Livestock Management RANCHING Fall and Early Winter Stocker Cattle Management
Proper vaccine boosters and nutrition help stocker cattle fare well in the fall. By Gary DiGiuseppe
C
ALVES HAVE TO OVERCOME MANY TRAUMAS INCLUDING birth, weaning and transportation to grass. While the worst may be over once they’ve become ac-
climated to a stocker operation, other perils remain. One of those perils is bovine viral diarrhea (BVD).
There are 2 major genotypes of the BVD virus in the U.S., categorized as Type 1 and Type 2. Dr. Mark Spire, a technical services manager for Merck Animal Health, explains, “While they’re cousins, they act a little dif- ferently in the body. They both can cause mild disease in calves, but the viruses can become very aggressive if the calves are stressed.” That’s because they suppress the animal’s immune
system by destroying white blood cells. This is an invita- tion for all kinds of pathogenic organisms to invade the calf’s body and create a complicated disease problem. One solution is to make sure calves are vaccinated. If you are giving purchased calves their fi rst round
of vaccinations at your ranch, make sure the vaccine contains both BVD genotypes. Spire says most calves will respond pretty well.
With younger cattle, there are concerns that the dose will be blocked by maternal antibodies still existing in the calf, even though they may be waning. He says, “This serves as the primary vaccination
in younger calves at weaning or in newly purchased calves. We can come back and booster our replacement heifers, which gives them good levels of protection. The booster for 12- to 14-month-old replacement cattle can take them well into the breeding program.” If the stocker operator has a good vaccination pro-
72 The Cattleman October 2014
gram with minimal health risk in a population of calves — and makes the animal health history known to the feedlot — the feedlot operator may decide not to vaccinate upon arrival. If health issues are present though, or if the feedlot
has some low level BVD in its operation, it can admin- ister vaccines that act as boosters, not just against BVD but also for other viruses such as infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), bovine respiratory syncytial virus and PI3. “Our primary vaccination sets the stage for a vac-
cination program that carries into the wintertime for fall-weaned calves and newly purchased calves coming from wheat pasture or cool-season forage programs,” says Spire. Some locations, particularly the Southeast or areas
where it’s very wet, can add lepto to their viral vac- cination program. In the vast majority of operations across the U.S., vaccination for clostridial disease should be part of a basic vaccination program. Clos- tridial and most lepto vaccines are typically followed by a booster within 3 to 6 weeks of the primary dose. Spire says these vaccines are well received by 6- to 8-month-old animals, which develop a high level of protective immunity.
Persistently infected calves Many operations screen incoming cattle for being
persistently infected with BVD (BVD-PI). Spire says persistently infected calves are the off- spring of cows that become infected between the fi rst
thecattlemanmagazine.com
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