Lepto vaccination of calves

5live

Should i vaccinate my replacement heifer calves for lepto? I've never done it before and saw a small piece in the papers about doing them at 6 months which i've never done before. What are the advantages and disadvantages?

whelan1

never heard of them being done that young before... we do the replacement heifers for the first time about 6 weeks before service then they are done every 6 months after that... some people get away with doing them once a year but we dont

5live

I probably read it wrong. I was reading on the tractor bringing the cows and i was surprised but i think i read it elsewhere earlier this year. Random things like that stay in my head for some reason. I will go through the stuff on the tractor in the morning and try to make sense of it.

Thanks whelan1

Lizard_Moon

"Leptospirosis, including hardjo-bovis, can be prevented. Prevention, however, requires vaccination before infection."

That is a quote from a manufacturer of a lepto vaccine. Sorry I don't have a proper link. Lepto vaccine doesn't clear an infection, but will decrease shedding in an infected animal, therefore a certain lepto vaccine recommends vaccinating replacement heifers before they are possibly exposed. They have to be rid of all the maternal antibodies from the colostrum so the earliest is after 4 wks I think but please check the data sheet.

Personally I let people know this but depends upon the individual farm whether or not they need to.