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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2015

C. F. Murray ,
L. J. Fick ,
E. A. Pajor ,
H. W. Barkema ,
M. D. Jelinski  and
M. C. Windeyer
C. F. Murray
Affiliation:
Department of Production Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, T2N 4N1 Alberta, Canada
L. J. Fick
Affiliation:
Department of Production Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, T2N 4N1 Alberta, Canada
E. A. Pajor
Affiliation:
Department of Production Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, T2N 4N1 Alberta, Canada
H. W. Barkema
Affiliation:
Department of Production Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, T2N 4N1 Alberta, Canada
M. D. Jelinski
Affiliation:
Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, 52 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, S7N 5B4 Saskatchewan, Canada
M. C. Windeyer*
Affiliation:
Department of Production Animal Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, T2N 4N1 Alberta, Canada
*
†E-mail: c.windeyer@ucalgary.ca
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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 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.

Keywords

beef cattlecalvingcolostrummorbiditymortality
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 10 , Supplement 3 , March 2016 , pp. 468 - 477
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2015 

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