A survey of more than 400 dairy farms has found that 10% of calves required antibiotic treatment for pneumonia last winter. Before accounting for the effect on in-contact calves, Pfizer veterinary manager Carolyn Hogan calculates that losses arising from this incidence are more than £700/year for the average 168-cow herd taking part. [1]

“This could increase substantially if you added the impact on in-contacts,” she says. “A major concern is that 44% of farmers said the issue of treating in-contact calves at the same time had not been discussed with their vet.”

[1] Andrews A.H (2000) Cattle Practice Vol 8 Part 2: 109-114. This paper estimates a case of pneumonia in a dairy calf to cost £43 per treated animal on average. In the survey being reported here, the average farm reported 17 cases of pneumonia in the past year requiring antibiotic treatment. Cost estimate = 17 cases x £43/case = £731.