When should you give new born calves their shots?

The best time to give a newborn calf its shots is almost right after it's born, at the same time you tag and castrate (if it's a bull calf) it. Vitamins A, D and E and Selenium (if your area is Se deficient) are the best vaccines to give a newborn calf to help build its immune system and reduce incidence of white muscle disease (only in areas where Se is deficient.) Your cows should have been vaccinated 6 weeks prior to calving with scours prevention (for new cows and replacement heifers only), IBR (infectious bovine rhinotracheitis), BVD (bovine viral diarrhea) and other reproductive diseases as would be mentioned by your veterinarian. If you've failed to give your pregnant cows these annual vaccinations, then the calves will have to be injected with them.

When calves are 8 to 16 weeks old, calves should be given vaccines to IBR, PI3, BVD, BRSV (bovine respiratory snycytial virus), 8- or 9-way Clostridial, lepto, histophilosis, etc., or vaccinate according to your veterinarian's protocol or herd health program specially made for your herd.