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Preventing your cattle from becoming sick or injured is much easier than dealing with a half-ton patient that has no interest in your nursing or a vet’s ministrations. Start your cattle wellness program with these few simple actions.

Balanced Diet, Exercise, and Shelter

Like humans, cattle are healthiest when they get enough exercise and plenty of fresh air, are kept warm and dry in cold weather and cool in hot weather, and eat an adequate diet that includes the necessary vitamins and minerals. As previously discussed, they also need salt and clean water available at all times, although it doesn’t hurt them to have to walk a distance in order to get to the water—that can be part of their prescribed exercise program. In addition, maintaining a low-stress environment and a regular routine will contribute a great deal to the overall health of the cattle.

Vaccinations

Along with good nutrition, water, and shelter, the best and cheapest insurance against cattle disease is vaccination. Every cattle owner should work with a veterinarian to develop a vaccination program appropriate for the ages and types of his or her cattle and for the region.

Cattle Diseases and People Tuberculosis can be transmitted to people through raw milk from infected cows as well as through the air in poorly ventilated barns and sheds. Brucellosis, or Bang’s disease, in cattle is transmitted to people through raw milk or during the delivery of calves from infected cows. Anthrax can be transmitted when people handle infected meat or hides, as can foot-and-mouth disease. Cattle owners can also acquire mange, ringworm, toxoplasmosis, leptospirosis, and tapeworms from their animals, though, thankfully, none of these afflictions is common in people today. All the same, it’s a good idea to keep your cattle’s vaccinations up to date and your premises clean and well ventilated.

Types of Vaccinations

Every program should include vaccinations for calves and annual booster shots for adult cattle. In the past, combination vaccines were often formulated to address only diseases that were a problem in the region in which the cattle lived. Today, with cattle traveling so often and so far, it’s standard to give all cattle a nine-way vaccine that covers bovine rhinotracheitis, viral diarrhea, parainfluenza, leptospirosis, and several other diseases.

A nine-way does not cover the clostridial diseases, which include tetanus, botulism, anthrax, “wooden tongue” (actinobacillosis), and blackleg. There are vaccines for these, but because they’re hard on the animal and because those diseases aren’t common in cattle in northern Wisconsin, where we live, they aren’t usually recommended here. They are recommended, and sometimes required, in many other areas. Check with your veterinarian to determine whether any of the clostridial diseases are common in your area. If so, even if there’s no legal requirement, it’s worthwhile to vaccinate because these illnesses are difficult to treat and can kill animals in as few as twenty-four hours. It’s also possible to vaccinate against rabies, but, again, this usually isn’t done if rabies is not a problem in the area.

Brucellosis, also called Bang’s disease, causes abortions and fever in cattle and undulant fever in people. Undulant fever is all but forgotten now in the United States but is still fairly common in other parts of the world. It’s transmitted through contaminated meat and unpasteurized dairy products. Brucellosis vaccination is cheap insurance against abortions in your herd. The shot must be administered by a veterinarian when the heifer is between four and eleven months of age. After giving the vaccination, the veterinarian will attach a metal ear tag to the heifer’s ear and officially record the shot.

Did You Know? When a cow has “hardware disease,” it means that it has eaten stray bits of metal, which have perforated its stomach, making it sick. As a preventive measure, some farmers use a balling gun to feed cow magnets to their cattle. These are cylindrical magnets about 5 inches long and an inch in diameter. The magnets lodge in the reticulum and attract all metal bits that may be there, keeping them from washing around and doing damage. Not all veterinarians believe in the effectiveness of using magnets, however, so it’s better for you to harvest any metal pieces on your land before your cattle do.

When to Vaccinate

Calves often receive certain vaccinations soon after birth, but many beef cattle owners rely on the immunity that the babies get from their mothers’ colostrum, or first milk, for the first few weeks and wait until it’s nearly weaning time—at four to eight months of age—to vaccinate. These older calves should be given booster vaccinations two to four weeks after receiving their first vaccinations. Dairy and orphan calves should be vaccinated by two weeks of age, because they aren’t getting ongoing immune protection from their mothers’ milk, and again at about six months.

Adult cattle should get annual booster vaccinations. Years ago, cows needed to receive their booster vaccinations before they were bred because some of the vaccines could cause abortions or birth defects. A new generation of vaccines now allows most cows to be vaccinated after they’ve been bred, but check with your veterinarian to make sure that these boosters are given at the proper time for your cattle and for your region.

Keep vaccines properly refrigerated and replace them once they pass their expiration dates. Buy your vaccines from your veterinarian, who will have been careful to keep them cool. Don’t mix vaccines unless it says specifically on the label that it’s safe to do so.

Most cattle vaccinations are given by intramuscular injection.

Injection Methods

Most vaccines are injected into the muscle. This is called an intramuscular (IM) injection, and it’s the simplest type to give. Use a 2-inch, 16-gauge needle for adult animals and a 1½-inch, 18-gauge needle for calves. Don’t give IM shots in the rump because this tends to make a permanent lesion in some of the most valuable meat.

Give injections in the neck. Slap the animal’s neck a few times, pop the needle in quickly and deeply with a firm stroke, and depress the plunger. The animal will probably jump, so don’t have your arm between him and any sort of bar, where you could get caught and end up with a broken limb. Change needles often because tough hides quickly dull the needles, and a dull needle hurts more and is harder to push in than a sharp one.

A subcutaneous (sub-Q) injection is given just under the skin and is used for many types of medications. Sub-Q injections take two hands and a few seconds longer than IM injections do. Making sure your arms aren’t in a position in which they might get trapped by a plunging cow, grab a pinch of skin between your thumb and forefinger, use your other hand to quickly push the needle lengthwise into the bottom of the fold, and then depress the plunger.

The third type of injection, into a vein (intravenous), is used infrequently and should be done by a veterinarian or someone with experience.

The veterinarian can do all of your vaccinating for you, but most cattle owners learn to do it themselves. I use a handy device that I found at the farm store that’s shaped like a pistol. It contains a big syringe that holds up to ten doses of vaccine. The calibrated trigger delivers exactly the right dose with each injection, and I can vaccinate a whole line of cattle without having to reload the syringe.

When vaccinating, change the needle every two or three animals and always use a new separate needle to draw the vaccine out of the bottle into the syringe so you don’t contaminate the vaccine. Syringes can be reused if you clean them carefully with soap and hot water and dry them thoroughly. Needles can be cleaned, sharpened, and reused, but they’re cheap, and it’s generally easier to replace them.

Finally, set up a little table or some other clean and convenient place with the vaccine bottles, syringes, needles, record book, ear tags, and other equipment you’ll need. Having everything handy and organized but out of the way of the cattle is easier—and safer—than trying to hold the ear-tagger in your teeth while storing the syringe behind your ear.

Cattle Medical Kit You should have a few basic supplies on hand for treating sick or injured animals. •Balling gun—for getting pills down the throat •Rectal thermometer—tie a long string around it when using; many thermometers have disappeared into cows because of unexpected muscle contractions •Rope halter and stout rope (a couple lengths)—use the halter and rope for holding a head still in the headgate and use just the rope for pulling a calf during a tough delivery •Stomach tube—for administering fluids and medications orally and relieving bloat if you’re a long way from a veterinarian •Suturing needles and thread—for stitching cuts •Syringes and needles—for administering medications •Trocar or sharp knife—for sticking bloated cows •Baking soda—for easing stomach upsets in calves •Epsom salts—for digestive upsets and soaking sore or infected feet •Iodine—for treating wounds and for dipping navels on newborn calves Topical antibiotic—for treating pinkeye and other skin infections You’ll also need a loaded ear-tagger with extra tags and studs, a bottle of nine-way vaccine, a syringe gun, and a notebook and pencil for record keeping.