Page 227 - The Welfare of Cattle

204 the WeLfare of CattLe

weaning at 7 months. Therefore, the highest risk period for baby calves is during and shortly after
birth, with decreasing challenges over the next 3 weeks. Maintaining a fairly short calving season
with seasonal breeding helps the producer focus attention on the needs of the dam and baby calf
during the high-risk period.
Other health challenges will occur during the neonatal period and prior to weaning, but they are
far less common. Predation is a challenge on some operations, accounting for about 5% of all calf
deaths, and lameness or injuries account for about 4% of deaths. All other causes represent very
small percentages of death loss on most operations.
After the high-risk birthing and neonatal periods, cow/calf pairs are usually turned out onto the
range. It is worth noting, as mentioned earlier, that when calves are out on range, and less frequently
observed, some deaths occur that are unseen and undiagnosed. Such deaths are often discovered not
by seeing a sick or dead calf, but by seeing a dam without a calf.

SUMMarY

The cow/calf industry in the US maintains mature cows and bulls who produce calves for sale
to other segments of the beef industry. These operations have a wide variety of cattle in all different
stages of life. The health and welfare challenges of these animals are diverse. The cattle on these
ranch operations are extensively managed relative to housing and nutrition and are subject to envi-
ronmental challenges and nutritional challenges, but overall they tend to be robust and healthy with
low rates of disease and death loss. Most larger size commercial cow/calf operations intensively
manage the reproductive program to establish a calving season, in order to more optimally maintain
cow and calf health and productivity. This allows the producer to focus on specific disease chal-
lenges that occur at different stages of the animals’ lives.

aDDItIONaL SOUrCeS

Specific numbers and percentages of animals affected and regional differences in cattle manage-
ment are derived from the national surveys conducted by the USDA: Veterinary Services, National
Animal Health Monitoring System, and the author believes they are the most representative num-
bers available about the management and health of the national beef cattle herd. The most recent
survey was completed in 2008, and a new survey is being conducted in 2017–2018, but results are
not yet available.

Beef 2007–08 Part I—Reference of Beef Cow-calf Management Practices in the United States, 2007–08.
USDA–APHIS–VS, CEAH. Fort Collins, CO #N512–1008.
Beef 2007–08 Part II—Reference of Beef Cow-calf Management Practices in the United States, 2007–08.
USDA–APHIS–VS, CEAH. Fort Collins, CO #N512.0209.
Beef 2007–08 Part III—Changes in the U.S. Beef Cow-calf Industry, 1993–2008. USDA–APHIS–VS, CEAH.
Fort Collins, CO #518.0509.
Beef 2007–08 Part IV—Reference of Beef Cow-calf Management Practices in the United States, 2007–08
USDA–APHIS–VS, CEAH. Fort Collins, CO #523.0210.
Beef 2007–08 Part V—Reference of Beef Cow-calf Management Practices in the United States, 2007–08
USDA–APHIS–VS, CEAH. Fort Collins, CO #532.0410.