“You probably deal with cattle stress every day as producers, whether or not you know it,” says Dr. Erika Nagorske, DVM.
Watch the video below or continue reading to understand what can cause stress in cattle and how to manage it so that you can optimize your profitability.
What Is Cattle Stress?
Understanding Acute Stress in Cattle
Understanding Chronic Stress in Cattle
6 Factors That Cause Stress in Cattle
High-Risk Stress in Cattle Examples
Low-Risk Stress in Cattle Examples
5 Cattle Stress Considerations for Producers
Protocols for High- and Low-Risk Cattle
Minimize and Manage Cattle Stress with Products from FBN®
This panel was originally presented live at Farmer2FarmerVI.
Stress is “any factor that threatens homeostasis or general stability,” explains Nagorske. There are two types of cattle stress: “It can be acute or chronic in nature.”
High-risk cattle can become low-risk cattle and, conversely, low-risk cattle can become high-risk cattle, so it’s important to monitor cattle conditions and provide the optimum experience for their productivity.
“Acute is your fight or flight response,” Nagorske says. Explaining that this is an evolutionary development for survival, she says the flight or flight response is when there is a “sudden release in hormones that can cause increase in blood flow to your muscles, your heart, and your brain — all the things you need to either fight off the predator or run.”
There is significant energy expended when cattle experience acute stress, and as a result, it impacts maintenance requirements. Stressed cattle:
Need higher amounts of protein
Have reduced reproductive performance
Have reduced milk production (dairy)
Have reduced growth efficiency (feedlot)
Acute stress is short-lived. According to Nagorske: “Typically an animal will return to homeostasis within three to seven days.”
According to Nagorske, chronic stress “can occur when an animal is exposed to multiple stressors over and over again or repeat exposure to the same one.”
Chronic stress in cattle leads to over-release of stress-related hormones, which can compromise their immune system. As a result, cattle may experience:
Difficulty fighting disease
Reduced response to vaccines
Negative impacts on metabolism
Digestion issues
Negative impacts on growth
Reduced reproductive health
Additionally, farmers managing cattle with chronic stress may have:
Increased production costs
Reduced efficiencies for feedlots
Chronic stress is longer lasting than acute stress. Cattle that experience chronic stress have a slower return to homeostasis or stability.
There are many moments in a cattle’s life that can cause stress. The following factors can cattle to experience varying levels of stress:
From a physiological standpoint, weather can be a stress for cattle. Temperatures that are too cold or too hot can be difficult for cattle to handle.
Download our free How to Manage Heat Stress in Cattle guide to learn how to recognize the signs and treat cattle experiencing heat stress.
When a calf is moved to a sale barn, it is often their first time riding in a vehicle, which can feel intimidating due to the loud noise, bumpiness, new smells, and change in scenery. They may be exposed to pathogens outside of their mother for the first time.
Read our blog post Top 5 Missed Opportunities in Weaning a Calf for more information on transporting calves.
It’s critical that cattle have access to ample clean water. Not only are less likely to drink poor-quality water, dirty water can become a biosecurity hazard.
It’s important that pens and livestock facilities never get overcrowded nor overheated. They should be kept clean and dry and free from pests like flies.
Read our blog post 6 Critical Steps to Take for Biosecurity.
“A calf with an activated or challenged immune system will have a significant increase in requirements because it’s using energy and protein to have an immune response,” notes Nagorske. It’s critical to transition calves correctly. If they’re only used to feeding from their mother in the pasture, and suddenly the only option in front of them is silage, “they’re going to have a severe immune system depression because they aren’t getting the calories they need.”
“I think we forget that cattle are a social creature,” says Nagorske. “They have the herd mentality, and they establish pecking order.” Consequently, their relationships with each other can have an impact on their stress levels.
High-risk stress in cattle can stem from a wide range of circumstances. Among the examples Nagorske provides are:
The average cow-calf herd is 40-50 head, but a pen of feedlot cattle can be 200 head. This means there could be five different groups commingling.
When cattle from a multitude of farms are put together in the sale barn, it causes them to experience various levels of stress. They may be uncertain of where they stand in the pecking order, and they may be exposed to new pathogens.
When drought occurs or when feed costs become high, calves sometimes do not get the nutrition they need.
“There is some debate if those are always going to be high-risk calves,” says Nagorske.
Backgrounding is when calves are fed for a short time after weaning before they are turned to the finishing feedlots. Backgrounding can help set up calves for success on the feedlot.
Even though not knowing your calves’ vaccine history is common, it is not ideal. It’s important for cattle to be fully vaccinated so that if they are exposed to disease they will remain resilient.
“If they’re dehydrated, their ability to take the vaccine that you just put in their neck and get in their entire circulation so their whole immune system can see it is very hard,” explains Nagorske.
Snowstorms or getting stuck somewhere on their journey to the sale barn can greatly impact calves’ stress levels.
There are ways to help reduce causes for stress in cattle, including:
Single-sourced cattle is the dream scenario, according to Nagorske.
Older cattle have a more robust immune system. As well, they’ve seen a lot and so are less likely to become as easily stressed.
The time between weaning and entering the feedlot can be used to help build up a calf’s immunity by increasing its weight through grains and forage.
Farmers tend to have a high-risk tolerance, but everyone has different comfort levels with risk in their feedyard. Know your limitations when it comes to:
Nutrition limitations could include what feedstuffs you have readily available, growing season challenges, byproduct sourcing and consistency, the cost of feed, feeding different cattle than you’re used to feeding, and maintaining properly balanced diets that maximize potential health and performance.
Be realistic about your level of expertise. As well, know how much time you have to put into managing your herd. Managing high-stress cattle may require more expertise, time, and finances from you.
It’s critical to have enough space in your yard and pen for the number of cattle you own, but don’t stop there. Also consider pen style, as different types of cattle have different pen-style needs and different weather calls for different pen styles. Be sure not to overlook bunk height and size in the process.
Post-COVID, labor constraints have become widespread. Ensure you have enough labor to vaccinate your cattle on a timely basis and to manage the pens. Be sure that workers have the expertise you need.
Budget for the unexpected. There may be disease or pest outbreaks that you need to manage. As well, if you purchased high-risk cattle, you may face higher costs.
Read our free BVD Management guide to learn when to test for BVD and how to manage this common disease.
To manage high- and low-risk cattle, it’s helpful to understand herd immunity, killed vs. live vaccines, and intranasal vs. injectable vaccines.
There are two parts of the immune system:
The innate immune system is what cows are born with. It’s nonspecific for general defense.
The active immune system has an adaptive response. It gets activated by vaccination or disease exposure.
The reason it’s important to vaccinate the whole herd is because “only 80-90% of animals will have an efficient immune response to vaccination,” says Nagorske. Through herd immunity, there is protection for those individual cows that do have an efficient immune response.
Understand the difference between cattle vaccine types and whether a booster is needed so that you can properly immunize your herd and protect your profitability:
Killed vaccines are made of pathogen particles or a killed pathogen so it won’t cause an active disease in the cattle. Usually, a booster will be required.
Modified live vaccines are ones that you mix that are made of altered pathogens so it provides immunity without getting the calf sick.
Using a combination of intranasal and injectable vaccines will help protect the herd because they are used for different vaccine types:
Intranasal vaccines initiate a rapid immune response within the calf’s nose. It’s typically not impacted by maternal antibodies.
Injectable vaccines take longer than intranasal vaccines but are still important to use. With injectables, it can take up to 14 days for cattle to be protected. Some are impacted by maternal antibodies, which means vaccination can be canceled out.
What kind of vaccine history do you have?
If your herd is high-risk, do you want to mass med them?
What are the coccidia stats, and are the levels under control?
Have you worked with your nutritionist to develop a feed transition plan specific to your cattle?
What does your stocking density look like?
Is there enough clean water in enough places that cattle can find it?
How can you reduce handling in the first 72 hours?
Prevent and manage stress with high-quality products from FBN, your one-stop shop for animal health products and livestock feed.
We have you covered with a full portfolio of antibiotics, vaccines, and more so that you can protect your herd health. We make it easy for you to order prescriptions. Just add your veterinarian’s contact information at checkout, and our team will contact them on your behalf for the necessary prescription. Learn more about how to order livestock prescriptions online here.
Proper nutrition is important to reducing herd stress and improving your ROI. You can order liquid cow feed, mineral, and lick tubs at FBN.
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