one that is approved on label, so that's the only one I would recommend over the internet.
We actually used a different product this past year.