Choosing which vaccinations to administer to your flock can be a daunting prospect with so many different vaccines on the market. This quick guide will talk you through which vaccines may be appropriate for your flock!
Clostridial vaccines
Clostridial disease can be devastating, in some cases resulting in the sudden death of multiple animals. Tetanus, pulpy kidney and blackleg are just a few examples of diseases these bugs cause.
There are many different strains of clostridial disease but thankfully most clostridial vaccines cover for multiple strains in a single jab. If you are going to going to cover your flock with one vaccine then these are the ones to go for – in fact we recommend all flocks are covered with clostridial vaccines as a minimum. The following are examples of some of the clostridial vaccines we have available:
- Bravoxin – Covers for 10 strains of clostridial disease
- Lambivac – Covers for 3 strains of clostridial disease ( good for goats)
- Heptavac p – Covers for 6 strains of clostridial disease as well as Pasteurella and Mannheimia (pneumonia agents)
If you would like to cover your flock for clostridial disease, please call in to speak to one of our vets to discuss which vaccine would best suit your flock.
Lameness vaccines
If you are struggling with lameness in your flock and have had footrot identified as the cause, then there is a vaccine which can help!
Footvax has been shown to reduce levels of footrot in flocks and can also help to reduce levels of CODD. It is administered as an initial course of 2 doses 6 weeks apart.
Abortion vaccines
There are many causes of abortion in sheep however there are vaccines available to provide protection against some of the main ones. If you have a history of abortions, deformed lambs or increased numbers of stillbirths then you may have an underlying issue with one of these abortion agents.
Toxoplasma, enzootic abortion and chlamydia all have vaccines available against them which we can recommend if we identify the agent involved. These vaccines need to be administered in a specific time frame prior to tupping ( the details of which can be discussed with one of our vets). Here are the following vaccines available:
- Toxovax – against Toxoplasma
- Enzovax – against Enzootic abortion
- Cevac – against Clamydia
Orf vaccines
Orf can be a frustrating and debilitating disease resulting in reduced growth rates in lambs and mastitis in ewes. Scabivax is the vaccine available against Orf and can be used if you already have an active Orf infection present in your flock. The vaccine is a live vaccine which could introduce Orf to a flock which isn’t already infected. Therefore, it should only be considered in flocks with active Orf infections.
Need to speak to us?
If you need to speak to one of our vets about anything to do with your flock health or vaccines, then please get in touch. Either call us on 01825 764268, email us or fill in our contact form and someone will get back to you.
Photos above from one of our suppliers Farmacy.
