Scanning for healthy heifers: Tackling early signs of pneumonia

At Rough Grounds Farm, one of our Strategic Dairy Farms, efforts to detect and treat pneumonia and potential lung damage in calves have led to a healthier milking herd and improved daily live weight gains (DLWG).

Between spring 2023 and autumn 2024, the farm saw an average DLWG increase to 0.84 kg/day, with 40 out of 59 heifers exceeding the 0.8 kg/day benchmark.

Healthy cows start as healthy calves, and building a strong foundation begins with preventing and treating pneumonia early. The longer lung damage persists, the more difficult it becomes to treat effectively.

Pneumonia remains one of the most significant diseases affecting calves, costing the UK cattle industry an estimated £50m a year.

At Rough Grounds, Graham, Justine and Jess Worsey, along with equity share milker Dan Jones, have worked closely with their vet, Beckie Harrison from Peakfield Vets, to reduce long-term lung damage in calves.

Over the last few years, they’ve seen fewer cases of lung damage as calves transition into the milking herd.

Jess said:

“Since 2023, we’ve been on a mission to rear even healthier, stronger heifers through proactive management, improved nutrition, and early disease detection.”

Led by Justine and Jess, the team embraced data tracking, lung scanning, and tailored veterinary protocols, transforming calf performance and laying the groundwork for long-term herd productivity.

Jess added:

“We’ve also focused on colostrum quality testing, monitoring DLWG, assessing the environment, and using thoracic ultrasound (TUS) scanning to detect lung damage, a key sign of pneumonia.”

Vet Beckie Harrison said:

“Lung scanning can assess the severity of lung damage in clinical cases at first treatment, monitor progress, and detect subclinical pneumonia.”

She added that it helps evaluate the effectiveness of preventive strategies, determine treatment needs, and guide future buying decisions.

Scanning is used both individually, to identify and treat calves in the subclinical stage, and at a group level, to assess overall disease trends and the impact of management changes.

Beckie said:

“We’ve found that the best time to scan is around six to seven weeks of age.”

Early detection improves treatment outcomes significantly.

To address increased pneumonia risk in autumn-born calves, the team introduced early intranasal vaccines and two injectable pneumonia vaccines before weaning in 2024.

Justine added:

“We also adjusted the environment, switching to two daily 4 L milk feeds and timing bedding and trough-filling during milk feeding to reduce cross-suckling.”

Initial results from spring 2023 showed that 38% of calves had lung consolidation requiring treatment.

Average DLWG was 0.67 kg/day, and only 9 of 47 heifers hit the 0.8 kg/day target. Notably, three heifers with the worst lung scores had the lowest growth rates, with no visible clinical signs, highlighting the value of lung scanning for detecting hidden disease.

By spring 2024, average DLWG rose to 0.84 kg/day, with 40 of 59 heifers exceeding target weight gain. Autumn-born calves, the first group to receive the full vaccine protocol, reached an average of 0.85 kg/day, with 28 of 35 meeting the target.

Beckie said:

“The percentage of heifers with lung consolidation dropped to 0% in spring 2024, rose slightly to 11% in autumn, and then to 33% in spring 2025, largely due to poor ventilation and overcrowding.”

Of the 21 heifers treated in March 2025, 14 increased their daily live weight gain, 5 maintained, and only 2 declined slightly, again, with no visible signs of illness. Importantly, no cases progressed to severe disease.

By spring 2025, average DLWG increased again to 0.86 kg/day, with 50 of 64 heifers exceeding the 0.8 kg/day target.

Even more impressively, clinical pneumonia cases dropped significantly, with none recorded over Christmas 2024 – a frequent problem in previous years. No antibiotics higher than category D had been used in over a year.

Royal Veterinary College research, funded by AHDB, showed that calving at 24 months rather than 26 months reduces average rearing costs by 16%.

By improving DLWG and reducing disease setbacks, Rough Grounds is on track to rear more productive animals, more efficiently. Immediate savings include reduced use of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories – a direct financial return on their investment in health and nutrition.

The Rough Grounds team plans to continue monitoring older heifer weights to ensure consistent DLWG after weaning. They’re also working to smooth the transition to grazing and maintain a strong focus on disease prevention.

Jess said:

“We’re really happy with the results so far and are hopeful we can keep reducing pneumonia cases through our vaccination plan and housing improvements.”

The successful rearing of healthy heifers at Rough Grounds is also the result of changes the team made to nutrition, changes that have significantly improved heifer health and will remain a key focus moving forward.

The biggest change has been in milk feeding, with calves now receiving a high-fat, high-skim, 100% dairy protein milk powder up to 8 litres a day at peak.

The farm’s success isn’t due to expensive technology or new infrastructure, but to attention to detail, consistent routines, and data-driven decisions. Their experience shows that small, purposeful changes can deliver big results in health, welfare, and future milk production.