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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2005 5:49 pm
by Caroline
Just a quickie but as cows are passported the same as horses I am assuming that in the passport it will state what vaccinations the cow has had and when the next is due. Is this assumption correct?
Also can the cattle have one injection that covers everything, to save on vet call out fees or do I have to have them vaccinated singulary each time with certain time gaps between each injection?
And does anyone have ball park figures of the vaccination costs as a rough guide.
As the time comes closer to purchase we are just finalsing all the incidental costs e.g insurance and vaccination, as well as slaughter costs and butcher costs. We want to go into this with our eyes open so we can practice the best in husbandary.
Any advice accepted. 
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2005 9:13 pm
by Jo Kemp
Greetings Caroline
No there are no details of vaccination on a cow's passport
most vaccinations are done by the owner or stocksman and many don't vaccinate at all. I do against blackleg as it is probably in the soil here. The sheep are vaccinated every year against all sorts but cattle are regarded as being more resilient.
Now, dosing against various worms - again people regard cattle as being more resistant but young stock will need dosing - mine ususally show signs of worm problems around 3 months! One dosing and all seems well after that. I try not to dose much but annually do against fluke as that too is on our land.
The adult cattle are treated with a general wormer once a year too.
I don't dose the steers for obvious reasons and was surprised to receive healthy livers so perhaps dosing the sheep against fluke has kept the problem at bay.... the land here is on the wet side so the snails needed by the fluke worm are on the ground.
Good luck - ask your neighbours what they do and who had stock on your land before? You need local information.
Jo
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2005 11:04 pm
by Caroline
Cheers for that. :D
Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2005 11:18 pm
by Rob R
We've never had to worm or vaccinate the cattle to date- all PM's have been healthy, and keeping them more extensively also helps. Local information is the best source though- different areas do make a big difference.
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:13 am
by Duncan MacIntyre
Vaccination of horses in UK is generally restricted to Tetanus,and Equine influenza and possibly strangles if there is serious risk. But with cattle there is a much larger range of vaccines available and no herd would ever dream of using more than just a few which are deemed necessary in their particular situation. If you currently have no cattle and are starting a herd then the source of the cattle may well have a bearing on what you should be doing as well as local conditions - local conditions may well necessitate use of blackleg vaccine in some areas but not others, but BVD, IBR leptospirosis and all sorts of other nasties could be bought in with the cattle. Try to buy from as few sources as possible, from the disease point of view I suspect that few dexter herds are in official health schemes but a reputable breeder should advise you of what they have to do in the way of vaccination.
This probably all sounds so so scary you will go off Dexters, but in fact most dexter herds are comparatively healthy since they are small (in number in each herd I mean!) and diseases cannot go round and round the way they do in large herds. So do not worry, you will probably not be using any vaccines at all. My herd have never had any.
But as a vet practice we regularly supply vaccine for Leptospirosis, BVD, IBR, PI3, RSV, Pasteurella in various guises, rotavirus, coronavirus, E Coli, Salmonella, blackleg, and various other little green monsters.
Duncan
Posted: Wed Mar 09, 2005 12:20 am
by Duncan MacIntyre
Further thoughts, although the cattle passports do not have any way of recording medicines, as a cattle keeper you do have to keep a medicine record book with details of all medicines purchased, quantity, name, batch nos etc, and details of what animals it is used on - date, quantity, batch, expiry date, date milk and meat withdrawal ends, most vets qill be able to supply a copy, and a movement book which records details of all cattle sheep goats and pigs moving on or off your holding. Nothing to do w]directly with the vaccination issue but I thought I'd better mention it.
Duncan