Monitoring of activity and feeding behaviour for early detection of respiratory disease in pre-weaned calves

Calf health problems throughout early life are not only a major source of calf and financial losses, but also impact heavily on calf survival and subsequent lifetime performance. In some treatment scenarios, when a few animals have been diagnosed with disease, a blanket treatment of antimicrobials is administered (metaphylaxis). This includes treatments of calves which
have not contracted the disease, a practice that increases the probability of antibiotic resistance arising. Changes in feed intake and behaviour often precede clinical symptoms of disease; these can therefore be used as a means of identifying the early onset of disease. Early detection of disease can allow for targeted treatment of animals, therefore reducing the use of antimicrobials. The aim of this study was to develop and assess prediction models for the early detection of respiratory disease in pre-weaned dairy bred calves.