Apr 3, 2007

Equine Vaccinations

I am not a person who is big on vaccines.  I know that they have done much good, but I think they may be getting a little out of hand.  They have vaccines for chicken pox, now required to be able to go to school, and I read about a vaccine for diarhea for children.  I know these may be good in some instances, but I chose not to immunize any more than the minimum required. 


When it comes to animals, I'm not sure which is the best policy.  As a child, we never immunized our dogs, cats, cows, anything.  Now, in order to bring your critters out in public, you have to have proof of immunizations.  We immunize every spring.  The horses get the four-way and the West Nile Virus.  Talking to a horse trainer and she said she won't give her horses the West Nile shot.  I don't know much about this, but I figured there must be a natural alternative, or at least another side to the equine immunization thing.  Vets encourage you to immunize against everything.  I guess I'm looking for some information along the lines of why not to immunize.  Is there something else you can do to help your animals stay healthy?  We bring in critters from other farms during the year and when you do that, you don't always know what you might be bringing in.  And what about worming?  We worm four times a year, but my mom says it makes her cringe, and that she thinks it's not a good policy to always worm your animals.


I suppose  I could buy a book.  I know that there are books about natural animal care.  I'd like to hear from someone who actually does it.


Thanks,


From Glory Farm

2 comments:

homesteadinthemaking said...

This is very interesting. We too, worm our horses every 3 months and vaccinate. I don't vaccinate my dogs anymore because I just don't ever take them to town to do it but I do worm often. I would like to know what you find out on this topic.

Blessings,

Trixi

mulberrylane said...

Well, we worm only if we see signs of parasites. Dh had training on recognizing the signs of internal parasites. That said we worm our sheep maybe twice a year... usually after birth and again mid summer or end of summer. Rotating the sheep through paddocks really helps keep the worms down. As for our horses, we give the West Nile shot, but that's it. We had a horse die from West Nile just 1 mile from our house, so we know it is in our area... scary! We worm them only as needed... which has probably been once a year. Same with dogs and cats... worm if we see a worm or they are getting skinny. We do give rabies shots, but not the regular immunizations as we, too, never ask the animals to leave the farm. With our sheep, we've not had problems with health papers not doing the regular immunizations... and we've shipped our sheep to Washington state, Maryland, Ohio, etc. Katahdins are more resistant to parasites and a regular program of vaccinations and worming has not been needed. Not sure I helped.

Warmly, ~Melissa

Apr 3, 2007

Equine Vaccinations

I am not a person who is big on vaccines.  I know that they have done much good, but I think they may be getting a little out of hand.  They have vaccines for chicken pox, now required to be able to go to school, and I read about a vaccine for diarhea for children.  I know these may be good in some instances, but I chose not to immunize any more than the minimum required. 


When it comes to animals, I'm not sure which is the best policy.  As a child, we never immunized our dogs, cats, cows, anything.  Now, in order to bring your critters out in public, you have to have proof of immunizations.  We immunize every spring.  The horses get the four-way and the West Nile Virus.  Talking to a horse trainer and she said she won't give her horses the West Nile shot.  I don't know much about this, but I figured there must be a natural alternative, or at least another side to the equine immunization thing.  Vets encourage you to immunize against everything.  I guess I'm looking for some information along the lines of why not to immunize.  Is there something else you can do to help your animals stay healthy?  We bring in critters from other farms during the year and when you do that, you don't always know what you might be bringing in.  And what about worming?  We worm four times a year, but my mom says it makes her cringe, and that she thinks it's not a good policy to always worm your animals.


I suppose  I could buy a book.  I know that there are books about natural animal care.  I'd like to hear from someone who actually does it.


Thanks,


From Glory Farm

2 comments:

homesteadinthemaking said...

This is very interesting. We too, worm our horses every 3 months and vaccinate. I don't vaccinate my dogs anymore because I just don't ever take them to town to do it but I do worm often. I would like to know what you find out on this topic.

Blessings,

Trixi

mulberrylane said...

Well, we worm only if we see signs of parasites. Dh had training on recognizing the signs of internal parasites. That said we worm our sheep maybe twice a year... usually after birth and again mid summer or end of summer. Rotating the sheep through paddocks really helps keep the worms down. As for our horses, we give the West Nile shot, but that's it. We had a horse die from West Nile just 1 mile from our house, so we know it is in our area... scary! We worm them only as needed... which has probably been once a year. Same with dogs and cats... worm if we see a worm or they are getting skinny. We do give rabies shots, but not the regular immunizations as we, too, never ask the animals to leave the farm. With our sheep, we've not had problems with health papers not doing the regular immunizations... and we've shipped our sheep to Washington state, Maryland, Ohio, etc. Katahdins are more resistant to parasites and a regular program of vaccinations and worming has not been needed. Not sure I helped.

Warmly, ~Melissa