Post by briarrose on Oct 4, 2015 19:43:35 GMT -5
With all the recent issues with cattle diseases, I am trying to educate myself to make sure I am being a responsible cow owner. Since I have not seen much on BVD or heard a lot about it I have been doing a lot of on line research and asking my vet a ton of questions. He assures me I have nothing to worry about as I don't by any new cows and all of my cows are older.
Well, this didn't seem like a reasonable answer to me. Recently I was at an auction and saw a rather sad looking heifer. Young, thin, and overall in poor condition. A man stopped as I was talking to her and told me I didn't want to bid on her cause she was probably BVD PI positive. He also told me if I didn't need any cattle, he wouldn't be bidding on anything as she could have spread BVD to every cow in the place by the time she left. So, I started reading and here are my questions.
First off, I know what BVD PI is so we will move on.
Second. I have been told that if a neg animal comes into contact with the disease she will be sick or off for a few days and then be immune to it in the future as will be any of her calves. True or False? If this is true, then why the need to test this cow on a yearly basis?
Third. Contact is the most common transmission, but it can also be transmitted by flies and airborne when in close proximity to an infected animal?
Fourth. If a cow is exposed while pregnant, the calf can become a PI if, and I have read 2 different things. One is within the first 120 days of gestation and the second is 40 days to 120 days of gestation. Which is correct?
Fifth and most importantly is the matter of vaccinations. Keep in mind I may be over thinking this, but if you vaccinate with live vaccine, doesn't that mean you are giving the cow BVD?
I do realize that the stronger the immune system of your cow the better equipted they are to fight the disease and recover. Most of my girls are 9-14 but I have always brought in calves to raise and sell and have probably not observed the best protocol when going to auctions and other places where they have cows. From what I have been reading BVD is becoming a rampant disease that is going unchecked. And when something comes to my attention, such as belonging to lots of cow sights and reading some really heartbreaking stories, I worry lots! I test my heifers and have never had a positive test result but I never thought about testing the bull calves that I bring in. Since I don't by cows or heifers any more, I don't test my adult cows.
So, here I sit confused as ever!
Well, this didn't seem like a reasonable answer to me. Recently I was at an auction and saw a rather sad looking heifer. Young, thin, and overall in poor condition. A man stopped as I was talking to her and told me I didn't want to bid on her cause she was probably BVD PI positive. He also told me if I didn't need any cattle, he wouldn't be bidding on anything as she could have spread BVD to every cow in the place by the time she left. So, I started reading and here are my questions.
First off, I know what BVD PI is so we will move on.
Second. I have been told that if a neg animal comes into contact with the disease she will be sick or off for a few days and then be immune to it in the future as will be any of her calves. True or False? If this is true, then why the need to test this cow on a yearly basis?
Third. Contact is the most common transmission, but it can also be transmitted by flies and airborne when in close proximity to an infected animal?
Fourth. If a cow is exposed while pregnant, the calf can become a PI if, and I have read 2 different things. One is within the first 120 days of gestation and the second is 40 days to 120 days of gestation. Which is correct?
Fifth and most importantly is the matter of vaccinations. Keep in mind I may be over thinking this, but if you vaccinate with live vaccine, doesn't that mean you are giving the cow BVD?
I do realize that the stronger the immune system of your cow the better equipted they are to fight the disease and recover. Most of my girls are 9-14 but I have always brought in calves to raise and sell and have probably not observed the best protocol when going to auctions and other places where they have cows. From what I have been reading BVD is becoming a rampant disease that is going unchecked. And when something comes to my attention, such as belonging to lots of cow sights and reading some really heartbreaking stories, I worry lots! I test my heifers and have never had a positive test result but I never thought about testing the bull calves that I bring in. Since I don't by cows or heifers any more, I don't test my adult cows.
So, here I sit confused as ever!