A survey of recommended practices made by veterinary practitioners to cow-calf operations in the United States and Canada

Abstract

Practicing veterinarians (n = 148) who service commercial beef cow-calf herds responded to a survey describing general recommendations made to their clients in terms of vaccine protocol, health, and production practices. Responding veterinarians represented 35 states in the United States and 3 provinces in Canada. More than 50% of responding veterinarians devote over 50% of their practice to service commercial cow-calf producers. The largest group (33%) of veterinarians have been in practice for over 30 yr. Thirty-nine percent of responding veterinarians serviced more than 10,000 cows. Genetic advice is provided by 54% of practicing veterinarians. When vaccinating at branding, the most common recommended vaccines are clostridial (96%), infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR; 94%), bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV; 91%), parainfluenza-3 (PI-3; 90%), and bovine viral diarrhea (BVD) Types 1 and 2 (78 and 77%, respectively). When vaccinating before weaning, the most common recommended vaccines are IBR (99%), BRSV (98%), BVD Types 1 and 2 (96%), PI-3 (93%), clostridial (77%), and Mannheimia haemolytica (77%). When vaccinating after weaning, the most common recommended vaccines are BVD Type 2 (97%), IBR (97%), BVD Type 1 (96%), BRSV (96%), and PI-3 (91%). Over 60% of responding veterinarians recommended that the last preventative vaccine should be administered to cattle 7 to 21 d before shipping. The largest number of respondents (38%) recommended that the earliest age their clients should wean their calves is 90 to 120 d. Castrating bull calves at an age of 0 to 7 d was recommended by 34% of respondents. Calf nutrition is considered as extremely important during a preconditioning program by 82% of responding veterinarians.