Managing Pathogens in Cattle Receiving and Hospital Pens
Feed yards and cow/calf operations face a number of environmental challenges. The sheer number of animals can often lead to a high pathogen load due to fecal and urine concentration. Throw in the stress of temperature changes, transportation and a new environment along with the added risk of mixed pathogen exposure when cattle from multiple locations comingle, and you have the perfect recipe for performance and health challenges.
Receiving pens are notably high traffic areas which equates to high levels of exposure. When animals from multiple sources come together and bring different diseases, pathogens can spread quickly. In hospital pens, there is also the added challenge of lowered immunity due to previous illness, lack of vaccination, poor nutrition, dehydration or other variables. Both areas offer ideal breeding grounds for pathogens, including warm, moist environments with built up manure and wet bedding.
The High Cost of Pathogens in Receiving & Hospital Pens
Without intervention, pathogens can wreak havoc on animal health and performance, potentially causing respiratory diseases, digestive diseases and challenges to hoof health. Individually and as a group, these challenges can result in:
Reduced Average Daily Gain (ADG)
Sick cattle eat less and convert feed poorly. BRD alone can reduce gains by 0.25 to 0.5 lbs/day and digestive diseases can cause animals to fall behind in growth by weeks.
Poor Feed Conversion (FCR)
Energy diverted to fighting infection rather than gaining weight equates to more feed per pound of gain, which raises feed costs dramatically.
Increased Treatment Costs
Health costs rise, including medications (antibiotics, electrolytes), labor for dosing, vet bills and more. BRD treatment alone can cost $25–40 per case, depending on severity.
Increased Mortality
Respiratory disease and enteric infections are leading causes of early death in cattle with high-risk groups (fresh-weaned calves, unvaccinated stock) being the most vulnerable. Remember, even a 1–2% increase in mortality is a big hit to profit margins.
Chronic Underperformance
Some cattle never fully recover from respiratory and digestive diseases so they are always a step behind the rest of the herd.
Carcass Quality Losses
Cattle that get sick often have lower marbling scores, greater trimming loss due to abscesses or adhesions, and downgraded quality grades (e.g., Select instead of Choice).
Labor & Resource Drain
Hospital pens require more bedding, water, and time but deliver less return. More time spent treating vs. feeding or managing healthy animals adds up to lost time and money.
How pH Management Can Help
Pathogen survival is heavily influenced by environmental pH. The goal of pH manipulation is to make pens less hospitable to harmful microbes which can impact the environment and herd health in multiple ways. At a lower pH, there will be decreased ammonia and therefore decreased respiratory stress and less pathogen growth (Table 1). The result is:
Reduce pathogen load in the environment
Improve respiratory health
Boost performance by cutting disease pressure
Increase sustainability with healthier, faster-growing cattle
Table 1. Bacteria survival at various pH levels
A Smarter Way to Manage pH
In addition to maintaining dry bedding to prevent microbial growth and regularly cleaning feeding and watering areas, the use of acidifiers in bedding, footbaths and high-traffic areas are a safe, affordable way to lower pH.
Many cattle producers use lime to keep bedding dry, but its use presents a challenge in pH management. While lime is an effective absorbent and can reduce ammonia for the short time, it actually raises pH. Since lime is a very alkaline substance which favors the survival of harmful bacteria, such as E. coli and Salmonella. In addition, while lime may suppress ammonia briefly, over time more ammonia gas is released into the air which can lead to an increase in respiratory irritation, and skin and eye irritation.
BeefUp: Performance from the Ground Up
As an alternative, BeefUp is a safe mineral acid used to control ammonia and reduce pH to biologically effective low levels. Affordable and effective, BeefUp is an EPA Safer Choice product that can be applied to the bedding pack, feeding and drinking areas, hospital and receiving pens, and footbaths to support better respiratory health and hoof health, and improve performance.
BeefUp is the safest, most effective mineral acid on the market. Not only is the main ingredient, sodium bisulfate, on the EPA’s Safer Choice List of Chemicals, it eliminates ammonia to support respiratory health for animals and workers. No ammonia means less stress and production losses due to compromised animal respiratory systems. BeefUp is free of heavy metals (copper or zinc) and toxins. Upon activation, it breaks down into elements naturally found in the environment while also affordably reducing environmental emissions (NH3 and VOCs) and eliminating ammonia-related soil contamination concerns.
Put BeefUp to the test on your operation and experience the difference. Contact a Jones-Hamilton rep to make it happen.