Calf management practices and associations with herd-level morbidity and mortality on beef cow-calf operations.
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 1st 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.
1Department of Production Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,University of Calgary,3330 Hospital Drive NW,Calgary,T2N 4N1 Alberta,Canada.
C F
CF
Murray
1Department of Production Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,University of Calgary,3330 Hospital Drive NW,Calgary,T2N 4N1 Alberta,Canada.
L J
LJ
Fick
1Department of Production Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,University of Calgary,3330 Hospital Drive NW,Calgary,T2N 4N1 Alberta,Canada.
E A
EA
Pajor
1Department of Production Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,University of Calgary,3330 Hospital Drive NW,Calgary,T2N 4N1 Alberta,Canada.
H W
HW
Barkema
2Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences,Western College of Veterinary Medicine,University of Saskatchewan,52 Campus Drive,Saskatoon,S7N 5B4 Saskatchewan,Canada.
M D
MD
Jelinski
1Department of Production Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine,University of Calgary,3330 Hospital Drive NW,Calgary,T2N 4N1 Alberta,Canada.
M C
MC
Windeyer
D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003126:Colostrum; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009919:Orchiectomy; D011247:Pregnancy; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014886:Weaning
beef cattle; calving; colostrum; morbidity; mortality