Cattle Vaccination Schedule: Calf, Heifer, Cow and Bull Vaccines by Stage
Author: Elliott Garber, DVM · Updated
A typical cattle vaccination schedule starts calves on clostridial (blackleg) and respiratory virus vaccines at branding or turnout, around 1 to 4 months of age, then boosts both in the few weeks before weaning or at weaning. Replacement heifers and cows get their respiratory and reproductive vaccines at least 4 weeks before the breeding season, cows get a scours vaccine in the weeks before calving so the calf is protected through colostrum, and bulls are vaccinated alongside the cow herd. Your veterinarian sets the actual program: the product labels, your herd’s history, and the diseases common where you live decide the details.
That is the shape of it. Below is the full schedule by stage, laid out as a chart, then what each window is for, how modified-live and killed vaccines change the plan around pregnancy, what brucellosis vaccination involves, and how to handle and record vaccines so boosters actually happen. Every date in this guide is a timing window taken from university extension and veterinary guidelines, never a dose. For the record-keeping half, you can log each vaccination on the animal’s health record in Creatures and add a follow-up date, which turns the next booster into a reminder.
| Core vaccines (AABP) | IBR, BVD, PI3, BRSV, and clostridial diseases, for all beef and dairy cattle |
|---|---|
| First calf vaccines | Branding or turnout, about 1 to 4 months of age; not at birth |
| Calf boosters | 2 to 5 weeks before weaning, or at weaning |
| Preconditioning | Weaned at least 45 days, with both vaccine rounds done, before sale |
| Heifers and cows | Respiratory and reproductive vaccines at least 4 weeks before breeding |
| Scours vaccine | Late pregnancy, a few weeks before calving, per label |
| Pregnant cows | Modified-live vaccines only when the label allows and the cow was primed before breeding |
| Who decides | Your veterinarian; labels and local disease risk set the details |
Cattle vaccination schedule by age and stage
The chart below follows the cow-calf programs published by University of Missouri Extension (2025) and the University of Kentucky Beef Center of Excellence, with the core list and timing notes from the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) vaccination guidelines. It is the common pattern for a spring-calving beef herd, not a prescription. A fall-calving herd shifts every window, and a herd with a history of a particular disease adds to it.
| Newborn calf | Colostrum in the first hours of life; no blackleg vaccine at birth |
|---|---|
| Branding or turnout (about 1 to 4 months) | First clostridial (7-way or 8-way) and, often, first respiratory virus vaccine (IBR, BVD, PI3, BRSV) |
| Preweaning (2 to 5 weeks before weaning) | Respiratory and clostridial boosters, often a Mannheimia haemolytica (shipping fever) vaccine |
| Weaning and preconditioning | Boosters at weaning if not given before; keep calves weaned at least 45 days before sale |
| Heifer calves, 4 to 12 months | Brucellosis (RB51) only where your state requires or allows it, given by an accredited veterinarian |
| Replacement heifers before first breeding | Respiratory vaccine labeled for fetal protection, leptospirosis, and vibriosis if bulls are used, finished at least 4 weeks before breeding |
| Cows before breeding (4 to 6 weeks) | Respiratory booster, leptospirosis, and vibriosis; modified-live only if open and previously primed |
| Cows before calving (a few weeks, per label) | Scours vaccine (E. coli, rotavirus, coronavirus, C. perfringens); two doses the first year |
| Bulls before breeding season | Same respiratory and reproductive vaccines as the cows; breeding soundness exam; trich testing where required |
| Every animal, every year | Annual boosters per label, and a written record of product, lot, date, and animal |
Two things make this chart work in practice. First, the calf vaccines come in pairs: most first doses only prime the immune system, and the booster a few weeks later is what builds lasting protection. Missouri’s guide notes that most clostridial labels call for a booster 2 to 6 weeks after the first dose. Second, the breeding-herd windows hang off your breeding and calving dates, so it pays to know them. If you record breedings, the free cattle gestation calculator projects each cow’s due date, and the pre-calving window counts back from there.
Vaccines work on top of good management
A vaccine primes the immune system against specific diseases; it does not make up for a calf that missed its colostrum, poor nutrition, stress, or a new animal brought in without a plan. The Iowa Beef Center cattle vaccine handbook calls vaccines “at the very best … an aid” to good sanitation, management, and nutrition, and AABP’s guidelines stress low-stress handling around every working. That is why the program belongs to your veterinarian, who knows your herd. Come to that conversation with:
- your herd size and makeup (cows, heifers, calves, bulls)
- your breeding and calving season dates, and whether you use bulls, AI, or both
- any disease problems, abortions, or calf losses you have had
- the products and dates you have been using, straight from your records
- your working calendar: branding, weaning, preg check, and sale dates
Calf vaccination schedule: birth to weaning
The first day: colostrum, not vaccines
A newborn calf’s first protection is its mother’s colostrum. Ohio State University Extension advises that a beef calf should get about 1 quart within six hours of birth and 2 to 3 quarts within 12 hours, because the calf’s ability to absorb those antibodies falls quickly over the first day (Ohio State Beef Team). A calf that missed out starts behind no matter what is injected later, and our bottle-feeding a calf guide covers what to do when a calf cannot nurse. Kentucky’s program is blunt about the other half: “Do not give blackleg vaccine at birth.” A few intranasal or oral products are labeled for very young calves, and whether any belong in your program is a question for your veterinarian.
Branding or turnout
The first real vaccination round usually rides along with the first working, at branding or spring turnout, when calves are about 1 to 4 months old. Kentucky lists a 7-way clostridial vaccine at 1 to 3 months, with a respiratory virus vaccine as an option; the Oklahoma Quality Beef Network defines branding as 2 to 4 months. The Merck Veterinary Manual calls these preweaning calfhood vaccinations the greatest opportunity to start an effective program, and says they should at minimum cover clostridial and viral respiratory diseases.
Why not earlier, and why a booster? Antibodies from colostrum can block a vaccine. The Oklahoma fact sheet notes that killed vaccines given from birth to about 6 months may produce a weaker response because of those colostral antibodies, which is one reason programs repeat the vaccine closer to weaning.
Preweaning and weaning
Weaning is one of the most stressful events in a calf’s life and a peak time for bovine respiratory disease (BRD), so the second round is timed to have immunity in place before it hits. Kentucky’s guidance is to vaccinate 2 to 3 weeks before weaning; Oklahoma’s preweaning window is 2 to 5 weeks. The preweaning round typically repeats the respiratory virus and clostridial vaccines and often adds a Mannheimia haemolytica (pneumonia or shipping fever) vaccine. Kentucky also pairs it with deworming, which our cattle deworming schedule covers.
If calves were never vaccinated before weaning, the fallback is to start at weaning and boost 14 to 28 days later. Extension programs treat that as second best: the calf meets its first vaccine at its most stressed moment. Our guide to weaning calves covers low-stress weaning methods that help the vaccines do their job.
Preconditioning for sale
Preconditioning means selling calves already weaned, vaccinated, and started on feed, so the buyer is not starting from scratch. The Oklahoma Quality Beef Network’s VAC-45 program is a good example of what buyers look for. Its requirements include two rounds of a 5-way respiratory vaccine (IBR, BVD types 1 and 2, PI3, BRSV), two rounds of at least a 7-way clostridial vaccine, one dose of M. haemolytica vaccine, and at least 45 days weaned before sale (60 suggested), along with castration, dehorning, and bunk training. It also recommends consulting a veterinarian when starting a preconditioning protocol. If you plan to sell weaned calves, write the program down as you go. Buyers pay attention to documented vaccination histories, and our guide to pricing livestock covers how records fit into what you ask.
Replacement heifers
Heifers you keep for breeding follow the calf program and then get their own pre-breeding series, because they are about to become the cow herd. Merck says their vaccination program should include the reproductive diseases and look like the mature cow program. Kentucky puts the heifer series at least 6 weeks before breeding and prefers a modified-live respiratory vaccine labeled for fetal protection; Missouri lists two doses of leptospirosis and campylobacter (vibriosis) vaccines 2 to 5 weeks apart, for example at 60 and 30 days before breeding.
The AABP guidelines explain why the timing is so specific. Before a heifer is ever given a modified-live IBR or BVD vaccine while pregnant, she should have been vaccinated while open, 30 to 60 days before breeding, with a modified-live product labeled for fetal protection, and in heifers that pre-breeding shot should be the second fetal-protection dose she has had. The first one goes in when maternal antibodies are unlikely to interfere, which AABP puts at over 4 months of age in most cases. Merck adds that pre-breeding vaccinations should be finished at least 4 weeks before the breeding season starts.
Cows before breeding and before calving
Before breeding
Mature cows get their annual respiratory and reproductive boosters ahead of the breeding season. Kentucky’s window is 4 to 6 weeks before breeding, covering the respiratory viruses and leptospirosis, plus vibriosis in herds that use bulls. Missouri’s program lists the same diseases before breeding, with a leptospirosis booster at pregnancy check because some lepto strains give only short protection. If you breed by AI, our cattle gestation guide has the chart for turning a breeding date into a calving date, which in turn sets the next window.
Before calving: the scours vaccine
Calf scours (diarrhea) caused by E. coli, rotavirus, coronavirus, and Clostridium perfringens can be prevented partly by vaccinating the cow, not the calf. The cow makes antibodies that concentrate in her colostrum, and the calf gets them in its first meal. Merck describes precalving vaccination as protecting the newborn through that colostral transfer. AABP notes these vaccines are given late in pregnancy, with boosters 3 to 7 weeks before calving depending on the label, and Kentucky’s calendar puts the scours vaccine 1 to 3 months before calving as a two-shot series the first year, then once a year. Since this window counts back from the due date, the calving dates from the cattle gestation calculator or your preg-check results are what you plan against. Our calving guide picks up from there with the signs of labor and what to have ready.
Bulls
Bulls are vaccinated with the cow herd for the respiratory and reproductive diseases, before the breeding season. Kentucky also recommends a breeding soundness exam 60 to 75 days before bulls go out. Two differences matter. Merck is clear that bulls should not be vaccinated for brucellosis. And trichomoniasis, a venereal disease that older bulls usually carry for life, is controlled mainly by testing: the vaccine is used in cows and does not appear to be effective in bulls, according to Mississippi State University Extension. Many states require trich testing before a bull is sold or moved, so check with your state veterinarian.
Modified-live versus killed vaccines, and pregnant cows
Most cattle vaccines come in two forms, and the choice matters most in the breeding herd.
- Modified-live (MLV) vaccines contain a weakened live virus. AABP’s guidelines say the consensus is that MLV vaccines are, on average, more effective, and they are usually labeled for a single dose for respiratory disease. The catch is pregnancy: MLV IBR given to cows that are not properly primed can cause abortions and lower conception rates. Missouri’s guide says MLV vaccines should not go to pregnant cows, or to calves nursing pregnant cows, unless those cows received the vaccine within the past 12 months.
- Killed vaccines contain no live organism. AABP describes them as safe from reproductive side effects in pregnant cows. The trade-off is that they need two initial doses, 3 to 6 weeks apart depending on the label, and then yearly boosters, and AABP notes they carry a somewhat higher risk of injection-site reactions.
Kentucky sums up the practical rule: use a modified-live vaccine in a pregnant cow only if she was vaccinated with an MLV product, usually within the last 12 months, and choose a killed vaccine for a pregnant cow otherwise. Missouri extends the same caution to calves nursing pregnant cows. The clostridial vaccines are a separate matter; AABP notes all clostridial vaccines are killed products. Which respiratory product fits your herd depends on pregnancy status and vaccine history, so this is exactly the choice Missouri says should be made with a local veterinarian.
Brucellosis (Bang’s) vaccination
Brucellosis vaccination works differently from everything else on the chart, because it is a regulated program rather than a management choice. According to AABP’s guidelines:
- USDA APHIS considers all 50 states free of brucellosis in cattle, and the federal government does not require the vaccine; each state decides. AABP recommends it in the states around Yellowstone National Park, where the disease persists in wildlife.
- RB51 is the only licensed vaccine. It is licensed for heifers 4 to 12 months old, and states may narrow that window.
- Only a federally accredited veterinarian or a state or federal animal health official can give it. Each vaccinated heifer gets an official USDA vaccination ear tag and a tattoo in the right ear, and the details are sent to state officials.
- Some states require brucellosis vaccinates for entry, and because the heifer already carries official ID, it can help when selling across state lines.
If you sell breeding heifers, their calfhood vaccination status belongs in the sale record. Our guide to livestock health certificates explains the paperwork that goes with moving cattle between states.
Risk-based vaccines: what your vet may add
Beyond the core vaccines, a veterinarian adds risk-based vaccines when a herd’s location, history, or management calls for them. AABP’s risk-based list includes leptospirosis, pinkeye (Moraxella), Clostridium haemolyticum and tetanus, and extension programs such as Kentucky’s and Missouri’s add vibriosis for breeding herds. The ones cattle owners hear about most:
- Leptospirosis (on AABP’s risk-based list) and vibriosis (from the extension programs) for breeding herds, vibriosis especially where bulls are used, as covered above.
- Pinkeye, for herds with a history of it. Fly control matters as much as any vaccine, and our cattle fly control guide covers the options.
- Clostridium haemolyticum (redwater) in areas with liver flukes, which AABP notes is revaccinated about every 6 months, and tetanus where castration or other wounds raise the risk.
- Anaplasmosis is not on AABP’s vaccine list, but in tick country your vet can say whether an anaplasmosis vaccine is available and appropriate in your state.
This is where the “your veterinarian sets the program” line is more than a disclaimer. A protocol that is right in one county can miss the main threat two states over.
Handling vaccines so they work
A vaccine that was stored warm, frozen, or left in the sun can fail without any sign on the bottle. AABP’s guidelines give the working rules:
- Store most cattle vaccines refrigerated at 35 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit (2 to 7 degrees Celsius), in the middle of the fridge rather than the door, and log the temperature. A few products must be kept frozen, so read the label.
- Carry them to the chute in an insulated cooler with ice packs, with a layer of insulation between the packs and the bottles so they do not freeze.
- Keep vaccines out of direct sunlight, never shake them to mix, and reconstitute a modified-live product only when you are ready to use it, following the label on how quickly it must be used.
- Use a new sterile needle to enter a vial, never put a used needle back in the bottle, and change needles often, ideally between animals.
Where the shot goes matters too. The Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) national manual says all injections go in front of the shoulder, never in the rump or back leg, and prefers the subcutaneous route whenever the label allows it, to protect the carcass. AABP adds that crews should watch cattle for at least 30 minutes after vaccinating for signs of an allergic reaction. The route, site, and amount for each product come from its label and your vet. If your handling setup makes this hard, our cattle chute and head gate guide covers equipment that makes vaccinating safer for cattle and people.
Keep your cattle vaccination records on Creatures
A vaccination schedule only works if you know what each animal actually got and when the next dose is due. The Iowa Beef Center handbook says it plainly: “If you depend on memory, you will make too many mistakes” (Beef Cattle Handbook BCH-3015). Here is how to keep that record on Creatures.
- Give each animal a profile. Add your cattle to Creatures with their ear tag and other identifiers. You can start without an account, and a free account keeps the profiles. Our cattle ear tags guide covers choosing and recording an ID system.
- Record a vaccination for the whole group at once. At a working, open the group and add one Vaccination record for every animal that went through the chute, with the vaccine name and date. Leave out any animal that missed it, and the record keeps the exact list of animals treated that day. See applying records to a group. Put the lot or serial number in the details or notes.
- Add the follow-up date. The Vaccination record has a Follow-up Date field. Enter the booster date your vet gave you, and saving the record creates a linked reminder. The health and medical records guide walks through the form.
- Set repeating reminders for the yearly windows. Pre-breeding boosters, the scours vaccine, and preg checks come around every year. A reminder can repeat and notify you a set number of days ahead. See reminders and upcoming care.
- Hand the history over when you sell. A buyer of preconditioned calves or bred heifers wants to see the program. From an animal’s Records tab you can download a packet (when offered) as a PDF, described in the animal records tab, and an ownership transfer moves the profile and its records to the new owner.
For breeds, buying and more guides, see the Creatures cattle page. For the rest of what belongs in a herd record (weights, calvings, treatments, sales), see our cattle record keeping guide, and for other species, the broader livestock record keeping guide. Adding a profile can begin as a guest; records, reminders, and packets are free with a Creatures account. The Add Record sheet opens for any visitor, but saving a record needs a free account.
Cattle vaccination FAQ
What vaccines do cattle need every year?
The AABP’s core list for all beef and dairy cattle is the respiratory viruses (IBR, BVD, PI3, BRSV) and the clostridial diseases, and most labels call for yearly boosters. Breeding herds usually add leptospirosis and, where bulls are used, vibriosis before breeding, and many add a scours vaccine before calving. Your veterinarian decides which risk-based vaccines your herd needs.
When should calves be vaccinated?
Usually at branding or turnout, around 1 to 4 months of age (Kentucky says 1 to 3 months, Oklahoma defines branding as 2 to 4), with a booster 2 to 5 weeks before weaning or at weaning. Calves should get colostrum in their first hours, but not a blackleg vaccine at birth.
What is the difference between a 7-way and a 5-way vaccine?
They protect against different things. A 7-way or 8-way is a clostridial vaccine covering several Clostridium species, including blackleg. A 5-way respiratory vaccine covers IBR, BVD types 1 and 2, PI3, and BRSV. Leptospirosis vaccines are also sold as 5-way products, so read the label to know which one you have. Most programs use a clostridial and a respiratory vaccine together.
Can I vaccinate pregnant cows?
Yes, with the right product. Killed vaccines are considered safe from reproductive side effects during pregnancy. A modified-live IBR or BVD vaccine is only appropriate in a pregnant cow when the label allows it and she was vaccinated with a fetal-protection product before breeding, generally within the past 12 months. Check the label and ask your vet first.
Can I give my own cattle vaccines?
Most cattle vaccines can be given by the owner, following the label and BQA guidelines. Brucellosis vaccine is the clear exception: only an accredited veterinarian or animal health official can give it. Your vet can train you on technique and should help choose the products either way.
Is the schedule the same for goats?
The idea is similar, but the diseases and core vaccines differ. See our goat CDT vaccine guide for the goat schedule.
Do this next on Creatures
Whether you are planning the next working, getting ready for calving, or buying and selling stock, Creatures keeps the records, the reminders, and the search in one place.
Log this year’s vaccinations. Add a vaccination record for an animal or a whole group, with the booster date as the follow-up so it becomes a reminder. The record sheet opens for any visitor, and a free account saves what you enter. See adding a record and reminders and upcoming care.
Add your cattle. Create a free profile for each animal with its tag and identifiers, no account needed to start. The walkthrough is in adding an animal to Creatures.
Plan the pre-calving window. Work out due dates with the free cattle gestation calculator, then count back to the scours vaccine window your vet recommends.
Buying cattle? Browse cattle on the marketplace, ask each seller for the vaccination history, and use our cattle buying checklist before you commit.
Get alerted. Set a free cattle listing alert and we will email you when a new one is posted. No account needed to start. See saving searches and using your watchlist.
Run a ranch or farm? Add your operation, no account needed to start, then read getting listed in the breeder directory so buyers can find you. Search trusted farms and ranches in the Creatures breeder directory, and find more on cattle on the Creatures cattle page.
This guide summarizes published university extension and veterinary guidelines for general information. It is not a substitute for your veterinarian, who sets your herd’s vaccination program based on your cattle, the product labels, local disease risk, and your state’s rules.
