Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is the most costly and common disease in beef cattle, particularly in feedlot systems, causing significant welfare suffering and raising questions about intensive beef production conditions.
BRD causes significant acute welfare suffering in affected animals — fever, respiratory difficulty, chest pain, and systemic illness. Sub-clinical disease — respiratory compromise without overt clinical signs — may be even more widespread and represents hidden welfare harm that is difficult to detect and treat. The stressors that trigger BRD — transport stress, abrupt dietary changes, mixing of unfamiliar animals — are primarily management and system-level factors. Reducing these stressors through improved transport conditions, strategic commingling reduction, and better transition management reduces both disease incidence and animal welfare burden. The use of metaphylactic antibiotics addresses symptoms rather than root causes, and welfare improvements through management change are preferred.