Calves have a better chance of staying healthy their first weeks of life if they ingest an adequate amount of good-quality colostrum soon after birth. But, preventing calfhood disease is a combination of many factors, including a clean environment and well-nourished, healthy mothers with strong immunities. Vaccinating cows ahead of calving can help build those peak antibody levels in colostrum, but timing is critical.
A widespread zoonotic disease, leptospirosis is transmitted naturally from domestic and wild animals to humans. The contagious disease, which is caused by Leptospira bacteria, is spread through contact with food, water or soil contaminated with urine from infected animals. It can affect all farm animals, rodents and wildlife....More
USDA’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) this week prohibited certain uses of cephalosporin antibiotics in animals. The move, FDA says, is aimed at preventing antibiotic resistance and preserving the drug's effectiveness for treating human diseases....More
The biggest reasons for disease breaks in livestock often have little to do with the vaccine itself, but more to do with how that vaccine is handled and administered, says Dale Moore, director of Veterinary Medical Extension at Washington State University...More
Cattle producers often assume that vaccinated animals all develop immune response. In reality, however, some individuals build strong immunity, others don’t respond at all, and others fall somewhere in between....More
It’s often said that the herd bull contributes half the production in a calf crop. “That may be true for the average bull, but it likely exaggerates the contribution from a poor quality bull and dramatically under-estimates the contribution of a good bull,” says Bruce Carpenter, Texas AgriLife Extension beef cattle specialist in Fort Stockton...More
Rick Sibbel, director of Beef Cattle Technical Services at Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health discusses the re-launch of the Vista® vaccine line....More
Relatively new resources for bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) control programs are within reach of nearly every cattle producer in the U.S. Successful and...More
Those cattle pharmaceuticals you stick in the ice box, just like the label says, may still be compromised or rendered useless if you're not monitoring...More
Anyone in the cattle business who hasn't gotten word of the recommended site to give a cow a shot must have been asleep for the past 20 years. So, once...More
Why do we vaccinate cattle? Of course, the reason is to attempt to prevent disease. However, if our timing is wrong, we can actually make the conditions...More
