How to Keep Cows Disease Free
Obtain and/or maintain health records., Vaccinate regularly., Quarantine new animals.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Obtain and/or maintain health records.
This is crucial for knowing the disease history of your animals and what vaccinations or medications they have received upon first purchase.
Keep these handy for your entire herd and keep records for each individual animal, if applicable. -
Step 2: Vaccinate regularly.
Certain vaccinations exist in your area for the most prevalent diseases.
The most common may be Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD), Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR), Clostridial diseases (blackleg, red-water disease), Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus (BRSV, including shipping fever and pneumonia), Leptospirosis, Brucellosis and others.
A few diseases in your area may not have vaccinations available, so be aware of what those diseases are and what can be done to prevent your animals from coming into contact with them.
Vaccinations come in either killed or modified live form.
Whichever you choose to use depends on your animals, especially with the reproductive stage of your cows and age of your calves.
Time vaccinations according to how close to calving your cows are and the time of year they are going off or coming on to pasture. , New animals must be quarantined or kept separate from your existing herd for at least a week or as long as your veterinarian recommends as a means to reduce risk of disease spread and to enable testing of new animals for communicable and contagious diseases that may affect your herd. -
Step 3: Quarantine new animals.
Detailed Guide
This is crucial for knowing the disease history of your animals and what vaccinations or medications they have received upon first purchase.
Keep these handy for your entire herd and keep records for each individual animal, if applicable.
Certain vaccinations exist in your area for the most prevalent diseases.
The most common may be Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD), Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR), Clostridial diseases (blackleg, red-water disease), Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus (BRSV, including shipping fever and pneumonia), Leptospirosis, Brucellosis and others.
A few diseases in your area may not have vaccinations available, so be aware of what those diseases are and what can be done to prevent your animals from coming into contact with them.
Vaccinations come in either killed or modified live form.
Whichever you choose to use depends on your animals, especially with the reproductive stage of your cows and age of your calves.
Time vaccinations according to how close to calving your cows are and the time of year they are going off or coming on to pasture. , New animals must be quarantined or kept separate from your existing herd for at least a week or as long as your veterinarian recommends as a means to reduce risk of disease spread and to enable testing of new animals for communicable and contagious diseases that may affect your herd.
About the Author
Anthony Torres
Committed to making pet care accessible and understandable for everyone.
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