Management
life. Vaccines to consider would be a multi-strained respiratory
vaccine (modified-live), and a clostridial (7-way or more).
Multiple stressors and decreased health go hand in
hand. Painful procedures such as castration, dehorning,
and branding should be conducted well before the
day of weaning. Handling calves prior to weaning is
important and gives opportunity to include many
“preconditioning” type practices to help ensure calf health.
Initial vaccination and management procedures such
as castration should be conducted 2-3 weeks prior to
weaning. During this period of time, control of other
stressors such as external parasites and internal parasite
can be initiated. External parasites of concern are mostly
flies during the summer months. Internal parasite control
should target gastrointestinal nematodes (worms)
as well as coccidiosis during this stressful time.
To further increase calf comfort, developing a plan to control
heat stress and minimize dust can be very helpful in ensuring
overall health, performance, and welfare of these calves. I
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