Lameness is an ongoing issue for many dairy farms. Not only is it an issue due to losses in production, but it also a welfare issue.
Although you will not be able to completely eliminate cases, you can make efforts to decrease the number occuring.
To help with the prevention or reduction in cases on your farm you firstly need to determine what is causing them.
Lameness
The majority of lameness cases during the grazing season are caused by physical trauma to the sole of the hoof.
These issues include white line disease, sole bruising and sole ulcers.
Damage to the white line is due to physical trauma and shearing forces (turning on hard surfaces), which can result in loose stones and grit penetrating the white line.
Sole bruising occurs due to excessive standing on concrete, excessive body condition loss and worn claws due to excessive walking.
Sole ulcers are a more severe version of sole bruising. If these are the source of your lameness issues, preventative measures can be adopted to reduce the risk and prevent cases.
Prevention
Roadways should be good surfaces that are comfortable for cows to walk on and don’t have sharp objects such as stones on them.
Some farms have put old astro-turf surfaces on roadways which appears to be more comfortable for cows to walk on. This will also help with cows that are walking long distances to help with stopping worn claws.
Standing and turning on concrete can also be an issue, so you should look at putting rubber mats down in areas where cows are turning.
These areas could include the entrance and exit from the milking parlour.
There are a wide number of measures that can be used, but you should firstly determine what is causing the main issues for you and target this area.
This could be putting rubber mats in areas were cows are turning on concrete or looking at the surface on your farms roadways.