In bringing in calves or for that matter feeding your own calves there have been many factors which increase risk and
we need to manage or handle these as best as we can. Try and ask your self the question ahead of time. What is the risk level of this group of calves to developing respiratory disease and is there any management changes I need to do to mitigate or minimize this risk. High-risk calves for developing BRD are generally considered those presenting with one or more of these points. 1. They have been co-mingled because auction market derived or mixed at home. Once a group has settled avoid adding in more calves and the quicker a pen is filled from as minimal a number of original owners the better. 2. Extended transport times where calves become stressed and dehydrated. The loading and unloading are more where the stresses come in but if huge distances are transported such as bringing in cattle from a province or more away tips these calves in my opinion to ultra-high risk. The more local we can derive cattle the better but that is not possible very often as where calves are raised and fed can be two totally different areas of the country. Thinking of using electrolytes solutions such as ”destress” before transporting long distances.
Wish List Sale December 7, 2019
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here are many factors one must consider when bringing in calves to feed or raising your own to minimize BRD (bovine respiratory disease) which is still the number one cause of morbidity and often mortality in our feedlots. Knowing the history of the calves regarding weaning time, distance transported, vaccination and health history as well as upcoming weather conditions will help you determine level of risk. Independently each pen or group of calves need to have a risk category ranging from low risk to ultra-high risk in order to determine how they could be handled. The overall goal is to prevent a disease outbreak and high death loss by implementing management changes so you will get top performance from your calves. If we can determine risk level ahead of time that gives us hands up on battling the respiratory and other pathogens we know the calves may be exposed to. The final step is making the economic calculation of preventative cost in terms of vaccines, labor, or metaphylactic antibiotics versus treatment and potentially higher death loss. As with most things in farming this is a gamble and of course there are always unknowns that can blindside us.
Gelbvieh guide • Fall 2019 • Page 15