Typical handling practices provide a fertile ground for organisms to flourish. The industry pays lip service to physical stress. The real problem is mental stress. If we keep stress down and the calf healthy, the bugs do not have a chance. If we can alleviate mental stress, cattle will do great.
People are frustrated and tired of cattle getting sick.
There is total chaos all the time and everybody is mad. One wreck leads to another. You need to show compassion, not whooping and hollering. One researcher found that exposure to a short-term stressor such as a brief sound resulted in changes in blood profiles within 18 hours, peaked at 20 hours, and returned to normal in 30 hours. Following exposure to a short term stressor, antibody responsiveness is reduced while resistance to bacterial diseases is increased.