The damage caused by improperly injecting cattle costs the Canadian industry an estimated $9 per slaughtered head, or $19 million annually.
Fred Taylor with the Canadian Beef Grading Agency in Alberta sees the damage first hand as it passes him on the floors of the packing plants where he works.
“Stop damaging the meat with needles,” he said. “It is just a waste of money by the producer. Farmers are always saying they need more money for their animals. They’re right, and this a good place to start getting more.”
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John Campbell of the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine agrees.
“Despite the fact producers should have heard it from extension people and the cattle industry, there are still some producers that are injecting in the hip. It needs to be in the neck,” said the instructor and cattle herd health researcher.
A lot of the newer vaccines and medications are being designed to be used sub-Q, as a subcutaneous injections under the skin rather than deeper into the muscle.
“There are still some we can’t do that way, but the industry is striving to make as many as possible work sub-Q,” he said.”We still give IM (intramuscular) penicillin and a few other antibiotics that way, but vaccines are becoming rare.”
He recommends that the smallest possible needle be used for each application and to limit the total material injected to under 10 cc per site.
“Eighteen gauge, 1/2 inch or 3/4 at most for sub-Q. If the vaccine flows freely, then that is good choice. Most will. … Needles need to be longer for IM,” he said.
Taylor said he has seen broken needles in carcasses, but rarely.
“Overusing a needle or straightening a bent one is out of the question. That is where broken needles happen. It is such a small cost and it just isn’t worth it for an individual cattle producer or the industry as a whole,” said Taylor.
Changing a needle every 10 animals doesn’t seem like a big investment in cost or time considering the ramifications if one breaks off, he said.
Campbell recommends that producers use sterile practices.
“If you are breaking the skin, you run the risk of infection. So you need to think about what is in and around the site whenever you inject an animal,” he said.
Joyce Van Donkersgoed is a livestock veterinarian and consultant from Alberta. Her instructions on how to inject include:
“The location is the neck. Nowhere else. Even on the new calf crop this spring. One hands width in front of the shoulder. Blackleg vaccines, clostridials of all types, do it sub-Q, tented.
“Lift up the skin with your fingers and insert the needle between the two folds. Keep the needle in the tent, not out the other side and on your boot. Remember, this stuff costs money.”
