Gerald L. Stokka

Lameness in Feedlot Cattle

This article examines the various causes of lameness in feedlot cattle, with an emphasis on clinical signs, treatment, and prevention. Specific conditions are discussed, including interdigital necrobacillosis, laminitis, feedlot injuries, and feedlot lameness associated with Mycoplasma bovis. Immune management of the foot is also reviewed.

Feedlot Health and Management

Health programs based solely on vaccination and treatment regimens are often short-lived and unrewarding. The basis of any successful ongoing health program is a working health management system. The key to the success of the system is a functioning record system that generates information meaningful to management. The basic information generated should include morbidity and mortality data categorized by cause, the number of repeat treatments, and the number of chronic animals or railers. Goals should be set for each major category so that a database can be established for a feedlot operation to assess problems and progress. The most common reason for expectations not being achieved is factors that are largely beyond the control of the feed yard. Although attempts to address these factors should be periodically reviewed, attention to the health program and potential modifications are among the factors that we can control and modify as appropriate. BRD is the most important economic disease in the feedlot. Prearrival management is extremely important in assessing the risk category of incoming calves and in applying a preventive health strategy. Good husbandry, proper nutrition, proper pen maintenance, and selective immunization help to ensure that the cattle adapt quickly to the feed yard environment. Careful observation, timely effective therapy, and excellent hospital management increase the opportunity to produce cost-competitive, safe, and wholesome beef in a humane fashion with limited effects of the environment.

Prevention of Respiratory Disease in Cow/Calf Operations

Respiratory disease in nursing calves is a common, yet sporadic herd event. In herds that experience respiratory disease, this can be a frustrating experience. Beef cow operations have an expectation of losses during the calving season. Losses because of respiratory disease in calves, that are at least 1 month up to weaning age, is not a normal expectation. Veterinarians providing services and advice to these operations must be able to present scientific and logical recommendations to manage these events. A strong working knowledge of the risk factors contributing to clinical disease is necessary to developing prevention strategies.

Influence of implanting grazing steers with Ralgro® or Synovex-S® followed by Synovex® Plus™ or a Ralgro®/Synovex® Plus™ reimplant program in the feedlot on pasture/finishing performance and carcass merit

In an 84-day pasture/132-day finishing study using 480 crossbred steers (675 lb), Ralgro® increased (P<.05) pasture gains 9.3% compared to nonimplanted controls. Gains of Synovex-S®-implanted steers were intermediate. Pasture treatments were split into two finishing-phase implant treatments: Synovex® PlusTM or initial Ralgro with a Synovex Plus reimplant on day 56. No interactions occurred between pasture and finishing implants with respect to finishing performance or carcass traits. Steers on the Synovex Plus treatment gained 11.7% faster and 7.9% more efficiently (P<.01) during the first 56 days of the finishing phase than the Ralgro-implanted steers. However , when those steers were reimplanted with Synovex Plus, they gained 22.2% faster and 21.1% more efficiently (P<.01) during the last 76 days. Over the entire 132-day finishing phase, the feedlot reimplant program improved rate (4.0%; P<.06) and efficiency (7.5%; P<.01) of gain compared to Synovex Plus alone. Overall , gains and intakes during the finishing phase were similar for all pasture implant treatments. However, control pasture steers were 4.5% more efficient (P<.08) than Ralgro and Synovex steers during the finishing phase. Neither pasture or finishing implant treatment influenced carcass traits. This study indicates that implanting during grazing may reduce feed efficiency during the finishing phase, especially when a feedlot reimplant program is not used. However, this finding disagrees with several previous research studies where pasture implantation had no effect on feedlot performance.

Effects of vaccinating beef dams precalving and calves preweaning with a Pasteurella haemolytica vaccine

Our objective was to determine if vaccinating dams precalving and calves preweaning for Pasteurella haemolytica could effect serum antibody titers in dams, and the preand post-weaning health and performance of their calves. Vaccination increased serum antibody titers in multiparous cows, but not first-calf heifers. Precalving vaccination had minimal effects on mortality and morbidity of calves before or after weaning. Subsequent steer feedlot gains were unaffected by precalving and preweaning vaccinations and carcasses were not affected. However, heifers’ weight gains were greater from weaning to one year of age when reared by vaccinated dams.

Economic impact of preweaning vaccinations on health and performance of weaned feeder cattle

In October, 1995, 3,565 head of freshly weaned, British-breed calves were received into a weaning facility in southwest Nebraska. Calves were determined to be preconditioned if they had received both viral an d Pasteurella vaccines prior to weaning (PREWEAN; n = 2,315), and all other calves were considered to have no preconditioning (CRTL; n = 1,250). Cattle were processed within 24 hours of arrival, and booster vaccinations were given when appropriate. Average days on feed at the weaning facility were similar between PREWEAN and CTRL calves (52.4 and 50.3 days, respectively), but average daily gain (2.24 vs 1.87 kb) and cost per lb of gain (

Drylot receiving program vs pasture conditioning with Micotil® metaphylaxis for grazing stocker calves

.64 vs

Comparison of morbidity and performance among stressed feeder calves following vaccination with pyramid™ MLV 4 or Pyramid™ 4+Presponse® SQ

.81) were improved (P<.01) for PREWEAN. Processing (

Prevalence, antibiotic susceptibility, and genetic diversity of Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Escherichia coli O157:H7 collected at four Kansas beef cattle feedyards over 13 months

7.48 vs

Effects of supplemental degradable intake protein on intake and digestibility of forage sorghum hay

9.10/hd) and medicine costs (