Bovine Respiratory Disease Policy 2025: Welfare Standards

Key Facts

• BRD is responsible for 70-80% of feedlot morbidity in North America
• 2025 guidelines recommend multimodal pain management as standard of care alongside antimicrobials
• Pen-level scoring systems enable earlier disease identification before individual clinical signs appear
• Lung ultrasound is increasingly used for welfare assessment and targeted treatment decisions
• Targeted Selective Treatment protocols reduce metaphylactic antimicrobial use while maintaining welfare

Welfare Considerations

BRD welfare management in 2025 recognizes that respiratory disease causes significant pain independent of its systemic effects. Early detection through pen-level behavior monitoring enables timely intervention before severe lung damage occurs. The 2025 AVMA guidelines recommend NSAID analgesia as standard of care, improving both welfare outcomes and recovery rates. Lung ultrasound provides a non-invasive welfare assessment tool correlating well with disease severity and treatment response.

What You Can Do

• Implement pen-level health monitoring twice daily to enable early BRD detection
• Use lung ultrasound to assess consolidation severity and guide treatment intensity
• Always combine antimicrobial treatment with NSAID analgesia as standard welfare practice
• Follow Targeted Selective Treatment protocols to reduce unnecessary antimicrobial use
• Document BRD incidence and outcome data to evaluate and continuously improve herd health programs