Help me understand pneumonia in calves.

[herofan]

I recently bought 7 Angus calves from the stock market. They were the picture of health for three weeks, and then 3 of them suddenly got pneumonia. How they get it is a bit confusing to me.
I have heard there are several things that can cause pneumonia. I also hear talk that transportation, temperatures going from cold to warm, and rain can cause a problem. I was told by a friend who deals in cattle that if they made it for 2 weeks on my place without signs of sickness, we were probably home free, which led me to believe that pneumonia was caused by a bacteria that had to be passed from one cow to the next. I assumed if they came to my farm healthy, where no cows have been for years, they would be ok, but that wasn't the case. I notice that people with established herds aren't having problems.

So, were my calves probably infected before arriving at my farm, or are these pneumonia-causing bacteria everywhere and, therefore, they were infected once they arrived due to weather weakening their immune system?

 

[Gale Seddon]

I guess it could be due to any number of things:

1. They came from the stock market, where bugs abound.
2. Stress of transport and new environment; could be they were just weaned, big time stress.
3. Any vaccination history?

I'd get your vet's recommendation on which ones to treat and with what (our vet suggests taking temperatures and if >103, they need to be treated, and isolating the sick ones from the group). If you have no idea of health history on the group, get vet's recommendation on when to vaccinate and deworm.

Good luck with this!

 

[Lucky_P]

hero,
Google up 'bovine respiratory disease', 'BRD complex', etc. - you'll find plenty of in-depth, concise, accurate info about the problem - causes, prevention, treatment, etc.