Lameness is a huge issue on Irish farms, and according to New Zealand vet and hoof care fanatic, Dr. Neil Chesterton, “we should never talk of causes, but only talk about the risks to lameness”.
To back up this statement, Ned Dunphy of Greenway Agri Training Solutions said: “There is no silver bullet to lameness, but there are silver pellets.”
Veterinary surgeon, dairy specialist, Ger Cusack was at a stand of his own, talking through the different laneway indexes and told attendees that farmers must improve their facilities and laneways to maintain good cow welfare and production.
The Hoof Health Symposium took place during the week, which was a Pharvet event in partnership with XLvets and Teagasc.
The focus of the event was the importance of prioritising hoof care on farm and in the industry by bringing together hoof care stakeholders from all corners of the industry.
The main talking point on the day was the fact that most young people are not getting enough education when it comes to lameness and that something needs to change.
Lameness
Dr. Chesterton was in attendance to talk through his studies and findings about cow behaviour and cow flow.
He said: “The most important thing for lameness control and good hoof care is understanding your cow’s behaviour and cow flow.”
When it comes to lameness and identifying cows that have issues, Dr. Chesterton urged farmers to write down the issues and findings to know whether the cow has had recurring problems.
When it came to paring white line injuries and sole bruising, he urged attendees to thin out the sole gently and open it up and let air in.
“Let the pus out and let the air in, air in at the bug is better than any antibiotic, those little bugs in there hate the air,” Dr. Chesterton explained.
For foot rot, Dr. Chesterton urged everyone to “keep it simple and take out any stones or dirt, clean it down, disinfect and give them an antibiotic”.
Understanding
Dr. Chesterton talked about how the behaviour of cows can have a serious impact on the cow’s hoofs.
He pointed out that in any sole injuries, the inside claw is a lot of the time the claw that is having the problems and from his studies sole injuries occur 63% of the time on the back feet and 37% on the front.
The distribution of lesions is different for white line disease, as the outside claw on the back feet is primarily the issue whereas with the front feet, it is primarily an issue with inside claw.
In adult cows, white line injuries occurred at the back feet 86% of the time and at the front only 14% of the time.
However, first calving heifers showed a different trend as 52% of the white line injuries occurred at the front feet and 48% at the back feet.
Dr. Chesterton said that this was common in heifers as they were more susceptible to physical pressure and bullying due to their size and temperament.
“When a young heifer is getting pushed and tries to keep herself upright, she will try and push and the inside claw will take all the pressure,” he added.
He talked about the cow’s behaviour even further, as he said when the cow has her head up when she is walking, it is a clear sign that she is under pressure.
Milking routine
Dr. Chesterton is a firm believer that you will reduce lameness by not moving out of the pit during the milking process.
The New Zealander told attendees to “let the cows come in on their own and start putting cups on while they are coming in as you are only wasting time going out and pushing them in”.
As part of understanding how your cows work, you need to know how they move and respond to scenarios as quite often when farmers go out to push cows in, a number of cows turn around and push other cows backwards causing strain on the hoof.
Low stress handling needs to be incorporated on farms and farmers need to understand that the cow’s walking order is different to the cow’s milking order meaning they need plenty of space in the gathering yard, a minimum of 1.5m2/cow.
Dr. Chesterton said that “the right attitude will reflect in better cow behaviour and better cow flow as cows want to move in their own way and at their own pace”.
Dr. Chesterton said that digital dermatitis wasn’t as big an issue in New Zealand with only 2% of the cows in New Zealand having the disease, with him never seeing toe necrosis in his 50 years of working in the country.
Foot baths proved hugely beneficial in Dr. Chesterton’s studies when he allocated 1L/cow and it was controlled with the cows taking two steps with each foot in the bath.
He also talked about how effective a batt latch was for letting cows to walk at their own pace into the parlour without any pressure or stress.