Administering an Injection?! Help

TheFarmerMommy · #1 03/23/14, 10:23 AM

Lol, title says it all! I'm fairly experienced handling other farm animals, but these are our first cows. We have 3 Holstein heifers that are about a year old. I noticed that with the high winds we've had they are developing a touch of pinkeye. I was going to give them an injection of LA-200. I'm not sure how to do it, if that makes sense. They're generally friendly and don't mind being petted, but are not really halter trained to the best of my knowledge. (This is something that I plan to work on over the summer prior to breeding them) What's the best way to restrain them for injections? They had no problem with me tenting the skin on their necks while I was standing next to them. But it didn't seem like the best idea to try the actual injection without some kind of restraint.

unregistered41671 · #2 03/23/14, 01:11 PM

If you have cows, you need some way to catch them and restrain them. LA 200 dosage for cattle if my memory is correct 4.5ml per hundred lbs. If a heifer weighs 700 lbs, that would be 31.5ml and it should be given in 3 equal sub Q or IM injection sites if possible. 31ml is a lot to inject into one site. Try to go no more than 10ml per injection site.
No matter what you do, it will be tough trying to get that amount of meds into a healthy heifer without some kind of restraint. Believe me, if you keep cows, you will need a way to restrain them sooner or later. Maybe you can hook two cattle panels together and squeeze them up at the pinch point with some kind of barrier at the rear to keep them from backing up. Large animals can hurt you easily, just by moving out of the way.

randiliana · #3 03/23/14, 02:00 PM

Before you go giving them an injection, which Possum Belly, explained quite well.

What are the symptoms? Wind itself will not cause pinkeye. It can cause runny eyes though. So unless you have symptoms more than just runny eyes, an injection isn't really required.

TheFarmerMommy · #4 03/23/14, 04:14 PM

Third eyelid is pink. Clear discharge running. I was told that while facial flies are the most common cause, wind burn/debris blowing into the eye and/or injury from being poked by brush or tall grass could cause pink eye. Is that incorrect? I'm going to try to pick up kelp tomorrow, I've heard that helps prevent it. Can't hurt.

The property was part of a dairy and there is a wooden chute. It appears to be missing appropriate parts to safely close off the front and back ends once the cow is in there, though. I'll do some research into it tonight. It looks like a good way to crush a finger the way it's configured right now. It probably makes more sense to buy a steel tubing squeeze chute. I was planning on breeding them via AI, so it will be needed. I work with draft horses on a daily basis and have a lot of respect for the power of a large animal. Cows make me even more cautious because I've still got a learning curve on predicting the ways they move.

TheFarmerMommy · #5 03/23/14, 05:49 PM

What do you think it is, then? I'll do some looking into restraints. I just don't like the odds on the wooden chute. I know too many people injured by horse showing stocks.
And this looks very much like them. Steel squeeze chute is worth the investment, I think.

randiliana · #6 03/23/14, 09:02 PM

It is quite possible that it is just irritation from dirt and dust that the wind is blowing. Usually by the time you notice pinkeye the eye has a cloud on it. I will try to find a photo.

randiliana · #7 03/23/14, 09:14 PM

https://www.google.ca/search?q=pink+...w=1120&bih=615