When? What kind? and Where? Neck, like the grown ups? Same size needle or smaller? Less dosage or same? The weather here is finally cooling off. Foal is 4months and will be weaned the first week of October.
I have always given the adult horses their shots, but have never given babies theirs.
Thanks for the advice!
We do the same vaccinations as adults and perform the foal vaccinations twice. First set one month prior to weaning and second set three weeks later. Subsequently, the youngsters are vaccinated Spring and Fall with the rest oftheherd. All are IM in the neck muscle with exception of strangles which is intranet nasal. Just like human infants, it is important to give the booster vaccinations to build up the immunity. Although there is an IM version of the strangles vaccine, we use the intranet nasal which is more effective.
It’s also a good idea to space the vaccinations out so you don’t give the foal everything at the same time.
For example…
Eastern/Western/Tetanus 1st shot
Flu/rhino 1st shot
2 weeks later
Potomac Fever 1st shot
West Nile 1st shot
2 weeks later
Eastern/Western/Tet 2nd shot
Flu/rhino 2nd shot
2 weeks later
Potomac Fever 2nd shot
West Nile 2nd shot
Every vaccination causes an inflammatory response in the foal’s immune system and that’s why I think it’s important to give them some recovery time in between shots.
I don’t vaccinate for Strangles or Botulism because I don’t have it here and don’t feed round bales, but you should know what you give to your adults and just copy that for the foals.
I wait until the foals are 6 months old before I start vaccinating, and yes, it’s IM in the neck muscle…
Good luck!
Talk to your vet. You need to know what foals should be vaccinated for in your area
You also need to know what ones require boosters and in what time period.
To help you have the discussion with your vet, this will help:
http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/BRM/resources/Equine/AAEPFoalVaccinations.pdf
If the dam has had her pre-foaling shots, the foal’s 1st shots should be given about 6 months and boostered one month later. If the mare was not given her vaccinations pre-foaling (about 30 days before) then the timing is 4 and 5 months.
Like Kathleen, I no longer give foal vaccinations before 6 months. Here’s a good article on why:
http://csuvth.colostate.edu/_docs/equine/medicine_surgery/equine_medicine_surgery_200902_vaccination_foal.pdf
To quote from Dr. McCue:
It has been recognized for many years that the presence of maternal or passively derived antibodies in the foal may interfere with or inhibit the immune response of foals to vaccinations. In addition, it has been reported that foals vaccinated early in life when maternal antibodies are still
present may fail respond to a even a series of booster vaccinations against specific pathogens administered the following year. In other words, it is not advantageous and
may be detrimental to begin vaccination of foals early in their life.
Okay, but what if the weanling is going to be sold and shipped across country before he is 6 months old? Do you need to have them vaccinated and a coggins and a health certificate?
I don’t believe that is necessary (definitely not in Canada), but some US states might be different. Most shippers don’t want the horse vaccinated immediately before shipping…
If a horse is crossing international borders, coggins and health cert are generally required.
… besides, who would ship a “weanling” who is less than 6 months old clear across the country? :eek:
I would not wean before 6 months old unless there was a dire need and i would not ship prior to a complete vaccination schedule which I don’t start until after weaning.
All recent research says start vaccinations at 6 months. Generally, I like to wean about 5 months, give them a full month to recover from that stress before starting vaccines. Also agree, I wouldn’t ship a 6 monther across country - 9 months is about the youngest I’d ship long distance. You can pull a coggins without vaccines if you ARE going to ship - it isn’t dependent on vaccines.
Silly me, yes you are going to need a health cert and most likely a Coggins even though a Coggins test is worthless until the weanling is 6 months.
I was in the same boat last year. Buyer arranged to ship a not-yet-five-month-old, just weaned, completely unvaccinated colt halfway across the country.
I flipped out. Told them I would board him free of charge, asked them to wait, etc, etc. I called my vet who said he should be okay. I asked about an EqStim shot. She said no.
He arrived without issues, thank God.
I shipped a 4 month old weanling halfway across the country with no problems. They haul in a box stall on a commercial shipper. I had the vet give him his shots because I did not know what the records of the mare were at the time.
Dire need = we are in a terrible drought here and we need the money this guy will bring to feed the other horses or they will all starve. This is a business folks - not my pets. I wish the economy allowed me the option of keeping all of them until everything was perfect and all the stars were aligned, but it is what it is. I have two foals coming next spring and then the mares will remain open until the economy improves or I win the lottery.
I want to ship him the first week of November (6 months), that is why I am getting out in front of all this. His momma had all her shots and his IGG was excellent when tested.
Thanks AHF for the info. I do not need to order vaccines until end of October for the mares in foal and other horses. So I am relieved that I can wait while praying for a buyer with deep pockets…
I just remembered something I did do…I pumped him full of Succeed paste for 3 days prior to the shipper coming, and sent 4 more tubes for him to get when he got there. He did not end up with ulcer symptoms - s it might have done some good.
I used Succeed as I had tubes on hand. If I had not, I would have gone the UlcerGuard route.
Oh, SillyMe, are you in TX? If so, I can see why you’d be shipping a youngster. Yikes, you guys are dealing with a lot of hardship right now :no:
I too shipped a 6 month old from Toronto to CA. 1 month post weaning, with immunal the week before, and ulcergard day before, during trip, and enough for 3 days post arrival.
We drove about 15 hours a day and therefore made it in under 4 days, and I slept in the trailer (gooseneck), so the filly had company and handling.
Not preferred, but we wanted to get over the Rockies before winter, and the risk of weather delays.
Hope all goes well. You have to work with what life hands you.
Vaccines were done in her new home, a couple weeks post-arrival.
Yes, we are in TX. Life is hard right now. Hubby lost his job last year. I am working a full time job, and the farm plus a part time job. My breeding “speculations” are looking promising. People are interested, IF they have the $$$.
Today as I was driving home I saw black smoke and was praying hard that it wasn’t my place burning…as I got closer I was relieved, but it was only a few miles down the road.
I was happy for us, but sad for them and realized so many things could go terribly wrong in a very short time. Praise God for being merciful. So far, we are not hungry or burning and all our needs are being met. Please say a prayer for those in TX who are much worse off than us.
I am so sorry you are going through this. Good luck with everything.
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