# what vaccines do i need to give to my lambs?



## bnbfarm

hey i am new with sheep and my ewe just had her first set of lambs and i was wondering what vaccines should i give them and when is the time to give the vaccines and also when is a good time to start docking their tails and also when should i wether the ram ? thanks!!!!!


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## aggieterpkatie

Hi there! Congrats on your lambs!    

Vaccines- did your ewe have her CD/T vaccine 1 month before lambing?  If so, vaccinate the lambs at 8 weeks and again at 11-12 weeks.   If the ewe was not vaccinated, you can do the lambs at 2 weeks, and then again at 6 weeks, and I'd even do a third at 9-10 weeks.  Then they just need the yearly booster!  

If you're going to band the tails and band the testicles, I'd wait at least 3 days after birth.  I like to do the tails around 7 days old, and I personally don't like doing them past around 10 days old.  Of course, the earlier the better, but I like to give them at least 5-7 days to get on their feet and strong before stressing them.  Rams you can band anywhere from a week up, as long as you make sure BOTH testicles have descended.  Some band early, and some band late. They grow more if you wait, but it's also more stressful on them.  I sometimes wait until 8 weeks to castrate, but sometimes do it earlier.


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## bnbfarm

thanks so much for the help !!!


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## SheepGirl

aggieterpkatie said:
			
		

> Hi there! Congrats on your lambs!
> 
> Vaccines- did your ewe have her CD/T vaccine 1 month before lambing?  If so, vaccinate the lambs at 8 weeks and again at 11-12 weeks.   If the ewe was not vaccinated, you can do the lambs at 2 weeks, and then again at 6 weeks, and I'd even do a third at 9-10 weeks.  Then they just need the yearly booster!
> 
> If you're going to band the tails and band the testicles, I'd wait at least 3 days after birth.  I like to do the tails around 7 days old, and I personally don't like doing them past around 10 days old.  Of course, the earlier the better, but I like to give them at least 5-7 days to get on their feet and strong before stressing them.  Rams you can band anywhere from a week up, as long as you make sure BOTH testicles have descended.  Some band early, and some band late. They grow more if you wait, but it's also more stressful on them.  I sometimes wait until 8 weeks to castrate, but sometimes do it earlier.


I agree.

Though we band tails when they are a day or two old. We castrate ram lambs when their testes have descended, which is usually around three weeks old. It's much easier when they're hanging down and you don't have to fish around for them!


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## bonbean01

We have hair sheep and don't dock or band their tails.  For the baby rams, we've had better luck doing that early, within the first week...perhaps we just have ram lambs that grow those things quickly, since both are decended pretty much at birth and at the start of our sheep adventure waited too long which made it more difficult.  I hate doing that and wish I could give them a pain killer, but they seem not to be too bothered by it.


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## neener92

We band tails and give shots anywhere from 3 days old to a week then boost 30 days later. We only give our sheep CDT shots. We don't band ram lambs, around here we get just as much money if not more for rams. Thank god! Makes me feel like an awful person!


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## purplequeenvt

You should dock their tails within the first couple days. In my experience they won't feel the pressure from the band as much right after they are born. We generally give mom and babies a day to get rested up and then on day 2 dock tails, put in ear tags, give shots, etc...


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## bnbfarm

neener92 said:
			
		

> We band tails and give shots anywhere from 3 days old to a week then boost 30 days later. We only give our sheep CDT shots. We don't band ram lambs, around here we get just as much money if not more for rams. Thank god! Makes me feel like an awful person!


i have not made my mind up on if i want to band the ram's or not but 
if i dont band the ram's when do i need to separate them from their mom's ?


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## SheepGirl

Well when you wean them (60-90 days is usually when lambs are weaned) should be okay. Rams aren't like bucks who try to breed their mothers and and sisters at a young age. Ram lambs reach puberty at about four to seven months depending on breed, so you definitely want to have them separated by then.


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## Southdown

We banded the tails after they reached 24 hours old and also gave the CDT shot at 24 hours old also.  Then I gave the booster shot a few weeks later (says on the bottle).  I've heard that the colostrum interferes with the vaccine, but I really don't know much about it.  Then we castrated whenever we could find the testicles and pull them down.  I just feel better about doing the tail docking early because I'm hoping it causes less pain.  On the other hand, I'm wondering if they need to eat and grow up some strength before encountering the stress of banding?  I'm not sure which is better.  I guess if the lamb wasn't eating then I would wait.  But I haven't had that problem yet.  I just hate giving the CDT shot to those little lambs.  There's no fat on them yet and I find it difficult to get enough skin to even administer the injection.


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## aggieterpkatie

If the dam was vaccinated a month prior to lambing, the lambs don't need their CD/T shots until weaning (8 weeks).  If the dams did not have their vaccines, I would wait until the lambs are older, say around 4 weeks.  I have always vaccinated dams though, so I've never had to give a CD/T to any lambs that early.

Forgot to mention, I would definitely give a tetanus antitoxin shot to any lamb who was getting docked or castrated and their dams did not get vaccinated.


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## ShadyAcres

Ewes vaccinated 1 month before lambing carry antibodies for lambs so early vaccination is not only not needed, has no effect.  However, most vaccines also carry tetanus (thats the T in CD-T) and  for convenience sake  some people vaccinate at docking just for the tetanus.  Its what they have on hand, easier to have just 1 vaccine, can buy larger bottles and save money, etc.  

I am fortunate in that I have for a friend a retired veterinarian.  I call him my sheep and dog guru as he also helps me train my herding dogs.  This was the advice he gave me:

Vaccinate ewes 1 month prior to lambing, and lambs at 4 and 8 weeks.  Ewe lambs that I am retaining will also get another vaccination at 12 weeks.


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## aggieterpkatie

The tetanus in CD/T is the toxoid, not the antitoxin, so it doesn't have any effect on them when docking/castrating.  IMO, if you're doing 3 vaccines on your ewe lambs, you're wasting a vaccine.  My vet says do it at 8 weeks and then a booster at 11 or 12 weeks.  Doesn't really matter if you're doing a few lambs, but if you're doing a lot of lambs it gets expensive and takes up a good bit of time.


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## Southdown

I bought some tetanus antitoxin and then I asked my vet on the phone how much to administer.  The answer he gave me was some odd, miniscule number that I wouldn't be able to measure.  I got the impression that this was the first time he'd been asked about using it.  He had to look it up and call me back.  So I never used it.  All of my sheep are on a Spring schedule for their booster CDT shots (April).  This simplifies things for me because I will buy the bottle and everyone gets their annual booster shot out of the same bottle at the same time.  If I vaccinate the ewes with their booster shots one month before they deliver, then everyone is on a different schedule for their booster shots.  I would be buying several bottles of CDT for each animal and that would not make good financial sense for me.  It read on the bottle that once you open and use the vaccine, it must be discarded.  So I was under the impression that I could not return in to the fridge and use it later on another animal.  What do others do?

By the way, that avatar is really neat with the dog and sheep.  It looks like the dog is pretty friendly to the sheep.


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## aggieterpkatie

You can definitely keep opened bottles.  I always keep mine until the expiration date.  I think that labeling is just a "CYA" thing for them.


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