How do you know if your calf-raising program is producing high-quality, healthy calves that are set up to meet their genetic potential for milk production in the future?

Ultrasonography is gaining momentum as a way to monitor lung health in young dairy cattle. An ultrasound exam takes less than a minute and helps us understand the presence and severity of underlying pneumonia.

The University of Guelph has just completed the data collection phase of a large study designed to increase understanding of clinical and subclinical pneumonia and its long-term effects in dairy calves through the use of ultrasonography. This study comes as a follow-up to a pilot project in which roughly 14 percent of calves with pneumonia showed minimal or no signs of illness (like the calf pictured at right). Unfortunately, identifying cases of subclinical pneumonia and measuring its effects are impossible without tools that specifically detect consolidated, pneumonic lung – such as ultrasonography.