Risk factors for mortality from diarrhea in beef calves in Alberta.

A case-study involving 56 randomly selected beef herds in Alberta was conducted to assess the association of a number of suspected risk factors upon the odds of a high mortality from diarrhea among calves less than 30 days of age. Using stepwise logistic regression it was found that an increased percentage of heifers calving in the herd, poor drainage in the nursing area, providing limited shelter in the nursing area, a large calving area, and wintering cows and heifers on the same ground were conditionally associated with an increase in the odds of high mortality from neonatal diarrhea.