My name is Curtiss Ickes, and I live in Kennewick, Washington. I am the Simplot Western Stockmen’s beef sales representative for Eastern Washington. When I am not working, I enjoy hunting, sporting events, and spending time with the family. I grew up in Washington and spent most of my life on a ranch around cattle. Cattle ranching is a passion of mine, and I am thankful to be involved in such a wonderful industry. I have worked for Simplot Western Stockmen’s for almost three years now, and I continue to learn new things about the cattle industry the longer I work here. We are vertically integrated as a company, which gives us a unique perspective. Whether our customer is a cow/calf producer, stocker, or feedlot owner, we understand their struggles and needs because we face the same battles. Being on the beef side of the industry, I get a chance to see a vast number of different operations. I look forward to each day because I get to see how each operation is different and help solve new problems. Meet Cur
Doc Talks: Calf Stress and Spring Branding
It’s once again time for spring branding and calf stress is something on everyone’s mind.
Some vaccines cause more stress than others. One way to make brandings less stressful for calves is to use low-stress vaccines that still give immunity for disease. Keep an eye on Gram-negative vaccines such as Pink Eye, Pasteurella, Mannheimia, and Haemophilus that create stress and can cause reactions. Do not give more than one or two of these vaccines at the same time. If you have a program that has worked for you in past years, you may not want to change it. It is important that you review your programs each year and verify whether or not they meet your buyer’s standards. Some buyers are requiring the use of certain vaccines that weren’t previously required, and it would be a shame to lose a sale because of complacency. In Idaho, basic branding programs include Clostridium vaccines, such as a 7- or 8-way vaccine. Respiratory viral vaccines are also common, and they include live or killed vaccines. It’s important to understand that killed vaccines do not create immunity until another dose of viral vaccine is administered. Modified live vaccines may be injected or given intranasally, and some protocols call for a combination of both. Intranasal vaccines are effective and low stress, but they may not give long-lasting immunity. Cow nutrition and proper supplementation during pregnancy can greatly impact a calf’s ability to develop good immunity. I’ve seen some producers use Bo-Se or MulitiMin at birth and/or at branding. These appear to help calf health, especially in areas that are deficient in trace minerals or have high antagonistic minerals in forages. Molybdenum, iron, and sulfur are the most common deficiencies in the West.
-Dick Fredrickson, DVM
2 | Simplot Western Stockmen’s
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