Bovine respiratory disease complex is the leading cause of illness and death in beef cattle, making prevention through vaccination and management a critical welfare priority.
BRD causes significant welfare harm through fever, laboured breathing, painful pleurisy, and in severe cases, death. Affected calves are visually depressed, stand apart from the group, and show signs of respiratory distress. The period of peak risk - immediately after weaning and during early feedlot placement - coincides with multiple simultaneous stressors that compound the welfare burden. Prevention is far more welfare-positive than treatment: reducing stress at weaning, vaccinating before weaning, minimizing mixing of unknown animals, and providing adequate nutrition all reduce the physiological stress that allows pathogens to establish. When BRD does occur, prompt treatment with effective antibiotics and anti-inflammatories substantially reduces suffering duration.