Set Calves Up for Immunization Success
A calf must be able to respond to vaccination, in order to experience good immunity.
A preventative herd-health program, including proper and timely vaccination, is a beef operation’s best insurance policy against production losses and disease. But producers still need to do their part to make sure this insurance policy can work to the best of its ability.
“You have to look at vaccines as only part of your health program because an animal can’t really respond to the vaccines if they don’t have their immune system functioning to respond,” explains Dr. Charlie Stoltenow, North Dakota State University Extension Veterinarian. Thus, vaccination isn’t always the same as immunization.
There are a number of reasons why vaccinations may not result in immunity. According to Stoltenow, these include exposure to high levels of disease-causing pathogens; animal or herd stress; age; nutrition; vaccinating against the wrong pathogen; poor-quality vaccine; and poor vaccine handling and administration.
Nutrition and stress can be large contenders for reduced immunity, especially in weaned calves. This veterinarian points out that one has to consider the animals’ plane of nutrition, including mineral background, their preconditioning status, and how they were handled. Were they weaned and backgrounded on the ranch, or taken off mama, transported, run through a sale barn, and unloaded at a feedlot?
“You can’t just look at vaccines,” Stoltenow stresses. “You have to look at the whole picture, and vaccines are only a small part of that.”
He adds, “We’re finding minerals more and more important in reproductive efficiency and immune response — so you can’t skimp on those. You need to have calves on a good plane of nutrition.”
Furthermore, Carl Dahlen, North Dakota State University Extension Beef Specialist, points out that a lot of immunity development is related to stress. “If you have a high-stress situation, you don’t have proper immune response. And it all involves animal handling.”
Stressors such as novelty (something new or unusual such as weaning, livestock trailers, etc.), shrink, inclement weather, and lack of rest cause the release of hormones that hinder an animal’s immune response. One important hormone is cortisol, which actually turns down the immune system.
Dahlen says that low-stress handling – knowing how to work cattle and carrying it out in a calm, collected matter – is extremely important in vaccination protocol for the efficacy of the vaccine and the operator’s health and safety.
Principles of good animal husbandry, including clean water, good feed, a comfortable resting place, and time to rest are important for calves. It particularly helps those calves under stress to help clear excessive stress-related hormones from the bloodstream.
“It all makes the immune system work better and vaccines to respond,” Stoltenow relays. He comments that immune status might be partially genetic, and believes it’s important for producers to select offspring out of animals that have proven they can survive and flourish in the respective management system.
“The concept is you have to set them up for success.” He remarks, “Raising cattle is a science, but it is also an art. Those people who can see those things that aren’t readily apparent to others, that’s what sets them apart. It’s a combination of detail after detail that all fits together.” He adds, “The devil’s in the details but that’s where the profits are too.”
Preventative Herd Health = Risk Management
Cattle prices are historically high, and inputs are too. But if you’re looking to cut costs, your herd-health program is not the area, cautions Dr. Charlie Stoltenow, North Dakota State's Extension Veterinarian.
He points out that health care entails only 2 to 5% of total production costs for a cow-calf operation, a mere drop in the bucket, so to speak, when compared to winter feed costs. These are an operation’s single largest expense, often tying up from 30 to nearly 50% of overall costs.
“The insurance policy – or bang for your buck – on preventative health has a very high economic return rate,” he points out. “Say you cut your health costs from 5% to 3%, and do away with all vaccinations. You’re not really saving yourself anything. In fact, you’re increasing your risks with marginal returns.”
Another point Stoltenow makes: A 5% savings in feed costs, alone, would allow you to double or triple your health program.
Carl Dahlen, North Dakota State’s Extension beef cattle specialist, puts the risk associated with not vaccinating in terms of dollars and cents. Given the especially high cattle prices the industry is experiencing, if you lose one animal to any type of disease that could have been prevented with vaccination – say it’s a mature cow potentially worth $1,600 – you’ve lost enough money to pay for vaccinating the herd for several years.
Stoltenow says that people need to view health programs as risk management. He points out that producers won’t bat an eye at paying for crop insurance or to manage risk. “Why would you be skimping on something that actually does impact your risk?”
Both professionals encourage producers to not focus on the cash outlay that herd-health requires, but on other ways to decrease costs that may not be as apparent. What about wasted feed? A 5-10% improvement in feed utilization, “has a huge economic implication,” Dahlen points out.
Another way to decrease costs is to pregnancy check all cows. It’s just part of preventative health, Stoltenow reminds. If you don’t do this, it can actually cost you “huge dollars,” he says.
Cutting out preg checking in the fall, and carrying over open cows until the following spring will cost money, not make money. In North Dakota, data from the last several years shows the feed bill just to maintain one cow in winter was $200, not to mention labor and health care.
“Just that alone would have saved you money to preg check a lot of other cows,” Stoltenow remarks.
Dahlen adds that preg checking is too important not to do. It’s an indicator of a herd’s reproductive health. Pregnancy checks he was making this past fall indicated there could be more open cows than normal, due to “pretty significant heat events that may have hurt reproductive performance.”
He assures, “In a year like this when we have a potential for more open cows, the point about carrying cows over is magnified.” He says that data he’s collected the past 18 years show that, on average, you’ll even lose money if you carry a cull cow over for a few extra months in order to hit a better market. Producers often forget to factor in carrying and feed costs for those additional months.
Vaccine Tips
For proper vaccine handling and administration, North Dakota State Extension beef cattle educators Stoltenow and Dahlen give these tips:
√ When you buy vaccine, be sure it is current. Turn the box over and review the expiration date.
√ Don’t over-purchase vaccine. It can’t be reused.
√ Handle vaccine appropriately. If using modified-live virus vaccines (MLV), keep them cool. When you reuse syringes, be careful how they’re rinsed – residue from soaps and disinfectants can kill vaccines. Rinse the inside components of multiple-dose syringes, including tubes and connectors, with distilled or deionized water that is near boiling point. Or consider using disposable syringes to ensure equipment is clean and vaccine alive.
√ Be sure to change needles often, as they will dull with use and can then introduce more bacteria. The needle should slide right through the animal’s hide. (For proper needle size, see page 23 in the Fall 2011 BHW.)
√ Store and refrigerate vaccines properly. Research shows that the freeze-thaw cycle in some refrigerators is tremendously variable. Vaccine is an investment in your herd’s health, so store accordingly in an appropriate age and model refrigerator that varies little in temperature setting.
When vaccinating, be mindful of child safety and development
On a related vaccine note, Stoltenow says he’s often asked at what age children should be allowed to vaccinate cattle. This question often comes up because, in his area, a lot of people use families to help with brandings.
“I am a big proponent that these are family events,” he notes. “I don’t have an age, but the parents do need to understand the maturity level of the child and what they can handle and do. Also realize what they’re using – you’re giving them a sharp instrument – and what’s in that syringe.” Be sure to not even let children handle pharmaceuticals such as high-powered antimicrobials and prostaglandins.