Hospital Pen Management Part One - Choosing a Pen Rotation Strategy

by Jill J. Dunkel

"Hospital pens must be the most immaculate, well-cared for pen in the feedyard," says Dee Griffin, DVM. Griffin is Feedlot Production Management Veterinarian at the Great Plains Vet Education Center for the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. "If there's an animal that can't tolerate mud, poor quality feed, dirty water or overcrowding, he's probably in the hospital pen," he says.

With that in mind, decisions made on hospital pen management must be carefully considered. Pen rotation, concentration, feed and water must be carefully scrutinized to ensure the best possible outcome for these highly stressed cattle.

"What is the best, low stress environment for each calf, where's the best place for him to recover," is what Baytril 100 Product Manager Mitch Johnson says is important when planning a hospital management regimen. "What's right for one calf or a group of calves, may not be best for another," he says. "It can vary pen to pen, as well as different times of the year."

There are many different philosophies about sorting hospital cattle. Some experts suggest sorting by size, others by date of pulls, and still others believe treating a calf then sending him back home might be the better option. "It all depends on the cattle," agree many of the experts.

The length of the hospital stay often depends on the choice of antibiotic.

"If you use a two dose antibiotic, the cattle must stay in the hospital pen longer than with a single, long acting treatment," says Blane Lowe, DVM, Pfizer Senior Veterinarian with Cattle Operations. "But this is not a bad thing, because we tend to pay closer attention to the cattle in the hospital pen. He might get several looks a day, where as in his home pen, he's got one chance to be seen as sick. In the hospital, an animal gets evaluated more than just one time."

However, others believe a shorter hospital stay reduces stress. "With the products available today, a single dose antibiotic reduces stress on a calf, and stress on the doctoring crew too," says Johnson. "Each time a calf is run through the chute he is stressed. We know that animal stress produces adrenaline and cortisol, which can further weaken the calf's immune system, and ability to fight infection. You also risk injury to the calf with every trip through the chute. And your labor and facility requirements also go up in proportion to how many times the calf is handled.

According to Fred Lehman, DVM, with Pharmacia Animal Health, historically feedyards keep cattle in the hospital for three days. "Some time ago we decided three days had this magical ring to it. Maybe this was economically driven or based on the success rate in getting cattle cured in three days," he says.

But respiratory disease is very complex. It might involve viral and bacterial components, and often opportunistic bugs that invade when the immune system is down, Lehman explains.
"If a calf goes home too early and gets sick again, we often find out his initial respiratory disease was not resolved. His performance may be compromised, and he may not be able to catch up to his pen mates," says Lehman.

With that in mind, Lehman believes it is important to have enough flexibility in a hospital system to keep a calf until he is fully recovered. "It is important that a calf is not treated for a three day window, and then is lost in the system. He must be monitored closely. If he's not well in three days, he needs to continue through the hospital system."

How that system sorts cattle is also important. "As we look at how cattle are pulled, especially for respiratory disease, many will go into a hospital pen rotation system," Lowe says.

"I like grouping cattle by the day they were pulled. That way all the cattle are at the same stage of recovery in that pen. You're not mixing recovering cattle with newly pulled cattle," says Lowe.

Doug Hilbig, DVM, a consulting feedyard veterinarian in Lakin, Kansas, says he decides how long a calf should stay in the hospital based on the time of year and the individual calf. "You need to consider if this calf is part of a ranch set of calves, or is from grass pasture or the sale barn," he says.

"Often freshly weaned calves will get along better with his buddies than in a recovery or convalescent pen. We see more ranch calves in the fall, and are more likely to send them back home. If he's used to his buddies, he might have less competition at the feed bunk, rather than in a hospital pen with strangers of different sizes."

However, in the spring, Hilbig often recommends cattle be moved to a recovery pen. "Typically cattle in the spring are often sale barn or grass cattle. The competition in their home pen for bunk and water space is higher in the home pen than in a recovery pen. If you send them home too soon, they have to fight for feed."

Hilbig recommends sorting hospital cattle by their pull dates as well as size, when pen space is available.

No matter how the cattle are sorted in the hospital, providing a calf with optimum recovery conditions increases the likelihood he will return to the home pen, continue to gain weight with his pen mates, and eventually be shipped with the rest of the pen.
In the next issue, choices in hospital rations, consumption, pen maintenance, economics and the importance of water will be discussed. ©