what vaccines do i need to give to my lambs?

[aggieterpkatie]

If the dam was vaccinated a month prior to lambing, the lambs don't need their CD/T shots until weaning (8 weeks). If the dams did not have their vaccines, I would wait until the lambs are older, say around 4 weeks. I have always vaccinated dams though, so I've never had to give a CD/T to any lambs that early.

Forgot to mention, I would definitely give a tetanus antitoxin shot to any lamb who was getting docked or castrated and their dams did not get vaccinated.

 

[ShadyAcres]

Ewes vaccinated 1 month before lambing carry antibodies for lambs so early vaccination is not only not needed, has no effect. However, most vaccines also carry tetanus (thats the T in CD-T) and for convenience sake some people vaccinate at docking just for the tetanus. Its what they have on hand, easier to have just 1 vaccine, can buy larger bottles and save money, etc.

I am fortunate in that I have for a friend a retired veterinarian. I call him my sheep and dog guru as he also helps me train my herding dogs. This was the advice he gave me:

Vaccinate ewes 1 month prior to lambing, and lambs at 4 and 8 weeks. Ewe lambs that I am retaining will also get another vaccination at 12 weeks.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

The tetanus in CD/T is the toxoid, not the antitoxin, so it doesn't have any effect on them when docking/castrating. IMO, if you're doing 3 vaccines on your ewe lambs, you're wasting a vaccine. My vet says do it at 8 weeks and then a booster at 11 or 12 weeks. Doesn't really matter if you're doing a few lambs, but if you're doing a lot of lambs it gets expensive and takes up a good bit of time.

 

[Southdown]

I bought some tetanus antitoxin and then I asked my vet on the phone how much to administer. The answer he gave me was some odd, miniscule number that I wouldn't be able to measure. I got the impression that this was the first time he'd been asked about using it. He had to look it up and call me back. So I never used it. All of my sheep are on a Spring schedule for their booster CDT shots (April). This simplifies things for me because I will buy the bottle and everyone gets their annual booster shot out of the same bottle at the same time. If I vaccinate the ewes with their booster shots one month before they deliver, then everyone is on a different schedule for their booster shots. I would be buying several bottles of CDT for each animal and that would not make good financial sense for me. It read on the bottle that once you open and use the vaccine, it must be discarded. So I was under the impression that I could not return in to the fridge and use it later on another animal. What do others do?

By the way, that avatar is really neat with the dog and sheep. It looks like the dog is pretty friendly to the sheep.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

You can definitely keep opened bottles. I always keep mine until the expiration date. I think that labeling is just a "CYA" thing for them.