Flu Season Can Be Hard On Stressed Cattle
Flu season can hard on cattle and horses. And like toddlers in day care or the elderly in group homes the more concentrated the population, the more at risk cows are for becoming ill . I’m Susan Allen welcome to the Open Range program I’ll back with more on the impact stress can have on cattle. Raising cattle can be compared in some ways to parenting, there’s that darnerd mentality, and it’s also frustrating working with cows that have an independent streak . When it comes to illness, while parents look to their pediatricians a rancher depends on his vet for up to date advice on what vitamins , vaccines and precautions to take during flu season. When cattle get the flu, it’s called Bovine respiratory disease, BRDC and like with people it’s highly contagious and hard on the young and old. At a recent educational cattle seminar Chris Chase a Vet from South Dakota State University explained that stress can have a impact on just how sick a cow will be with BRDC. What stresses cows? The same thing a toddler experiences in day care ... weaning, commingling, transportation, different food, competition and injuries. According to Chase stress hormones even make bad bacteria in cows thrive. BRDC isn’t just a virus, it’s often both viral and bacterial complicating treatment and it can take up to two weeks for the calf’s immunes system cells to recover from a st
