If you’ve ever gone out to break ice while you had a cold, you know it can feel miserable simply breathing. Respiratory disease in the winter feels awful, for both humans and cattle.

Thankfully, there are ways to manage the top three winter stressors that make cattle more susceptible to bovine respiratory disease (BRD), said Peggy Thompson, DVM, Boehringer Ingelheim.

“Stress can have a negative effect on all immune function. That means it affects both innate immunity, which is the system they are born with, and adaptive immunity, which recognizes foreign pathogens from previous natural exposure, vaccination or maternal antibodies through colostrum,” explained Dr. Thompson. “The needle is not a silver bullet. Animal care and management affect how cattle will respond to both vaccination and health challenges.”

Here are three management areas on which to concentrate this winter:

Winter weather

Cattle require adequate energy and protein to maintain their immune function during cold weather. For every degree below an animal’s lower critical temperature — the lowest temperature they can comfortably experience — their energy requirements increase by 1%.¹

“If we can prepare an animal for a storm event with additional nutrition and management, then they will have a better opportunity to handle situations outside of our control,” explained Thompson. “Every time an animal has to create an immune response, they have to use more protein and energy. So when they have to fight a stressful event like a storm, having a nutritional reserve will help them overcome it.”

It’s also important to keep cattle dry and protected from the wind, with added bedding and windbreaks to help increase comfort and boost their immune system.¹

“When animals are wet, their ability to maintain normal body temperature becomes more difficult, requiring more energy and potentially compromising their immune response,” said Thompson.

Transportation

Whether in a potbelly trailer or a stock trailer between pastures, transportation in the winter adds another layer of stress. To minimize cold stress during transport, Thompson advises adjusting airflow in trailers to maintain ventilation without causing drafts or allowing in diesel fumes.²

“It’s also important to have well-rested drivers, drivers who know how to handle cattle in a low-stress manner, and properly maintained equipment to avoid delays and unnecessary stress during transport,” she added.

Weaning

Weaning is already stressful for cows and calves, and weaning during winter for fall-born calves can compound the issue.

Calves are dealing with a new food source, separation from their mothers, vaccinations and transport; winter weather adds more stress to the mix.³

Thompson emphasizes that reduced feed intake due to the weaning transition can tax the immune system even more. Ensuring calves are familiar with the weaning area, including where water sources and feed bunks are before they’re weaned from their dam can help ease the transition.

Commingling post weaning also increases stress. “Animals are learning a new social structure and potentially dealing with exposure to other pathogens from new animals, all of which negatively affects their immune system,” said Thompson. Sometimes commingling is unavoidable, but, if possible, she suggests limiting it to smaller groups.

Several practices can mitigate weaning stress. For example, gradual weaning methods can ease the transition.³ Thompson is also in favor of techniques like using a nose flap to reduce suckling or implementing fence-line weaning so calves can see and interact with their mothers for several days.

Prepare for the inevitable

“You can’t eliminate all threats associated with the winter environment,” she asserted. “You can only plan ahead and provide the opportunity for calves to handle them.”

That provided opportunity has many forms: through vaccination, stress-reducing preventative management, and biosecurity to lower pathogen exposure.

Though even with the best winter management, sometimes pathogens overwhelm a calf’s immune system. In these cases, work with your veterinarian to find and administer an antibiotic that works quickly to provide the fastest relief.  By preventing or quickly treating winter respiratory disease, you can increase cattle comfort and performance.

“Plan ahead and involve your veterinarian and advisors to ensure nutrition and health are managed in a way for optimal success this winter,” concluded Thompson.

_References:

¹ _{Wyffels SA, Dafoe JM, Parsons CT, et al. The influence of age and environmental conditions on supplement intake by beef cattle winter grazing northern mixed-grass rangelands. J Anim Sci 2020;98(7):skaa217. doi: 10.1093/jas/skaa217}

² _{Schwartzkopf-Genswein K, Ahola J, Edwards-Callaway L, et al. Transportation issues affecting cattle well-being and considerations for the future. The Prof Anim Scientist, 2016;32(6):707–716.}

³ _{Freeman S, Poore M, Pickworth C, Alley M. Influence of weaning strategy on behavior, humoral indicators of stress, growth and carcass characteristics. Transl Anim Sci 2020;5(1):txaa231. doi: 10.1093/tas/txaa231}

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