Best management practices for weaned calves for improved health and well-being

Abstract Text: Morbidity and mortality from Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD) in newly weaned calves continues to be the most significant health problem facing the beef cattle industry. BRD accounts for over 50% of all cattle treated for sickness, and several studies have documented the economic impacts of BRD on profit outcomes of calves. Direct costs attributable to BRD include death loss, treatment and labor costs, and prevention costs. BRD has been shown to impact growth performance and feed efficiency, days on feed, carcass merit and market value, and can decrease the returns of individual cattle from $50 to $250. Best management practices for weaned calves vary depending on factors such as season of year calves are purchased, calf genetics, length of time in the marketing/transport process, previous management/vaccination, among other factors. Calves purchased directly from a ranch have fewer health problems. In general, the longer an animal is in the marketing chain, the more health problems will be encountered. Calves that have spent several days in the marketing channel may develop clinical BRD before or very soon after arrival at the feedlot; whereas, cattle with less time in the marketing chain may get sick later (2 to 4 weeks), due to the length of time it takes for BRD to develop. On or before arrival, calves should be given a risk score (High, Medium, Low) that relates to the quantity of stress they have encountered and the probability they will develop BRD. High-risk calves normally will have been recently weaned, have received no vaccinations, have not been castrated or dehorned, have been commingled and have moved through at least one auction market. Low-risk calves will come from a single source and will have gone through a value added/preconditioning program that includes vaccination, castration, dehorning, weaning, and adaptation to a feed bunk. Variation exists within risk category, and groups of calves from auction markets can have few health problems, while some groups of preconditioned calves have high incidence of BRD. Cattle managers must be willing and able to make changes in management in order to meet the needs of the individual loads of cattle. To improve health and well-being, the beef cattle industry should move towards lowering the risk of receiving calves. This presentation will review the best management practices for weaned calves based on risk category for improved health and well-being.

Keywords: bovine respiratory disease, health and well-being, weaned calves