06/12/2024
💥 Proper location for IM Injection Sites in Beef Cattle 🐄
Only inject beef animals in the recommended safe zone on the neck, never in the rump or loin. This ensures that, if an animal has a reaction to the product and develops a lesion, it can easily be trimmed away from the less valuable chuck, rather than damaging the more valuable round cuts.
📌Injecting outside of the safe zone in the neck can potentially cause injury and even death to the animal being treated. The nuchal ligament is responsible for supporting the head of a beef animal, and if it is damaged via an injection that animal can suffer severe and permanent paralysis. The same result can occur if the spinal cord is inadvertently hit. The jugular furrow contains the jugular vein and carotid artery. If medications are mistakenly injected directly into the blood stream, animals may suffer severe drug reactions.
📌A hand-width of space between medication injections will ensure the tissue can adequately recover from the injection and prevent medications from comingling. If medications mix within the animal, they can interact and cause drug reactions, or even inactivate each other, rendering them useless.
Best Needle Size for IM Injection in Beef Cattle
Choose the appropriate needle size to ensure the product can be delivered while causing the minimum disruption to the tissue. Always choose the smallest gauge needle that can still effectively deliver the type of medication needed. Disposable needles with an aluminum hub, rather than plastic, are preferred.
📃 Volume Recommendations for Cattle Injections 💉
The recommended maximum volume per injection site is 10 ml (cc) per site. Increasing the volume of medication injected into one location will impede a beef animal’s ability to absorb and excrete the medication.
An increased volume can lead to a pocket of unabsorbed medication being left in the tissue. This decreases the efficacy of the treatment and could also be detected as drug residue in the carcass of a beef animal.
A lower volume injection also ensures that the tissue can effectively recover from the irritation of the medication, decreasing the chances of the animal developing an injection site lesion.
📃 Good Hygiene Methods for Cattle Injections
1️⃣Keep equipment clean and in good working order to prevent unnecessary tissue trauma and the possibility of localized abscesses.
2️⃣Never inject through a dirty hide, which will only drag bacteria and debris into the tissue and create a perfect environment for abscesses.
Burred, bent and dull needles will also increase the likelihood of damage and abscessing. This can be prevented by using a quality disposable needle that can be changed anytime damage is evident, every 10-15 injections and every time you enter a multidose vial.
💥 How to Inject a Beef Animal
📌Securely restrain the animal.
📌Use the appropriate size and length of needle.
📌Use the subcutaneous route whenever the product label allows.
📌Only inject 10 ml (cc) maximum into any one site, or as per label.
📌Change needles when bent or dull and after every 10-15 uses.
Never straighten or reuse a bent needle.
📌Leave a hand-width of space between injections.
📌Never inject in the armpit of the animal (i.e. branding, spring processing).
📃 Reference: BCRC
🩺SHared For educational purpose only!
