Answer first
Start the BRD record with the cattle source
A useful feedlot BRD record starts before cattle arrive.
Keep source, verified vaccination history, transport, arrival, pen, direct checks, pulls, treatments, and outcomes on one timeline.
This gives the cattle health team a clearer early-risk review while the veterinarian keeps authority over prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
What the new research found
Source history mattered across more than one million cattle
Bovine respiratory disease, or BRD, is a group of respiratory illnesses with several interacting causes.
A 2026 study followed 1,040,253 cattle in 7,825 lots across three Australian feedlots.
Source-property history had the strongest association with BRD death in the study. Cattle bought through saleyards also had higher risk than paddock-sourced cattle.
Sixty-nine percent of recorded BRD deaths occurred during the first 60 days on feed. The estimated hazard peaked near day 35.
Pre-arrival vaccination was associated with lower BRD mortality. The authors caution that other source-management differences may explain part of that association.
These results describe Australian feedlots and do not set a treatment rule for a U.S. yard. They show why source and arrival records deserve one connected review.
The source-to-arrival record
Keep six parts together
| Record | What to preserve |
|---|---|
| Source and lot | Verified source, purchase channel, lot, expected head count, IDs, prior group history, and the records supplied with the cattle |
| Pre-arrival work | Dates and verified records for vaccination, weaning, backgrounding, nutrition, approved treatments, and veterinarian-directed requirements |
| Transport and arrival | Load, departure, arrival, time in transit, weather, handling notes, shrink context, observed head count, and receiving pen |
| Early pen review | Daily direct checks, visible cattle activity, pen moves, pulls, return dates, water and bunk access, and unresolved count differences |
| Health and outcome | Clinical finding, veterinarian-approved action, product record, withdrawal time, response, relapse, movement, death, or final disposition |
| Source feedback | A consistent lot summary returned to purchasing, source partners, cattle health leadership, and the consulting veterinarian |
Why continuity matters
A pull should still point back to the original lot
A receiving record loses value when a pen move, pull, or return breaks the link to the original cattle source.
Preserve the animal or group identity, source lot, arrival date, first pen, current pen, and every later movement.
That continuity helps reviewers compare like groups and separate source history from transport, weather, pen conditions, and current care.
Use the same field definitions across lots. A consistent unknown value is better than a confident guess.
Five steps for the receiving team
Build the timeline before reviewing the pattern
Open the record before the truck arrives
Create the lot, source, expected count, supplied health history, receiving plan, and assigned pen before unloading begins.
Reconcile cattle at arrival
Compare the manifest, IDs, observed head count, load details, and receiving pen. Mark every difference for named review.
Keep the early timeline intact
Link direct checks, pen moves, pulls, treatments, returns, and outcomes to the original source and arrival record.
Review patterns with qualified people
Give the cattle health team and veterinarian a consistent lot view. They decide whether the pattern changes care or prevention.
Return useful information upstream
Share a clear lot summary with purchasing and source partners without turning an association into a diagnosis or blame.
How Livestock Technologies helps
Keep observed cattle and movements attached to the lot
Fixed cameras can preserve visible cattle presence, time, location, movement, and source clips around receiving pens, gates, alleys, bunks, and water zones.
Expected-versus-observed checks can flag a head-count difference after unloading or a pen move.
The crew can review the relevant time and place before updating the yard record. Controlled chute references can add visible evidence beside EID or RFID.
The system does not diagnose BRD or decide treatment. It helps the team keep cattle location and review evidence connected to the health record.
See the feedlot inventory workflow, what cameras can record, and Tuskegee field evidence.
Sources
Read the research and current cattle guidance
Practical next step
Bring one receiving lot and its current records
We will map the source, expected count, arrival, pen movements, direct checks, pulls, and review points around your current cattle health program.
Review a source-to-arrival workflow