vaccinating sheep before lambing

jfh

hi lads,

just wondering if ye use covexin 8 or heptavac p?
and how many weeks before lambing? or would we be better of vaccinating the lambs after a month or so?
we always lose one or 2 lambs after a few months

thanks

Conmaicne Mara

Vaccinate before lambing!

I use Heptevac P +, the instructions say to use it between 4-6 weeks before lambing. I stay within that window.

It's very hard to sell all lambs born on the farm, I've done it a few years but not lately and that's with just a few sheep.

Says on the pack lambs can be vaccinated from three weeks of age, but remember they need two injections 4-6 weeks apart. My vet said NOT to vaccinate my LAMBS before they were 7 weeks of age as I vaccinate the ewes pre lambing.

Cran

Vaccinate always before lambing about 6 weeks, also body score and throw any thin ones in with triplets to be feed a bit extra. Use covexin 10 here

rancher

Cran wrote: »

Vaccinate always before lambing about 6 weeks, also body score and throw any thin ones in with triplets to be feed a bit extra. Use covexin 10 here

We're using covexin 10 here too.. have been getting a few cases of a disease that isn't covered by covexin 8 / heptavac, a ram that cost me €1300 in 2011 died from it 3 mths after I buying him,

DMAXMAN

we vaccinate approx. 4 weeks pre-lambing. also we find we have to vaccinate the lambs first shot beginning may( march born lambs) and second shot 4 weeks later as sheep around here seem to get pasturella pneumonia

Salmonman

jfh wrote: »

hi lads,

just wondering if ye use covexin 8 or heptavac p?
and how many weeks before lambing? or would we be better of vaccinating the lambs after a month or so?
we always lose one or 2 lambs after a few months

thanks

I always vaccinate the lamb when there 6-7 weeks.Used to vaccinate them twice a few weeks apart but this last 2 years have only given them one dose and hasn't done any harm

J.O. Farmer

Salmonman wrote: »

I always vaccinate the lamb when there 6-7 weeks.Used to vaccinate them twice a few weeks apart but this last 2 years have only given them one dose and hasn't done any harm

The first dose is the most important. It stimulates an initial immune response. This is a relatively slow and weak response to the clostridium in this case. The next time the animal encounters clostridium be it in the environment or because of the second dose of vaccine the immune response will be much quicker and stronger.
The reason for giving the second dose is to have already stimulated the second response before the animal encounters the clostridium in the environment.
On this basis what you're doing with only 1 dose is probably alright and we only give one dose too.
As con pointed out earlier if you vaccinate ewes before lambing be careful of doing lambs too quickly as the ewes immunity passed to the lamb through her milk will destroy the vaccine before the lambs immune response is stimulated.

Dickie10

Would I be shocking everyone to say I farm 80 ewes and don't vaccinate at all? to be honest I don't ever lose any after the first week of lambing, perhaps it could be the fact that we have good dry land ? i lost 1 lamb after 3 weeks last year due to being fostered but the ewe abandoned it

razor8

Dickie10 wrote: »

Would I be shocking everyone to say I farm 80 ewes and don't vaccinate at all? to be honest I don't ever lose any after the first week of lambing, perhaps it could be the fact that we have good dry land ? i lost 1 lamb after 3 weeks last year due to being fostered but the ewe abandoned it

I never did for years either then bang lost about 15 lambs in 2/3 week period a few years ago. I see it as an insurance policy rather than necessity. I still don't do lambs at all

J.O. Farmer

Dickie10 wrote: »

Would I be shocking everyone to say I farm 80 ewes and don't vaccinate at all? to be honest I don't ever lose any after the first week of lambing, perhaps it could be the fact that we have good dry land ? i lost 1 lamb after 3 weeks last year due to being fostered but the ewe abandoned it

We used to be the same but we always lost a couple of ewes for no apparent reason. Then 1 year about this time we lost a lot 5-6 in the space of half a week. The ewes were all about 2-3 years old and in good shape well dosed for fluke. Older shooker ewes were fine. I was embarresed and almost afraid going to the knackery with so many. Since then we vaccinate and have only lost the odd ewe normally from dead lambs in them.

Conmaicne Mara

Twice I delayed vaccinating lambs, once cos I thought I''d get away with it and once because I was a fuppin idiot, both times I lost two lambs.

AnFeirmeoir

I don't vaccinate.
I lose 2 or 3 lambs every year at around 14 weeks. I assume its pulpy or one of the diseases the vaccination would prevent. I was going to vaccinate ewes this year but i was thinking if o only have an issue with lambs, it would be cheaper to vaccinate all lambs and 4 and 8 weeks and forget about the ewes. Does this make any sense ?

Salmonman

AnFeirmeoir wrote: »

I don't vaccinate.
I lose 2 or 3 lambs every year at around 14 weeks. I assume its pulpy or one of the diseases the vaccination would prevent. I was going to vaccinate ewes this year but i was thinking if o only have an issue with lambs, it would be cheaper to vaccinate all lambs and 4 and 8 weeks and forget about the ewes. Does this make any sense ?

Even if you vaccinate ewes you still have to do lambs.
I think but don't quote me on it with covexin 8 if you have your ewes vaccinated you give lambs 5ml but if ewes aren't done you only need give lambs 2ml.Doesnt make much sense

Farrell

Salmonman wrote: »

Even if you vaccinate ewes you still have to do lambs.
I think but don't quote me on it with covexin 8 if you have your ewes vaccinated you give lambs 5ml but if ewes aren't done you only need give lambs 2ml.Doesnt make much sense

Would you also have to inject lambs if you use heptavac p?

Salmonman

Farrell wrote: »

Would you also have to inject lambs if you use heptavac p?

Don't know,never used it

J.O. Farmer

Farrell wrote: »

Would you also have to inject lambs if you use heptavac p?

Covexin 8 and heptavac p are more or less the same thing in that they work the same way by stimulating an immune response.
If you vaccinate the ewes with either product the lambs will get protection through the mothers milk. The lambs will need to be injected at some point to continue protection.
If you inject too soon though the immunity from the milk will destroy the vaccine before the lambs own immunity is triggered.
I'm not sure how long after birth it's recommended to wait before vaccinating lambs from vaccinated ewes. It might be 8 weeks but somebody else might know better.
I think heptavac p covers pasteurella as well as clostridal diseases but other than that both products are pretty much the same thing.

J.O. Farmer

Farrell wrote: »

Would you also have to inject lambs if you use heptavac p?

Covexin 8 and heptavac p are more or less the same thing in that they work the same way by stimulating an immune response.
If you vaccinate the ewes with either product the lambs will get protection through the mothers milk. The lambs will need to be injected at some point to continue protection.
If you inject too soon though the immunity from the milk will destroy the vaccine before the lambs own immunity is triggered.
I'm not sure how long after birth it's recommended to wait before vaccinating lambs from vaccinated ewes. It might be 8 weeks but somebody else might know better.
I think heptavac p covers pasteurella as well as clostridal diseases but other than that both products are pretty much the same thing.

J.O. Farmer

Farrell wrote: »

Would you also have to inject lambs if you use heptavac p?

Covexin 8 and heptavac p are more or less the same thing in that they work the same way by stimulating an immune response.
If you vaccinate the ewes with either product the lambs will get protection through the mothers milk. The lambs will need to be injected at some point to continue protection.
If you inject too soon though the immunity from the milk will destroy the vaccine before the lambs own immunity is triggered.
I'm not sure how long after birth it's recommended to wait before vaccinating lambs from vaccinated ewes. It might be 8 weeks but somebody else might know better.
I think heptavac p covers pasteurella as well as clostridal diseases but other than that both products are pretty much the same thing.

Farrell

I only give inlamb ewes a shot 4-6 weeks before lambing, nothing else.
I was wondering if I should be doing better.
Thanks for that

Conmaicne Mara

Farrell wrote: »

Would you also have to inject lambs if you use heptavac p?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=88284784&postcount=2

Lambs from vaccinated ewes will need a starter two shot course (4-6 weeks apart for each shot) of Hep P+, but not until at least 7 weeks after birth or what's passed on from the ewe to the lamb will kill the vaccine you inject the lambs with.

So, yes, but don't start their course until 7 weeks after birth.

J.O. Farmer

Farrell wrote: »

I only give inlamb ewes a shot 4-6 weeks before lambing, nothing else.
I was wondering if I should be doing better.
Thanks for that

I think what your doing is correct and what we do ourselves. I think it's better to vaccinate the ewes before lambing for a couple of reasons.
1. The lambs will have immunity from birth through the mothers milk whereas you only vaccinate after the lambs are born protection will only come a couple of weeks later.
2. Unless you have large numbers of sheep you will end up only vaccinating all the lambs together so the oldest lambs will be at least a 2-3 weeks old and probably more.
3. Trying to do anything with ewes with young lambs is a pain as the lambs don't move right with the ewes.
4. You boost the ewes immunity admittedly more important for younger ewes.
5. 1 dose does the ewe and her lambs where if you have an average of say 1.5 lambs that 1.5 times the number of sheep to inject just to cover the lambs.

As con said if you want continued cover the lambs will need to be done after 7 weeks. We don't do that and I don't think we lose much because of it but some feel different. I would recommend doing any replacement ewe lambs in the autumn though.
A second dose is recommended for full protection and the reason for that is the first time an animal comes into contact with a pathogen the immune response is slow and weak and the second time it's fast and strong. The second dose is to stimulate the fast strong response and have antibodies circulating in the blood but we never bother with it and have never noticed a problem.

Farrell

Time flies!
Lambing earlier this year, going dosing shortly & will be giving shot of hep p.
Ewes are due in 5/6 weeks, but ewe lambs are due (hopefully) 5/6 weeks later.
Should I injectvewe lambs with thevsame time as ewes, or wait till 5/6 before they lamb or give 2 shots?
Would there be any harm in injecting ewe lambs which could prove not inlamb

rangler1

Farrell wrote: »

Time flies!
Lambing earlier this year, going dosing shortly & will be giving shot of hep p.
Ewes are due in 5/6 weeks, but ewe lambs are due (hopefully) 5/6 weeks later.
Should I injectvewe lambs with thevsame time as ewes, or wait till 5/6 before they lamb or give 2 shots?
Would there be any harm in injecting ewe lambs which could prove not inlamb

You're supposed to give two shots in the first year and one shot every year after.
10- 12 weeks is probably too far out form lambing to ensure protection if your only doing them once,
If you're doing them twice vaccinate the ewe lambs now and again in 4 -6 weeks to get proper immunity.
Vaccination protects the ewe and the lambs against chlostridials so its an advantage to vaccinate even if they're not inlamb

Farrell

rangler1 wrote: »

You're supposed to give two shots in the first year and one shot every year after.
10- 12 weeks is probably too far out form lambing to ensure protection if your only doing them once,
If you're doing them twice vaccinate the ewe lambs now and again in 4 -6 weeks to get proper immunity.
Vaccination protects the ewe and the lambs against chlostridials so its an advantage to vaccinate even if they're not inlamb

Thanks Rangler, I was thinking doing twice was best but afraid of over dose.

Nekarsulm

Farrell wrote: »

Time flies!
Lambing earlier this year, going dosing shortly & will be giving shot of hep p.
Ewes are due in 5/6 weeks, but ewe lambs are due (hopefully) 5/6 weeks later.
Should I injectvewe lambs with thevsame time as ewes, or wait till 5/6 before they lamb or give 2 shots?
Would there be any harm in injecting ewe lambs which could prove not inlamb

Going earlier for sure, Farrell! You're a glutton for punishment
Going scanning in the morning myself, so we'll see what's what!

Farrell

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Going earlier for sure, Farrell! You're a glutton for punishment
Going scanning in the morning myself, so we'll see what's what!

Na think that's the OH, she's to put up with me.
Aiming to have lambs gone for Easter (trial run), in aim of having more grass for cattle.
Time will tell.
Good luck with the scanning

sea12

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Going earlier for sure, Farrell! You're a glutton for punishment
Going scanning in the morning myself, so we'll see what's what!

How did you get on with the scanning after nek

Nekarsulm

scanned 162, 8 empty , 4 triplets, about 15 in lamb but too early to be sure of number. rest scanned 1.65

Nekarsulm

Nekarsulm wrote: »

scanned 162, 8 empty , 4 triplets, about 15 in lamb but too early to be sure of number. rest scanned 1.65

And two he is sure will abort .

Farrell

Nekarsulm wrote: »

And two he is sure will abort .

Not good.
What will you do with the trips, bottle/keep on ewe/ foster

Nekarsulm

I had one lassie reared a set this year, successfully. Defends what lambs around the same time. Try and foster one onto a single.