Bovine Respiratory Disease or BRD is one of the top challenges cattle producers face. Producers can have a good herd health program to help prevent BRD, but there will likely be some animals that get the disease. Bayer Animal Health Senior Technical Services Veterinarian Dr. Larry Hawkins said producers have access to several antibiotics to take on this economically costly problem.
“We have more antibiotics today, then we have had any time in my practice career and we still continue to have a problem with treatment success on some of those animals,” Hawkins said. “That can be due to the immune system of an animal.”
Research conducted by the University of Nebraska at their research feedlot at Mead indicated that animals that don’t get enough colostrum at birth will be three times as likely to be treated in the feed yard. Even though these calves are approaching a year of age, Hawkins said their first few hours of life has a long term impact on their immune system. Further, colostrum is determined by the cow’s plain of nutrition and with the recent drought that has impacted forage quality. He said that can result in animals that have immune systems that aren’t up to par.
Even though calves are treated for BRD, the residual impact of the disease lingers. Research has found BRD can damage lung tissue and that tissue cannot recover over time. Hawkins said calves can lose lung capacity to consolidation from respiratory disease and that consolidated lung won’t exchange oxygen. As the animal grows and has more demand for oxygen, he said these calves won’t be able to pant to cool themselves. It’s on those hot days, he said they can see some of the consequences of BRD in cattle that were treated several months prior.
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