Source: National Farm Animal Care Council, Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Beef Cattle Section 3.3.1
Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is a leading cause of sickness and mortality in the beef feedlot industry (3). Feedlot operators take a variety of management steps, including daily monitoring, to minimize the risk of BRD.
Some risk factors for bovine respiratory diseases are:
- non-vaccinated cattle
- recent weaning
- transportation and handling
- sudden or extreme changes in weather
- commingling of cattle from various sources.
Early detection and prompt treatment decrease chronicity and mortality due to BRD and other diseases (3).
REQUIREMENTSMonitor the behaviour of newly-arrived feedlot cattle to facilitate the early detection of illness. Have a disease prevention strategy for new arrivals into a feedlot. |
RECOMMENDED PRACTICES
- categorize newly-arrived cattle according to risk for BRD and other illness and apply appropriate receiving protocols (3)
- whenever possible, buy calves of known source, vaccination history, and health status (3).
