Reports of pneumonia are increasingly common, as more and more farmers are forced into housing cattle due to heavy rainfall.

In many cases, the cause of pneumonia is down to housing large numbers of wet cattle at the same time. Exacerbating the problem is the mild temperatures.

Keeping stress to a minimum is important when housing cattle, particularly young stock.

Ideally, cattle should be housed in stages on dry days, but if wet weather forces your hand into housing all stock, keep handling to a minimum.

Settle in the shed

Do not attempt to wean or worm calves that have been housed in recent days or will be housed this week. This is just adding petrol to the fire.

Allow calves to settle in the shed and get over the change in environment first.

Offer calves a high-dry matter forage to encourage rumen function, rather than wet silage. Also, offer calves some meal in the morning and evening.

The amount of meal fed is not important. The idea is to see calves coming forward to the trough. Calves that are slow to come forward and eat may be in the early stages of developing pneumonia.

Airflow

Keep shed doors open, remove a few side sheets of tin or space boarding and leave feed passages clear of machinery to improve airflow.

Herding cattle regularly is vital for picking up sick calves as early as possible. Talk with your vet to determine if a group treatment may be required depending on the incidence levels of pneumonia.

Once calves have settled, tasks such as weaning, clipping and parasite control can then be carried out.

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