Structured Management Key to Improved Feedlot Health, Vet Says
Challenges to feedlot cattle health remain much as they have been for the last few decades. The reasons cattle get sick haven't changed much, says veterinarian Jason Osterstock, of Texas AgriLife Research, an agency of the Texas A&M University system.
“Feedlot cattle are like a bunch of kindergartners sharing infections with one another,”Osterstock says. “There have been no great scientific breakthroughs to change that.”
And while the manager's toolbox is better equipped than 30 years ago, Osterstock believes the key to improved feedlot health is a comprehensive approach to management. That has to start with early detection of disease and timely, appropriate response.
According to Ostetstock, 70% of illnesses and 40% of deaths occur among cattle on feed for less than 45 days. But more deaths (60%) occur among cattle on feed for more than 45 days. Most of these are due to digestive disorders, which are hard to treat. And as might be expected, morbidity and mortality rates are higher among cattle entering the feedlot as calves, compared to yearlings.
Digestive problems, lameness and neurological conditions are common challenges, but 75% of all illnesses and 45% of all deaths are attributed to respiratory disease. Osterstock says the foundation of structured feedlot health management is early detection and proper treatment of respiratory disease and other maladies. He emphasizes the importance of savvy pen riders.
Osterstock advises feedlot managers to instruct pen riders to apply a systematic procedure to checking pens. He advocates riding a zigzag pattern that covers the entire pen, so every animal must move in response to the pen rider's presence.
“This also allows the rider to see and evaluate all of the cattle, but also feedbunks, water tanks, the pen surface — everything,”Osterstock states.
However, the evaluation of cattle should start before entering the pen, to observe cattle standing apart from the others, and their attitude. That might be when some problems are most obvious. An animal may show different behavior that masks symptoms when the rider is in the pen.
“And each animal should be evaluated against the ‘gold standard' — not just relative to others in the same pen,”Osterstock warns.
He also emphasizes how hospital duty requires a different approach than that of a processing crew. Treatment should not be a high-throughput activity. Osterstock advises managers to track and measure pull-and-treat success to evaluate the feedlot's operating procedures.