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Bovine Herd Health

 Keeping your herd healthy and productive is the goal of our herd health services. Good management and nutrition are the foundation of your herd's success. Strategic vaccination and deworming will help you realize your herd's potential. Low stress handling, careful vaccine handling, and avoiding working cattle in the heat are fundamental. Vaccines need to stay out of the sun, refrigerated, not frozen. Use clean needles.The following is a starting place for your cattle herd health program.

Calves

  1. At birth: iodine navel
  2. Branding (1-3 months of age)
    1. Blackleg vaccine given under skin (Vision 7+ Somnus)
    2. Intranasal IBR-PI3-BRSV (Inforce 3)
    3. Deworm (LongRange or Dectomax injectable or Pour On)
  3. Pre-weaning and weaning (6-9 months of age)
    1. Blackleg vaccine given under skin (Vision 7 + Somnus)
    2. Respiratory vaccine: modified live IBR, PI3, BRSV, BVD given under skin (Bovi-Shield Gold 5) 3-4 weeks before weaning; repeat at weaning
    3. Deworm (Dectomax injectable or Pour On)
    4. Brucellosis vaccinate heifers before12 months of age

Replacement heifers

  1. Pre-breeding
    1. Respiratory/reproductive vaccine (modified live IBR, PI3, BVD, Vibrio and Lepto (Bovi- Shield Gold FP 5 VL5 HB; or PregGuard Gold FP 10; or killed virus Vira Shield 6+VL5 HB)
    2. Pour-on insecticide/dewormer (LongRange injectable or Dectomax Pour-On)
  2. Pre-calving
    1. Blackleg vaccine under the skin (UltraChoice8 or Vision 8 + Somnus)
    2. Leptosporosis vaccine booster (LeptoFerm 5)
    3. Injectable dewormer (Ivomec Plus or VetrimecPlus)
    4. Pregnancy exam

Cows

  1. Pre-breeding
    1. Reproductive vaccine (StaybredVL5, Bovi-Shield Gold FP 5 VL5 HB, PregGuard Gold FP 10, or killed virus Vira Shield 6+VL5 HB)
    2. Pour-on insecticide/dewormer (LongRange injectable or Dectomax Pour-On)
  2. Pre-calving
    1. Black leg vaccine given under the skin (UltraChoice 8 or Vision 8 + Somnus)
    2. Leptosporosisvaccine booster (LeptoFerm 5)
    3. Injectable dewormer (Ivomec Plus or VetrimecPlus)
    4. Pregnancy exam

Bulls

  1. Buy only bulls with a breeding soundness certificate, or have bulls semen tested as soon as purchased;recommend BVD PI test negative bulls only.
  2. Pre-breeding
    1. Reproductive vaccine double dose (Staybred VL5 or SpirovacVL5)
    2. Pour-on insecticide/dewormer (LongRange injectable or Dectomax Pour-On)
    3. Semen and trichomoniasis test
  3.  Pull bulls out of cow herd
    1. Black leg vaccine given under the skin (UltraChoice 8 or Vision 8 + Somnus)
    2. Injectable dewormer (Ivomec Plus or Vetrimec Plus)
General Recommendations: Keep a quality micronutrient package available to cattle at all times such as Purina Wind and Rain mineral. Cows should calve in body condition score 5-6 (back bone not visible). Calve on clean ground: this will eliminate vast majority of scours. Avoid keeping bulls> 4-years-old.

Optional additions: Calves: Close to birth: Bo-Se or Multimin 90 if selenium levels low. Clostridium perfringens C/D vaccine if scours typically prevalent. Pre-turn out: pink eye prevention with pour-on insecticide or fly tags plus pink eye vaccine. Pre-weaning preconditioning can include Mannheimia haemolytica (used to be Pasteurella) vaccine such as One Shot or Pyramid 5 + Presponse. Heifers:ScourGuard 4KC or ScourBos precalving to aid in scours prevention. Cows: If high risk herd (PI BVD exposure or herd mates), prebreeding vaccines should include: modified live IBR, PI3, BVD Vibrio and Lepto (Bovi-Shield Gold FP 5 VL5 HB; or PregGuard GoldFP 10). Vitamin A + D if feed has been poor. Mu-Se or Multimin 90 in fall if mineral supply intermittent. ScourGuard4KC or ScourBos precalving if scours prevalent.

The herd health program above is only a guide. Please call JDRVC to consult on your custom herd health needs.  

Scours is among the life-threatening challenges young cattle face. Scouring calves that cannot sit up by themselves or stand up, should not be given fluids by mouth, as they can aspirate the fluids into their lungs and die. Intravenous fluid therapy can be a life-saving measure for calves, who can get back with their dam within days with proper care. 70% of scours can be avoided by giving dams a clean place to calve.