Approach to Lameness at a Herd Level

Question 1

Lameness data that may be looked for or recorded on a farm?

Answer 1

Prevalence - proportion of cows affected by lameness at any one time.
Mobility scoring - crucial to identify prevalence in herd.
Incidence - cases/100cows/yr.
Foot trimmer records.
- from routine/non-lame cows.
– may not reflect causes of lameness.
Tx records.
- lame cows trimmed by farmer/vet/trimmer.
- may represent on more severe lameness cases.

Question 2

Underfoot surfaces and cow flow.

Answer 2

Types of flooring.
Types of surfaces.
- tracks, fields, parlours, sheds, holding yards.
– tracks –> underfoot surface should not matter as much as stockmanship.
—> have cows walk single file, slowly, carefully.
—> ideally permeable membranes, stone base, pine peelings on surface.
Building design.
Movement through passageways.
Turns, bends, corners.
Width, crowding, pushing, bullying, spread of muck.
Pace of movement.
Sharp protrusions and obstructions.
Blind ends, over-stocking.
0.7m/cow feed trough space.
0.2m/cow water trough space.
Insufficient resources cause increased standing time due to queueing.
Troughs should be set up for comfortable feeding and WB.
- rubber matting.
Avoid slippery floors with grooving
- 9mm deep, 12mm deep.
Rough concrete and sandy concrete - excessive wear – thin soles.

Question 3

Cubicle comfort.

Answer 3

Cows should spend 14hrs/day lying down, only 30mins asleep!
Determinants of lying time:
- cubicle lying surface.
- cubicle hardware/design.
- stocking rates – important for heifers/sick/low dominance cows.

Question 4

Lying surface options.

Answer 4

Deep sand.
Deep straw.
Mats.
Mattresses - w/ sawdust / sand / straw.
Other options - green bedding (dried faeces).

Question 5

Cubicle hardware and design.

Answer 5

Cantilever cubicles.
- safer for cow to stretch legs out to side.
Newton rigg cubicles.
Length and lunge space.
- affects ability to get up but may influence whether they choose to go into cubicle in first place.
- May perch w/ hindlegs on back of cubicle – risk foot bruising.
- does the whole cow even fit in the cubicle?

Question 6

Assessing cubicle comfort.

Answer 6

Test using knee drop/knuckle test.
Cows can tell us by:
- stall standing index / “Comfort quotient” (standing divided by touching beds).
- hock lesions – easily done in parlour.
- positioning in cubicles (lying/standing).

Question 7

Other considerations with cubicles.

Answer 7

Groupings; high and lows etc.
Number of cubicles (5% extra).
Accessibility.
Prioritisation and hierarchy.

Question 8

Loose yards.

Answer 8

More comfortable / higher lying times.
Poorer hygiene / increased mastitis risk.
Depend on availability of straw (geography!)
Sand yards.

Question 9

What are cows dong when they are not lying in a cubicles?

Answer 9

Waiting in collecting yard.
Being milked.
Standing at feedface.
“Loafing” - bullying, using brushes, milling about.

Question 17

Foot bathing.

Answer 17

Aims:
- clean feet, harden feet, control pathogens.
Frequency:
- once a week? Every milking?
Product:
- depends on aims.
- 2-5% formalin – carcinogenic and toxic so handle with care!
–> hardening.
- 2-5% copper sulphate – can be toxic to pasture (when spread in slurry).
- 2-5.5% zinc sulphate – use of parlour washings / hypochlorite circulation wash.
- many other products – w/o much evidence base!
Which cows?
- don’t forget dry cows / heifers.
Pre-wash:
- has been shown to reduce contamination in treatment footbath.
- just ensure feet are clean.
Footbaths should be:
- long enough so each foot enters the solution twice.
- deep enough so the solution reaches top of the coronary band.

Question 17

Scraping.

Answer 17

Regular scraping (2x daily) to avoid build up of slurry.
Automatic scrapers.
- do not give shed time to dry out.
- can cause trips and falls and injury.
Look out for pools of slurry.
Wide passageways spread slurry over a larger area.

Question 17

Other considerations of stockmanship effect on lameness.

Answer 17

Patience whilst walking.
ID lame cows.
Nursing care.
Protocols for buying cattle in.
- quarantine procedures.
- herd hx of disease.
Genetics.
- families with increase foot problems and lameness.

Question 18

Preventative foot trimming and “foot checks”.

Answer 18

Adequately trained herds person or lay foot trimmer.
Common approaches:
- all feet of all cows examines and trimmed at drying off (and maybe 60-100DIM or mid-lactation).
- a number of cows with obviously overgrown feet selected on a routine basis (therefore not all cows examined) – not ideal.
- al cows trimmed in batches (often by lay foot trimmer).
- whole herd trimmed annually by a lay foot trimmer e.g. mid-winter.

Question 19

Early detection of foot problems and prompt effective tx.

Answer 19

Training of stockpersons.
- foot trimming incl. lesion ID and tx via therapeutic trimming.
- mobility scoring.

Question 20

Nutrition and impact on foot.

Answer 20

Trace elements…
Good quality horn relies on adequate zinc, sulphur and biotin in diet.
Additional dietary supplementation w/ biotin (20mg/d) has recently been shown to significantly reduce incidence of white line disease.
BCS:
- thin cows go lame.
– post-calving condition loss.
– bcs <2 associated w/ increased lameness.
– thin digital cushion.
- lame cows go thin.
– effect on milk production.
– effect on other disease an recurrence of lameness.

Question 20

Mx of heifers to prevent lameness.

Answer 20

Lameness ca be v high 3-4m of first lactation.
May be v severe - culling.
Changes occurring at the start of first lactation can predispose to lameness for life.
Lameness because:
- bullying / social changes.
- cubicles – increased standing time.
- incomplete digital cushion development.
- udder development.
- concrete – esp. when reared on straw or grass.

Question 21

Prevention strategies of lameness in heifers.

Answer 21

Cubicle training.
Introduce adult diet e.g. TMR.
Separate group for early lactation / first lactation.
Focus on first 60DIM.
?Pre-calving trim?