Pnuemonia in calves?

Rammy

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Hello
I got some Angus heifers about a month ago. One had a slight cough starting a couple days later. Now two are coughing. One heifer that isnt coughing has a milky discharge from her nose. Also they seem to have pretty runny poop. My neighbor says the poop is from the spring grass. They have been turned out on it for about a week now.
They are eating well and seem alert and were playing good yesterday so Im not sure if they are getting sick or this is normal. They are probably about 6 mnths old now. People we bought them from said they were 5 months old and had all their shots. No records were given to prove that. TSC has a 7 way Blackleg vaccine. Should I give them that? I dont have a cattle chute.


Rammy
 

mysunwolf

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@Latestarter is tagging folks who might be able to answer your questions.

I found with calves the main symptoms of pneumonia that are obvious are fever and massive drool at the mouth. If you don't know if they've had their shots, give them again. How much do they weigh? My vet will use a halter and a gate and strong arm a calf into shots until about 600lbs or so. How runny is the poop? Use some details. What color is the nose discharge? White/clear is okay unless there's a fever, yellow/green/red is bad.
 

Rammy

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Thank you for explaining the tagging. I wasnt sure what that was.
Poop is brown but very runny. No drooling. Milky discharge, no green or yellow color. I did talk to someone who suggested giving them thier shots again and which ones to give, which Im going to do this weekend when I get paid. Wont hurt tondouble check that just in case.
Id say they weigh about 400 lbs each right now. They seem to be acting ok. No depression, lethargy, just the coughing occaissionally. Just want to get a jump on it if they are coming down with something.


Rammy
 

farmerjan

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7 way blackleg is good as it will prevent them from getting the colostridial disease that can kill them overnight. But, if your friend has suggested a vaccine that includes things like BVD IBR, PI3 included it will help to cover bases for pnuemonia. I cannot off the top of my head tell you a specific name and different manufacturers have different names. Bovi-shield is one; but there are several.

I think it is in your best interest to talk to a vet. Get their recommendation on a good vaccine for your area.

And take a few minutes do a little internet searching and learn what these different vaccinations are for.
We give 7 way blackleg when we work our calves thru the chute first time. A calf will have residual protection from a cow for blackleg from the cow until about 6-12 weeks old. From there vaccines should be administered by advice of a vet until you are experienced and can do them yourself. I am sorry to not be more definite, but if you bought them privately, they should have told you what they had and when. When cattle are bought through the sale/stockyards, then it is anyone's guess unless they are sold as being vaccinated. And sometimes it is not a good idea to revaccinate unless you have an idea of what they had and when. Many vaccines need two doses done at certain intervals. Some of the modified live vaccines do not need a booster, but most killed virus vaccines do need a second dose.
 

greybeard

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What Jan said.
Some breeders/sellers will keep meticulous records of vaccination protocols, some do not keep anything on paper at all and then some, will claim "Yeah, they've had all their shots" when reality is they have never seen a needle or nasal in their lives. I vaccinate everything that comes here, regardless of what the seller says. The calves may have been fine when you bought them, but that doesn't mean they stayed that way thru transit. There's lots of evidence that some of these bacterial pathogens are very long lived in dormancy, and a dirty floored stock trailer is a great place for them to wait for the next host to be loaded on. You never know what the last animal that was in that trailer poopin, breathing, dripping snot, and peein might have had.
If you really think they are leaning toward pneumonia, it's time to call a vet ..yesterday. It works fast and can be very difficult to control and all the 'good stuff' medicine is by prescription anyway.
Don't wait on this..

As I told you via PM, what may be applicable here in E. Texas may not be the right course for North Carolina.
 

Wehner Homestead

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I won’t reiterate what the others have said because they are right. Just know that there are prescription only antibiotics that can mean life or death if they’ve truly gotten pneumonia.
 

Latestarter

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Sorry Rammy... was in a hurry and just put the tags to call the folks here to your thread. Now you know what it's all about. :) Glad they came and helped you. :clap
 

greybeard

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Sorry Rammy... was in a hurry and just put the tags to call the folks here to your thread. Now you know what it's all about. :) Glad they came and helped you. :clap
It does no good to 'tag' me.
I choose to have that option disabled and always have had.
 
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