Page 17 - Sep302021

Vaccination The Midwest Cattleman · September 30, 2021 · P17

Protocols

By Jeff Robe - Oklahoma Quality Beef Network
Vaccinations are considered Weaning and Postweaning:
the most important pieces of In this option, the first ad-
disease prevention and a suc- ministration of vaccine is
cessful preconditioning plan. given at weaning and followed
Vaccines are an expensive in- with the second vaccine ad-
vestment, and they should be ministration within 14 to 28
treated as such. Proper han- days. OQBN requires the vac-
dling and administration of
vaccines should follow BQA
standards to decrease the continued on page 32
likelihood of infection upon
exposure to a pathogen and
to minimize tissue damage to
consumable protein products.
Veterinarian consultation is
recommended when starting
a preconditioning health pro-
tocol to determine the right
product and strategy to fit
your operation.
Timing of Vaccine Adminis-
tration: The OQBN program
provides producers with 3 op-
tions utilizing different timing
strategies to build an immune
response for both respiratory
and clostridial vaccines.
Branding and Weaning:
Branding is defined as 2-4
months of age at which point
the calf would receive the ini-
tial vaccine followed up with
a second administration of the
vaccine at the time of wean-
ing. OQBN requires the use
of a modified live viral vaccine
(MLV). Use of killed vaccines
(KV) is not permitted using
this timing strategy. Research
has also indicated that using
killed vaccines during a win-
dow from 2 to 4 months of age
are less likely to provide an ef-
fective immune response due
to interference from colostral
antibodies passed from dam
to calf. MLV vaccines should
be used with extreme caution
in a herd containing pregnant
cows that have not been previ-
ously vaccinated or cows with
unknown health history due
to the risk of abortion.
Preweaning and Weaning:
Preweaning is defined as 2
to 6 weeks prior to weaning.
The first administration of
vaccine is given 2 to 6 weeks
preweaning followed by the
second vaccine administra-
tion at weaning. The use of a
KV is permitted during the
2 to 6 week period only. The
second vaccine administra-
tion is required by OQBN to
be a MLV vaccine.