Vaccinate or not?

beckywilliams24 · #1 07/01/14, 12:36 PM

After searching on this forum I see that about 1/2 vaccinate and 1/2 don't . Can you please tell me your reasoning either way and what you do choose to vaccinate?

Thanks!
Becky

**mygoat** · #2 07/01/14, 01:19 PM

I vaccinate because I think it is cheap insurance, but keep in mind it is only PART of a disease prevention program.

For entero, your MANAGEMENT plays a BIGGER ROLE than does vaccination - but I still vaccinate because it's a little extra wiggle room, and easy. It also helps kids get through the transition stage between milk and solid food here, where we do feed quite a bit of grain. For those that feed less grain, this is LESS of an issue. Because this is such a management disease, vaccination does not prevent all cases, nor can management alone prevent all cases (due to differences between animals/their health and errors). In herds that are still working out the management aspect or see high rates of entero, typing it to see if it is an entero that the vaccine works against (C and D, with partial coverage of type B possible) as well as vaccination every 6 months may be a good idea. Type A pops up very unusually but vaccination doesn't do much for it, for example.

Tetanus is a pretty effective vaccine, once again cheap and easy/safe, and prevents a disease that isn't very treatable (Possible, but very difficult and often with effects).

Those are the only things I vaccinate for. If I was running a commercial herd, I'd consider the CL vaccine and the Covexin 8 way (to cover blackleg). The CL vaccine does not prevent infections, but it can reduce the number of abscesses - thus an effective part of a disease prevention/control program; less abscesses means fewer new infections and fewer isolation/treatments needed.

Backfourty,MI. · #3 07/01/14, 03:53 PM

I vaccinate with CD & T for basically the same reason Mygoat does, cheap insurance & it only costs a few cents per shot. Also covers some Clostridial perifrigens as well as entero & tetanus.
Just seems to me that I'd rather vaccinate than take the chance & loose one to something that this minimal cost could have prevented.

southerngurl · #4 07/01/14, 05:06 PM

I don't vaccinate because the cdt vaccine is for opportunistic diseases. I focus instead on proper wound care and proper feeding and parasite prevention to prevent tetanus and enterotoxemia. I want my kids' immune systems to concentrate on much more likely threats, barberpole and coccidia, rather than things I can prevent with management. That's just me.

Remember vaccinations are not a guarantee, nothing really is. So we are taking chances no matter what we do, really.

I certainly have nothing against those that choose to use them! I just don't feel there is a strong enough benefit to use them in my herd.

wintrrwolf · #5 07/01/14, 05:28 PM

I didn't vaccinate for years (yes I am admitting it) this last year I had an issue that I believe had I vaccinated maybe I wouldn't have lost as many as I did. My herd management seemed to work just fine until this last winter which was tuff on a lot of livestock people in the area.
I am now on a CD&T vaccination schedule. Though I am still on the fence about the CL vaccine. It concerns me when I heard that once you vaccinate with this they will test positive for CL....

Ford Zoo · #6 07/01/14, 05:54 PM

I started using Covexin 8 this year, rather than just the CD&T. But since I just started not every goat had been inoculated. We've had a wet spring with lots of temperature swings and for the first time I've lost goats to what I believe to be fast acting pneumonia. Of course, the ones I've lost were the ones that had not yet received the Covexin 8.

Of course this may not be the case ...but cheap insurance is also why I vaccinate. Especially considering tetanus is everywhere and opportunistic. Tetanus is the reason those of us at work try to provide further education to parents that don't vaccinate their kids, while respecting their choice not to do so. Many parents will then agree to vaccinate their injured child against tetanus after being provided with factual information that they feel comfortable receiving.

ozark_jewels · #7 07/03/14, 05:29 PM

Back when I had 20-30 head of goats year-round, I did not vaccinate for anything. For those 6 years I had NO issues with any entero, tetanus, etc.

Then we upped the herd to 100-150 head and started milking commercially. More herd stress, richer diets, higher concentrates, etc. I had problems with entero one spring. Not in the kids, in adults. I started vaccinating everything with CD&T. I kept that up religiously for a few years and only had a few *possible* entero-related issues over that time. Never have seen tetanus, before or after vaccinating.

Now, after several years of having the herd back down to 20-40 head total(kids, bucks, does), I am back to non-vaccinating again. Did not vaccinate last year or this year. No issues. For years now I have concentrated on getting them the nutrition/minerals they need, in a timely fashion. This will go a very long way toward preventing problems in any herd. The less stressed the body, the less likely the diseases. This does NOT mean wrapping them in bubble wrap! This actually means just letting a goat live as natural a life as possible while meeting their nutritional needs. A goat fed too much grain is stressed and vulnerable, a goat pushed to make too much milk is stressed and vulnerable, a goat not given adequate minerals is stressed and vulnerable, a goat without fresh water available is stressed and vulnerable. And on and on. Most of it is common sense and knowledge applied at the right times.

Buyers ask me about my opinion on vaccinating. My answer is always the same. Management is *more* important than any vaccine. Get that right and you will have less issues all around. But if you want to vaccinate, please do. Its up to you. Please, do not think it is 100% proof against any disease. No vaccine is. So to vaccinate or not, is simply an individual choice. If basic vaccines are desired, I recommend the simple barvac CD&T. Other than that, your choices will be decided by location and issues in your area.

Ford Zoo · #8 07/03/14, 06:37 PM

I must recant my above statement as a dear friend pointed out that Covexin 8 does not cover against pneumonia. I got those long "H" names confused. I was wondering why I also had separate pneumonia vaccines in the fridge.

I told that eye doctor I needed bifocals months ago!

Sorry for any confusion I may have caused

GoldenWood Farm · #9 07/03/14, 07:49 PM

I don't vaccinate and I haven't for years. The final straw for me was when I lost an adult buck, 2 of his kids and 1 of his grandkids all to entero. The buck came from a herd who HEAVILY vaccinated and I truly believe that he was a "hot house flower". I have lost more kids to entero when I was actually vaccinating with CDT than since I have stopped vaccinating with CDT.

I also with Emily and Southurngirl, nutrition and proper management plays a MUCH bigger role than the vaccines I feel. I also feel that we are slowly dropping their natural resistance by always vaccinating for everything.

So I choose to not vaccinate and my herd is happy and healthy

.

Justine