Field Trial of Respiratory Vaccine Protocols from Birth through Weaning in Dairy Heifers on a Commercial Farm in Upstate New York
Healthy dairy replacement heifers are critical to maintaining the production of quality milk. Respiratory disease is the second-leading cause of disease and death in pre-weaning dairy calves. Vaccination is potentially an important tool for preventing respiratory disease in young calves. This study compared respiratory disease incidence and average daily gain between 3 vaccination protocols in dairy calves from birth to 10 weeks of age. The protocols compared were an intranasal protocol, an injectable viral protocol, and an injectable viral/bacterial combination protocol. This study found no significant difference in disease incidence or average daily gain between protocols.