While genetics and antibiotics have improved the situation over the years, respiratory disease is still a continuing battle for the cattle industry, says Brett Terhaar, DVM, beef technical consultant with Elanco. And the battle can’t be won from a bottle alone.
“One of the things we’re dealing with has to do with these calves is that physically, there may be an issue,” says Terhaar. “When we look at a steer that’s finishing, it’s probably got lung capacity of 12 liters. By comparison, a horse has about 40 liters of lung capacity. So, their lungs are relatively small to their oxygen…