With high feeder cattle prices, it may be tempting to look for cheaper sources of calves.
Often, these cattle that are below the market come with unknown vaccination records, genetics, and nutritional status warned Curtis Wertman, livestock specialist.
The market has already factored in the increased costs of high-morbidity and high-mortality of high-risk cattle.
The term “high risk” applies to cattle that are lighter weight, freshly weaned, not bunk broke, have unknown vaccination status, and often have been transported long distances.
Many times, these cattle are put together from multiple sale barns and commingled together to create larger groups.
With the average herd size in the U.S. being about 44 head, commingling is inevitable. These cattle are a gamble. Health problems are inevitable, but the impact can be reduced.
When purchasing cattle, you should work with the source operation to get as much information on the calves as you can. Look to buy calves with a known health and nutrition history.
A good-quality vaccination program at the ranch can prevent a lot of future headaches at the feedlot. Immunizing cattle before arrival at the feedlot is critical.
Stress can have adverse effects on cattle. These include weaning, transportation events, social isolation or mixing, feed deprivation, restraint, and thermal.
Stressors can impact high-risk cattle and alter biological functions, increasing health risks. The results from individual stressors may be compounded by the presence of one or more stressors.
A lot of times when receiving high-risk cattle, multiple stressors are present at the same time. It is important to mitigate these stressors and not add to the situation. When receiving high-risk cattle, it is important to establish a program.
Work with your nutritionist to have a separate receiving ration for incoming cattle. Cattle that have significant shrink have gone long periods of time without access to food and water.
For their immune system to function, they need to eat and drink. Provide greater bunk space early on to allow all calves to access feed.
Provide access to fresh water. Water should never be overlooked. Cattle need to be able to find water and access it with ease.
Provide plenty of space early on. Cattle are often dehydrated after being shipped and need water for basic functions. If cattle do not drink, they do not eat.
Practice low-stress handling. Weaning, transportation, and commingling are all stressors already occurring and suppressing the immune system. Train your employees on low-stress handling techniques.
Work to develop a receiving protocol. Decide what vaccines and antibiotics to give and when to give them. Try to get a health history on the cattle, but assume they are naïve and have not received any vaccinations.
Immune stimulants have grown in popularity, and research has shown incorporating an immunostimulant into a receiving protocol can reduce morbidity and mortality.
Try to limit commingling time by filling the pen as quickly as possible. Continually adding fresh cattle to the pen increases the time cattle are under stress due to social mixing and will have negative compounding effects.
Monitor cattle closely. Well-trained pen riders that can catch sick cattle earlier can greatly improve mortality outcomes.
Perform necropsies and use diagnostics on any calves that do die to figure out what disease you are dealing with. Sensitivity tests can be performed to ensure the correct antibiotic is used.
Get employee buy-in. The best-designed receiving protocol is useless without implementation.
High-risk cattle have the potential for high returns if you can minimize stress and keep the cost of gain low. Stress induces many of the issues.
While we cannot eliminate all of the stress cattle go through, working with your buyer to minimize stress before cattle arrive and reducing stress at the feedlot will help reduce morbidity and mortality.
Having a good vaccination protocol in place will help keep the high-risk cattle in your operation healthy and have a positive impact on your bottom line.
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