October 2026 – Buying Cattle? Protect Your Herd from Day One

Ideally, you have bought animals that are healthy, fully vaccinated, weaned and eating meal. Even in this case these animals still should be quarantined and monitored for any signs of disease. If you don’t know the animal’s history, you cannot assume treatments or health status.

What should you look for when considering buying animals?

• Clear eyes and nose
• Fully vaccinated
• Fully weaned
• Alertness
• Signs of lameness

There are a number of vaccines on the market, speak to your veterinarian as to which would be most useful for any animals coming onto the farm. Many respiratory (pneumonia) vaccines need two doses as a primary course before they are fully effective. Ideally the course of vaccines should be completed a few weeks before sale or moving them onto your farm to be fully protective during those stressful events.

New animals should be quarantined from the rest of your herd. This can be as simple as a separate field or pen, where they don’t have nose-to-nose contact with your herd. Watch them closely for at least a week for scouring, snotty noses, runny eyes or coughing. Check temperatures at the first sign of illness. It’s better to involve your veterinarian as soon as possible as pneumonia can spread rapidly through the group. Further separate any sick animals immediately to stop the spread of disease.

These animals have had a stressful few days going from farm to mart to farm; let them settle. A stressed animal has a drop in immunity leaving them wide open to diseases and causes a drop in performance. Limit the stress as much as possible, give them plenty of access to fresh water, build up meal slowly along with good hay or silage. Keep them in a clean, well-ventilated shed. If you need to complete jobs such as castrations or vaccinating, space the procedures out to give them time to recover.