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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #140621
Title: PRODUCTION AND FINANCIAL LOSSES ASSOCIATED WITH PRE-WEANING DISEASE IN BEEF CATTLE

Author
item DEWELL, GRANT - COLORADO STATE UNIV
item Keen, James
item DEWELL, RENEE - COLORADO STATE UNIV
item Laegreid, William
item HUNGERFORD, LAURA - UNIV OF MARYLAND

Submitted to: Research Workers in Animal Diseases Conference Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/24/2002
Publication Date: 11/10/2002
Citation: 83rd Research Workers in Animal Diseases Conference. 2002. Abstract No. 31.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Year 2000 production and herd health records of 1470 crossbred beef calves at the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center were examined to determine the long-term effects of calf-hood morbidity. Disease incidence was low in this herd with four cases of neonatal diarrhea (0.3%), five septicemias (0.3%), eight umbilical infections (0.5%), nine cases of pinkeye (0.3%), 21 cases of foot-rot (1.4%), and 83 cases of pneumonia (5.6%). Only pneumonia had sufficient sample size for further analyses. Among medium weaning weight calves, 44 occurrences of pneumonia resulted in an average loss of 20.7 pounds (p=0.02) per calf at weaning. There were 36 cases of pneumonia among heavy weaning weight calves, representing an average loss of 24.3 pounds (p=0.02) per affected calf at weaning. The average treatment cost for all calves with pneumonia was $6.02. The overall cost of pre-weaning pneumonia was calculated using average calf price ($0.83/lb), morbidity rate, average treatment cost, case fatality rate (6.0%), and weight loss for medium calves. Losses, in addition to treatment, were $17.17 (weight loss) and $27.27 (death loss) for a total cost of $50.46, not including labor. More importantly, this equated to a $2.83 per calf cost for pneumonia, which can be used to determine the value of a preventive health program.