Calf management practices and associations with herd-level morbidity and mortality on beef cow-calf operations

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate calf management practices on beef cow-calf operations and determine associations with herd-level morbidity and mortality of pre-weaned calves. A 40-question survey about management practices, morbidity and mortality was administered to cow-calf producers by distributing paper surveys and by circulating an online link through various media. A total of 267 producers completed the survey. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and multivariable linear regression models. Average herd-level treatment risk for pre-weaning calf diarrhea (PCD) and bovine respiratory disease (BRD) were 4.9% and 3.0%, respectively. Average herd-level mortality within the first 24 h of life (stillbirth), from 1 to 7 days and 7 days to weaning were 2.3%, 1.1%, and 1.4%, respectively. Operations that never intervened at parturition had 4.7% higher PCD than those that occasionally did. On operations using small elastrator bands for castration, PCD was 1.9% higher than those using other methods. For every increase of 100 cows in herd size, BRD decreased by 1.1%. The association between BRD and PCD varied by when calving season began. Operations that used off-farm, frozen colostrum had a 1.1% increase in stillbirths. Operations that verified a calf had suckled had 0.7% lower mortality from 1 to 7 days of age. Those that intervened when colostrum was abnormal or that used small elastrator bands for castration had 1.9% and 1.4% higher mortality during the 1 st week of life, respectively, compared with other operations. Mortality from 7 days to weaning was lower by 0.7% when calving season started in April compared with January or February and was higher by 1.0% for each additional week of calving season. Operations that intervened with colostrum consumption for assisted calvings had lower mortality from 7 days to weaning by 0.8% compared with those that did not. For every 1.0% increase in BRD, mortality from 7 days to weaning increased by 1.0%. Stillbirths and mortality from 7 days to weaning decreased non-linearly with herd size. Factors related to calving season, herd size, interventions at calving, colostrum management and castration impacted herd-level morbidity and mortality. However, effect size was generally small and causation cannot be determined with a cross-sectional study design. This study identifies several common health management practices associated with calfhood morbidity and mortality that should be further investigated to establish evidence-based management strategies to improve the health and survival of beef calves.

A 13-Year Retrospective Study of the Beef and Dairy Cattle Losses at Neudamm Farm in the Khomas Region of Namibia

“…The average annual loss of immature animals of 2.98% is within the range of 1.4-9.5% reported in beef calves by elsewhere (Bunter et al, 2013 andMurray et al, 2016). It has been reported that a large proportion of beef calf mortalities occur within the first week of birth (Bunter et al, 2013 andMurray et al, 2016).…”

“…Other studies have reported the method of castration, management of colostrum, sex of calf, calf birth weight, calving season, weather conditions at calving, intervention during calving, herd size and the rate of occurrence of respiratory diseases as risk factors for beef calf mortality (Elghafghuf et al, 2014 andMurray et al, 2016). The average annual loss of immature animals of 2.98% is within the range of 1.4-9.5% reported in beef calves by elsewhere (Bunter et al, 2013 andMurray et al, 2016).…”

“…Calf losses in extensively managed cow-calf operations (including Brahman calves) have been reported to vary between 1.4-9.5% (Bunter et al, 2013 andElghafghuf et al, 2014). A greater proportion of beef calf mortalities occur within the first week of birth (Bunter et al, 2013 andMurray et al, 2016). Some authors have reported the highest mortalities in calves less than 3 months of age (Mõtus et al, 2017).…”

Repeated low doses of dexamethasone as a pretreatment for induction of parturition in Simmental cows

“…Dystocia is a common problem that causes high economic loss on cattle farms [1,2]. Cows experiencing dystocia are at a higher risk for reproductive problems, calf loss, high cow morbidity, and mortality/culling, as well as low subsequent fertility [3].…”

The Milk Yield of Ukrainian Holstein Is Related to the Immunobiological Parameters of Blood of Calves

“…An increase in the number of farm animals is associated with the complexities of management and veterinary care, and the deterioration of their health (Barkema et al 2015;Murray et al 2015;Wolf et al 2016;Song et al 2018). Obviously for this reason, as well as due to over-intensive exploitation, their morbidity and decrease in the productive longevity of dairy cows is occur (Curone et al 2018;Benvenuti et al 2018).…”