Effects of the Environment on Neonatal Dairy Calf Health

Abstract

The data seem to support a conclusion that infection with a variety of diarrheal and respiratory agents is an inevitable part of being a calf and that infection need not be totally prevented in order to minimize disease losses. It appears, from a functional standpoint, that in the triad of disease causality (agent, host, environment) host and environmental factors predominate. This article will examine the effects of several environmental factors on dairy calf mortality and morbidity. Diagnosis of excess dairy calf morbidity /mortality requires
a detailed analysis of management practices including those related to the environment. Simply looking for infectious agents will accomplish little since the same agents can be found on low as well as high morbidity /mortality rate farms.