Lameness on dairy farms is not only an animal welfare issue, but it also has a major impact on cow productivity.
Up to one quarter of a dairy herd could be experiencing some form of a lameness issue at any one time.
This could potentially have a serious impact on a dairy farms, with potential loss coming from treatment costs, loss of yield and a potential shortened production life of a cow.
There are a number of issues that could potentially cause lameness issues in cows, including:
- Poor-quality floors in cattle housing;
- Poor farm roadways;
- Cows being forced to stand for too long on hard surfaces;
- Poorly designed cubicles;
- Ineffective foot trimming;
- Infectious diseases and poor nutrition.
Lameness
Cows need to be closely monitored for lameness. Management tools such as mobility or locomotion scoring are invaluable for identifying cows with any issues.
These tools can help to identify cows with an issue before it becomes serious.
Regular hoof trimming is also important to ensure cows’ feet are kept in good order and for identifying any hoof-related diseases that may be on the farm.
If a farm has an issue with lameness in the form of a disease such as mortellaro, regular foot bathing will be required to control the disease.
Treatment
Treatment for lameness will obviously depend on the cause of the issue. Some cows can be cured by a simple hoof paring, while others may require more serious treatment.
Lameness in cows is not something that should be ignored in the hope that it will cure itself.
All cases of lameness should be treated like an emergency, with the hoof trimmer or vet being the first port of call. They should be able to identify the issue and develop a treatment plan if needed.
Prevention
Farmers should look around their farm for possible causes of lameness issues. This includes roadways, collecting yards and the milking parlour – places where cows often walk and stand for periods.
Farm roadways need to be in good order to ensure they are not at the root of a lameness issues.
It may be a good idea to walk these roadways with your vet, advisory or hoof parer to look at areas that may require improvement.
Concrete areas such as the collecting yard and milking parlour are high risk areas for lameness issues.
Cows often feel unsure about walking on concrete due to the possibility of slipping, so adding grip the concrete in the form of slits can often help cows.
It is also important that cows are not pushed too hard when walking.
Cows naturally walk with their heads down to watch where they are walking, however cows that are forced to move too quickly often walk with their heads up, which prevents them from doing this.
This could lead to them walking on something that may cause an injury.