Bovine respiratory disease is the most costly and welfare-significant disease in North American cattle feedlots, with early detection and treatment the primary welfare intervention.
Calves arriving at feedlots after the physiological stress of transport and commingling face a critical welfare window. Those that develop BRD experience fever, pleuritis, and the profound discomfort of impaired breathing for days before treatment if detection relies on visual observation alone. Chronic cases with permanent lung damage experience exercise intolerance and reduced quality of life throughout their feedlot stay. Early treatment during the acute inflammatory phase dramatically improves outcomes compared to treatment after chronic lesions develop.