Vaccinating animals is an important task on the farm to maintain a healthy herd or flock and enable your animals to resist diseases or ailments that they may pick up.
Ríona Sayers is a veterinary practitioner for Teagasc and in this video, she discusses some important procedures to consider when vaccinating animals.
Vaccination time
Make sure you are vaccinating at the correct time of year and ensure you are following the correct interval for booster shots is the first piece of advice that the Teagasc vet offers.
Storing vaccines correctly
Sayers explains that vaccines should be stored in a refrigeration unit between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius. Another important measure to take is checking expiry dates.
“Never use the remainder of any medicinal product that you have left over from previous months or years that may be expired or may have bacterial contamination.”
She recommends taking the vaccine out of the fridge 30 minutes prior to using it to allow it to reach room temperature
Correct dose volume
The use of appropriately sized syringes is key when administering vaccines or medicinal products to animals.
“There is no point using a 20ml syringe to give a 2ml dose,” was the advice of Sayers. “If you were giving an injection to calves, I tend to use a smaller needle, usually a 21 gauge ½ inch needle.”
Correct sight of administration
Different vaccines, although for the same disease, may have different sights for administration. According to the information in this video, the most common sights are subcutaneous, intramuscular or intranasal.
Correct disposal
Dispose of used needles and syringes into a sharps container.
Complete records for future reference
This is important so you know when to give boosters or annual vaccinations. An excel spreadsheet can be used as well as the various apps available for such activities.
