LAMENESS PROBLEM IN DAIRY CATTLE – PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS
Post no-1395 Dt 8/09/2019
Compiled & shared by-DR RAJESH KUMAR SINGH ,JAMSHEDPUR,JHARKHAND, INDIA, 9431309542,rajeshsinghvet@gmail.com
Introduction
Dairy cow lameness continues to be a serious problem on many farms, But why is lameness such an important issue? Should we not just accept it as part of modern dairy farming? Definitely not. It is painful to the animal, it is a serious welfare issue and is costly to the dairy farm business.
Although we can not eliminate lameness, there is good evidence that it can be greatly on all farms – a farm moving from an average incidence of lameness to the top 10% will save at least the equivalent of 1Rs/litre. And lameness is exceedingly painful,
often compared to the equivalent of the pain humans would feel if walking directly on the lunula (quick) of their nails! Lameness also predisposes cattle to other diseases such as mastitis and ketosis and causes loss of production and reduced fertility. In addition once a cow becomes lame in one lactation she is more likely to have a lameness problem in the future.
Know the problem ———–
Lameness is a multi-factorial disorder and is generally the result of an adverse interaction between the cow and her environment. However, very many cases of lameness could
simply have been avoided by paying better attention to the environment, especially the underfoot conditions. Action required is often very simple and not necessarily expensive.
Even though environmental factors may not be the prime reason for an outbreak of lameness, less than ideal conditions make matters worse and may adversely affect the success of any treatment.
What is lameness?
One of the problems our industry has is how individuals define
lameness. For example, many producers only consider a cow is lame when she has a diseased hoof. These producers do not take account of hock damage, sores, cuts or bruising when considering lameness. Arguably the best definition is any abnormality that causes the animal to change the way it walks (it’s gait). Therefore lameness can be caused by a wide variety of foot and leg conditions, be they disease, husbandry or environmental factors. The causes and their prevention will each be dealt with separately.
Environment
Cow behaviour Lameness
Breeding
Husbandry Factors
The main husbandry factors involved with dairy cattle lameness are:
• Environment (housing and underfoot conditions)
• Nutrition
• Breeding
• Cow Behaviour
• Young stock 
management Environment
*Infection
Traditionally, straw yards have been associated with lower levels of lameness than
cubicles, with cows suffering less risk of damage to knees, hips and hocks. However,
straw yards have the disadvantage of requiring large quantities of bedding (usually straw)
and high levels of management as well as a higher risk of environmental mastitis. This
view has evolved due to the inadequate nature of the earlier designs of cubicles and
because the modern cow had outgrown the size of the cubicles which had a design life of
up to 20-30 years.
Practical evidence around the world shows that this is no longer the case. Cubicle
divisions based on space sharing principles, with cubicle dimensions based on cow size
and cow lying and rising behaviour together with a suitable bedded surface means that the
level of lameness can be low. Added advantages include a wider availability of type of
bedding and smaller quantities (lower cost) and a lower risk of environmental mastitis.
Irrespective of the housing system chosen, the facility must provide a comfortable place for the cow to lie. A method for assessing cow comfort is to measure lying times. A cow will choose to lie down between 10 and 15 times per day with each lying bout usually of around 60 minutes duration. A cow will not lie down for too long in a single bout, as she becomes uncomfortable. Her body weight causes high pressures on those points of her body in direct contact with the ground. Observational studies indicate that cows will lay down for a total of around 11.0 hours per day when at pasture.
Obviously, the less time that a cow spends lying down increases the time she is standing in passageways, loafing areas or at the feed stance. Repeated trauma, such as standing around too long (for whatever reason) affects blood supply to the hoof and so reduces horn growth and its quality. This inevitably increases the risk of the animal to develop foot related problems, i.e. to become lame.
Management of the heifer is of prime importance. Studies show that claw lesions can be evident in young, growing heifers (less than 12 months of age) . Heifers exhibiting these lesions are 28 times more likely to become lame in their first lactation. This inevitability reduces the first lactation performance. Therefore, any success in fighting lameness must start with the young animal. However, the evidence as to what housing system is best for heifers and cows is inconclusive.
Straw yards –
cows prefer to lie down along the outside walls of straw yards and therefore
a rectangular yard is preferable to a square yard. The distance from the bedded yard to
the feed area should be as short and direct as possible and should not exceed 10.0m from
the back wall to the feeding passage. This also minimises the risk of animals treading on
each other as they move around the yard, reducing another risk of leg damage and hence lameness.
Lameness inevitably increases when yards are over-stocked. With the drive to reduce the unit costs of production, herd size has risen but in many cases the total area available for housing has not risen sufficiently. Also, due to the influence of breeding, cows are much larger now than even 10 years ago. This is not always taken into account when investigating lameness. In 2005, the British Standards Institute revised their space allowance recommendations for cattle housed in straw yards and these are significantly different to those previously used by the industry; .
Water troughs should not be positioned on the bedded area, as otherwise the area
becomes wet and sodden which over time softens the hoof. The water troughs should
therefore be located in the trough in the feed fence (which can create problems with feed
contaminating the trough during delivery) or on the edge of the bedded yard but protected
by a block wall so cows can only drink from the feed stance. The trough should not
protrude into the loafing area as this will affect the ability to scrape the area completely.
Table 1 Minimum area allowances for dairy cattle housed in straw yards
Mass of animal
(kg) Bedded area
(m2) Loafing area
(m2) Total area / cow
(m2)
200 3.5 2.5 6.0
300 4.5 2.5 7.0
400 5.5 2.5 8.0
500 6.0 2.5 8.5
600 6.5 2.5 9.0
700 7.0 3.0 10.0
800 8.0 3.0 11.0
The loafing area also includes the standing area in front of the feed trough.
Cubicles –
these should be of a size, type and design to provide a comfortable lying area. They must encourage cows to lie down more (this may mean that existing cubicles need to be adapted to increase lying space) and designed to stop cows from creeping forward (which will reduce their lunging space). It is vitally important to provide at least 5% more cubicles than cows in any management group. There are many supportive reasons for this requirement, including the fact that over crowding decreases lying times in cubicles. Cows lower in the social hierarchy will forfeit their place to more dominant animals, leading to extended periods of standing and a deterioration in foot health.
Both research and practical experience have shown that cubicle usage increases with cubicle size. The total length of the cubicle needs to provide body space, head space and lunging space. When rising naturally, a cow will choose to lunge forward and open fronted cubicles allow greater lunging room Although a head to head cubicle configuration provides extra lunging space, in reality animals are reluctant to lung forward into a space occupied by another cow. Cubicles which are closed at the front, such as against a wall, often reduce the forward lunging unless the cubicle length is increased. Where a closed front cubicle is too short the cow is likely to lunge to the side and a cubicle partition which allows this lunging action is imperative. However, cows which have to lunge to the side also tend to lie at an angle which can increase soiling and mastitis.
It is important that a cubicle is wide enough to allow the cow to recline and rise easily. There are numerous types of cubicle partition currently available on the market. The overall requirement of any partition is to provide the cow with maximum comfort, while ensuring that she is correctly positioned. It must be attractive to cows, avoid exerting pressure on any part of the cow and allow cows to “share” space, to provide lunging space and to be strong and durable.
The partition also needs to impart a degree of protection to prevent injury from
neighbouring animals. Many of the traditional partition designs have sections of the
partition that impinge on the area the cow may choose to spread. Lower rails (often
installed 400mm above the bed surface) can lead to cows becoming trapped and many
partitions with a rear support leg cause damage to cows hocks and pelvis. Currently, the
suspended Cantilever partition is generally considered to be the most appropriate division
for cows, allowing some space sharing while easing rising. Certainly divisions with rear
legs should be either adapted or replaced if lameness is to be improved.
Cubicles do need to be fitted with a brisket board, the purpose of which is to position the cow correctly when she is lying down. When the brisket board is correctly located, the cow will dung into the scrape passage and be able to rise without difficulty. The board should be angled towards the front of the cubicle to allow for the natural shape of the cow’s neck and be no more than 0.1m in height. The distance from the rear edge of the brisket board to the rear kerb should be 1.6-1.8m.
The purpose of the head rail is to position the cow when she enters the cubicle, before she lies down. If it is too close to the kerb, it will limit the occupancy of the cubicle and cause the cow to stand “2 feet” with the detriment to rear legs and feet. Conversely, if it is set too far forward on the partition, although the cow will stand with four feet on the cubicle, she can soil the back of the bed increasing the risk of environmental mastitis.
The height of the head rail should be between 1.2-1.25m above the base of the cubicle bed, which is commonly around 200 mm below average withers height. If the rail is set too low then it can cause injury to the cow when she reclines and rises. The head rail should be 1.6-1.8m from the cubicle kerb. Small changes can have a large impact on occupancy, cow injury and bed cleanliness.
The height of the kerbstone/heelstone should normally be between 0.15-0.2m, with the final height of the kerb dictated by the method of slurry removal. Long scrape passages may require a slightly higher kerb to prevent slurry contaminating the back of the beds. A slatted scrape passage will allow the kerb to be reduced in height. The kerb height should not be reduced below 0.15m, as this can encourage some cows to lie partly in and partly out of the cubicle, increasing the risk of injury and lameness. Where mats or mattresses are fitted, their height should be considered in the kerb depth calculation.
One risk of injury to cows’ feet and legs is where the animal slips off the back of the
heelstone, jarring her rear legs. Where mattresses or mats are fitted the back edge of the
material may be sufficient to allow the animal to realise her position in relation to the
heelstone. The fitting of a pipe or batten has also been successfully used. However, this
can create problems with free drainage of the cubicle base and effective cleaning, so
creating mastitis risks.
To minimise the risk of hock damage, contact sores, abrasive injuries and lameness in general, the cubicle lying surface needs to be comfortable to the cow and encourage high occupancy. It also needs to be easy to keep clean, non-slippery and durable. If the bedding surface is comfortable, in combination with the correct cubicle dimensions, the cows will be encouraged to spend increased time lying which will have a direct bearing on the condition of their feet and the incidence of lameness.
Studies, particularly in the USA, have found that sand based cubicles and those with mattresses were more comfortable than other surfaces (as measured by cow occupancy) and that culling tended to be lower with sand than mattresses. This was a reflection of a lower incidence of lameness with sand based cubicles than mattresses.
Passageways, collection and dispersal yards —
Optimising lying conditions will minimise the time that cows are on their feet. There should
never be “dead ends” within cattle buildings, such as at the end of a cubicle passage, as
this increases opportunities for bullying and the consequent increased risk of slipping and
lameness. Subordinate animals must be able to freely move away from dominant cows.
Access points also need to be as wide as possible to prevent cows from being pushed
against posts and walls and to minimise bullying – all of which increases the level of
lameness. Cattle should always be moved in a calm and gentle manner, i.e. moved at their
own pace and not chased by dogs or stockperson.
Handling facilities
There are numerous cattle handling facilities available. Regardless of the type they need
to have non slip surfaces, be sited to avoid tight turns, be in well lit areas and without any
projections on gates, hurdles, etc, on which animals (and operator) could injure
themselves. Site footbath on exit route from parlour (but not so close to impinge free cow
flow). Double footbaths are considered better because they allow dirt etc to be washed
off prior to treatment
Cattle are less sure-footed on downward slopes and prefer to move up gradual inclines rather than steep slopes. Handling facilities should therefore be sited on either a flat antislip tamped concrete surface or a slight incline with the cattle flow up hill.
Underfoot conditions
All surfaces must have good falls to allow drainage and to prevent pooling of slurry and foul water. In a great number of dairy units, the concrete slabs and floors have been down for a considerable number of years and consequently show signs of deterioration by either being broken, cracked and eroded or being worn. Rough or broken concrete can cause abrasion of the sole and puncture wounds and must be either repaired or replaced, ensuring that you leave a non-slip surface.
Concrete that is well worn is likely to be smooth and slippery. Slipping can lead to bruising
of the sole and to other foot and leg damage. Worn concrete need not be replaced if it is
structurally sound but can be grooved thereby reducing the risk of injury. Good results
have been obtained by cutting grooves 40 mm apart which run at right angles to the
direction of cow movements. The grooves should be 6-10 mm deep and 10 mm wide for
optimum affect. Grooving at right angles provides better resistance than grooves which
run parallel to the direction of cow traffic. Squares and diamond shapes are discouraged,
although squares can have a role where there is random cow movement.
Farms using sand based cubicles report that the passageways can soon become smooth, due to the wearing affect of sand between the cows feet and the concrete, and therefore remedial action must be taken.
There are many types of slats available for cattle housing. It is important that the slats are well constructed with no rough edges or abrasions. The width of the slat and their spacing is a compromise between the provision of adequate support for the cow’s foot and effective self cleaning. For a mature dairy cow, the width of the slat is likely to be around 140-160mm and the spacing between slats between 35-40mm.
Farm tracks and paths
Cattle will walk significant distances when grazing and these distances can increase
considerably when walking to and from milking. It is therefore important to consider how
the cows are moved and the nature and condition of the surfaces they are walking on.
When allowed to walk at their own speed, cows are able to place their feet carefully to
avoid obstacles or rough sharp objects and will generally walk in single file along
established tracks. If forced to hurry, they will bunch together and can not choose where
to place their feet, thus becoming much more likely to sustain damage from sharp stones and other debris.
Nutrition
Certain types of lameness are caused or aggravated by the cows’ nutrition, often due to the influence on the corium (nail bed) of the hoof. The corium is an area of soft tissue containing a myriad of nerves and blood vessels. These blood vessels bring oxygen, amino acids (the protein building blocks), minerals and other nutrients to sustain horn growth. Horn is formed when living epidermal cells move slowly towards the outside of the foot, accumulating a hard protein structure called keratin.
One form of lameness is laminitis, or inflammation of the whole area of the corium. The
immediate effect of acute laminitis is pain and limping, with the pain being caused by the
inflammation/swelling within the enclosed confines of the hoof, i.e. it is the pressure that
causes the pain.
Laminitis can occur sub-clinically (symptoms not obvious) and results in minor changes of the normal structure in the whole area of the corium. These changes can affect horn production for the remainder of the animal’s life. This is because the epidermis (sole) of the hoof has no direct blood supply and therefore the living epidermal cells acquire oxygen and nutrients by diffusion from the corium. This reliance on diffusion makes these cells very susceptible to any disturbance in the micro-circulation within the corium and therefore even small changes can have significant influence on the cow’s feet.
The importance of nutrition on foot health is clear, though discussion continues in the scientific and veterinary field as to the balance between nutritional and other factors. One opinion is that any restriction to the blood supply to the feet affects horn growth resulting in softer feet which may become misshapen and more prone to injury and disease – typically white line disease and sole ulcers.
The feeding system may have a significant effect in restricting blood supply to the feet.
Most cases of lameness appear 8 weeks after calving with peak foot lesions occurring 16-
24 weeks into lactation. As horn growth takes about 6-8 weeks, this suggests that nutrition around calving and early lactation could play a significant role.
The important nutrition factors affecting lameness are acidosis (and forage/fibre supply), protein content of the diet, fibre digestion, mineral and vitamin levels.
Acidosis –
acidosis is a lowering of rumen pH meaning that there is too much acid in the
rumen. This is mainly brought about by over loading the rumen with too much concentrate
feed, especially starch. In normal digestion, diet components are largely broken down to
propionic, acetic and butyric acid, and the balance between these are important for good
rumen health. Concentrates are largely broken down to propionic acid which is directly
absorbed into the blood stream. Too high a level of concentrates in the diet, or too much
fed at once, cause metabolic pathways and bacterial populations to change, and lactic
acid accumulates. The extent of the acidosis will depend on how well the desirable rumen
organisms can be maintained, and the level of lactic acid controlled. When lactic acid is
absorbed into the blood stream it upsets the cows metabolism and affects blood circulation
reducing blood supply to the feet.
The increased acidity of the rumen also kills some of the microbes, their decay producing toxins which are absorbed into the blood stream. These toxins release histamine, which together, causes permanent damage to blood vessels.
Forage/Fibre –
ruminant animals are designed to utilise fibre, and it is as much a shortfall
of forage in diets that allows acidosis to develop. More than this, providing sufficient fibre
in the diet to maintain good rumination could be significant in minimising laminitis. But all
forages/roughages are not equal. Very wet, acid silages (low pH value) may have
restricted intakes and will increase rumen acidity directly. Silage’s high in ammonia and
poorly fermented are likely to reduce intake and require supplementation with additional
concentrates, potentially creating problems. Very leafy (high D-value) silages contain less
fibre. This may not be a concern so long as the silage forms a greater part of the diet and
dependence on concentrate is reduced.
In all diets for high yielding cows there is a need to be more conscious of the chop length
of forages. Short chop length will benefit consolidation of drier material in the clamp –
which is important, but it does little to stimulate good rumination and saliva flow. Where
diets contain high amounts of short chopped maize or wholecrop, it is especially important
that the chop of the grass silage is long, or additional long (5cms+) forage as hay or straw
are added.
Protein –
The extent to which excess protein is responsible for lameness incidences
remains unclear. The concern is that too much protein in the diet creates high ammonia
levels in the rumen which can be potentially toxic. Greater knowledge of rumen protein
digestion indicates that utilization of protein is tightly linked to the diet energy supply.
Work at the Scottish colleges in the late 1980’s found a significant link between high
protein diets and lameness. High protein content in diets resulted in significantly higher
locomotion scores and also increased the duration of lameness. However, the effect of
management appeared to have a greater impact. So that cows on a 16% CP diet whose
feet were untrimmed had a similar degree of lameness that cows fed a 19% CP diet but
whose feet were properly trimmed. However, much of the research carried out in the
1980’s was undertaken with British Friesians – would Holsteins show similar results?
Other studies have found that an increasing level of protein had no influence on the prevalence of sole haemorrhages associated with laminitis, whereas work from New Zealand suggests that pastures high in protein (22% CP) in the dry matter may be implicated in causing laminitis.
What is clear is that there is little research information available to indicate what levels of protein are high enough to cause laminitis and what mode of action protein (or ammonia) plays in the disease development process. The safe option would appear to be to avoid high protein diets and to maintain a balance between rumen degradable protein and fermentable energy so that the simpler forms of protein are fully utilised in the rumen. Many farms will find some reduction in protein supply is possible without reduced feed intakes and milk production. This is also desirable for health and financial reasons. Sulphur containing amino acids (i.e. methionine) may improve horn quality, though confirmation is required to support additional inclusion.
Minerals, Vitamins and Trace Elements –
these are often overlooked yet essential for correct horn growth and development. Horn quality, that is the process of keratinisation of epidermal cells is influenced by:-
• Vitamins A, D, E & Biotin Vitamin H
• Minerals, Calcium & Phosphorus
• Trace elements, Zinc & Selenium
Many of these , such as Calcium, Zinc and Biotin are activators or co-factors for enzymes
that are essential for normal horn production. Deficiencies of minerals, vitamins and trace
element lead to disturbances in the keratinisation process and result in a decrease in horn
quality.
Feeding systems should provide a sufficient and balanced supply of minerals, vitamins
and trace elements. A large amount of these will come in the feeds included in the diet.
The supply of the major minerals (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium in particular) should
be part of the diet formulation. Trace elements and vitamins may be added via compound
feed or a mineral/vitamin supplement. A methodical approach should be taken to trace
element/vitamin addition as an excess is as undesirable and potentially as costly as
deficiency.
Therefore always review what the diet provides, compare this with recommendations and
supplement as necessary. Horn growth is a slow process, and it may be many months
before changes made to the trace element / vitamin supply are likely to become evident in
horn quality.
Nutritional Check List to Minimise Lameness ———-
So what does this mean in practice? Dairy farming is a business and as such has to optimise returns, i.e. the aim is to achieve a diet that delivers good milk production at the same time as maintaining good health (especially rumen health) and fertility.
Concentrate Feed little and often.
Maximum 4 kg per feed. Maintain constant rumen pH and avoid fluctuations
in rumen pH. Avoid acidosis. Ideal maximum is 2kg
concentrate per feed, although not always practical.
TMR is very beneficial in this respect.
Max 28% starch/sugar in the
diet dry matter. To avoid acidosis. However, some cows are fed
higher levels without problem. What is critical is the
combination of high starch /sugar with low fibre
diets.
Protein Avoid excess 18-19% CP for
high yielding cows
Balance energy & protein
Forage Minimum 40% of diet
preferably over 50% Ensure sufficient fibre in the diet.
Ensure good forage intake Aim to provide high dry matter silage with low
fermentation acids and ammonia content. Plenty of
feed space and good trough hygiene.
Avoid too much oil in the diet
(less than 6%) Some oils tend to inhibit fibre digestion in the
rumen. Choose fat sources with care.
Management Don’t make sudden changes
to the diet It takes the rumen about two weeks to fully adjust to
new rations.
Provide good access to
some long forage Particularly important when leafy wet, short chop
silage or lush grazing is fed. If cubicles or straw
yards are well bedded then bedding straw may be
sufficient.
Avoid fat cows at calving Aim for a Condition Score of 3. Fat cows have
lower intakes.
Don’t feed mouldy forages or
feeds. Mycotoxins produced from moulds, can induce
various undesirable problems.
Offer salt, if low sodium
forages fed. Consider
sodium bicarbonate if
feeding very acid silage,
excess starch. The cow has a tremendous ability to buffer diets
naturally with saliva. Provide salt if desired, and
bicarbonate if necessary (50-150 grams/day).
Ensure a smooth transition
from dry cow diet to milking
cow diet. Essential for heifers but important for higher yielding
cows.
Minerals, vitamins
& trace elements Can be important Not a panacea.
In many herds the change to higher yields using superior genetics has moved faster than the quality of diets required and the quality of the feeding management. Well planned diets (and in particular good forages) together with a careful and monitored approach to feeding management will give good milk production and good health.
Although evidence is not always clear as to the effects of feeding on lameness, the following consensus applies: —
• Heifers in particular must be allowed to acclimatise to the feeds in the post-
calving/milking ration, before calving.
• Dry cows in higher yielding herds (400KG plus) must move to a transition diet around 2 weeks before calving.
• Higher starch/sugar diets require that feeding management is good, if adverse affects
on feet are to be avoided.
• Avoid unnecessarily high levels of protein in the diet.
• Avoid abrupt changes in the ration even when the cows are part way through their
lactation.
• Avoid wet, highly acidic silages if possible. Where they have to be offered ensure that
dry forage is also available.
• Monitor the intake of forages. The analysis may look fine but if intakes are lower than
expectation then the forage:concentrate ratio will be less than ideal.
• Feeding can have an important role to play in preventing the development of laminitis.
Any feeding mismanagement will provide a risk factor to foot health.
• Follow a planned feeding strategy, appropriate to the level of milk output and body
condition in order to minimise the risks of lameness and other health and welfare
concerns.
• Avoid major changes to the diet, particularly at calving.
Breeding ——–
The leg and foot conformation of a cow is influenced by both the environmental effects
(predominantly feeding) but also by the animal’s breeding. The cow’s feet and legs are
essentially shock absorbers. An adult cow will typically now weigh around 700kg, and this
significant weight (and force when moving) is transferred down through the legs and feet
and focused on a very small area – the outside of the foot. The weight borne on each leg
of a cow standing equally on all 4 feet is therefore in the region of 175kg, although slightly
weighted to the rear legs. This increases with movement, and the cows motion is often in
less than ideal conditions – on rough and broken concrete, muddy tracks and awkward
buildings.
There are breed differences, with no one breed being better overall than others, although
Jerseys and Ayrshires would be considered to be less susceptible to foot related
problems. The Brown Swiss is prone to corkscrew claws, laminitis and sole ulcers, while
white line score was worst in Guernseys and heel erosion and digital dermatitis were worst
in Holsteins and Friesians. Evidence suggests that Jerseys tend to have harder feet and
less lameness, perhaps linked to the fact that cows with “black” horn are less prone to
lameness. This links to the increased interest in cross breeding to red Scandinavian
breeds.
So what conformation will minimise a predisposition to lameness? ——–
The shape of the foot, depth of heel and hock and pastern angle are inherited characteristics and combine to produce the overall locomotion of the cow. Breeding sets out to achieve the optimum for each of theses characteristics.
The legs (side view) should not be too straight as excessively straight legs make the animal vulnerable to joint injury and claw problems. Straight legs are also not efficient shock absorbers. Conversely, if the leg is excessively sickled this throws too much weight on to the heels and places too much pressure on ligaments. The optimum is the middle position, i.e. a leg that is neither too straight or too sickled.
The hocks (legs, rear view) should not be too close together as this pushes the toes outwards, and often forwards, giving the cow a poor gait and uneven horn growth. The optimum is for straightness with feet carried directly underneath the hook bones.
leg set that is too straight or too sickled for your herd. Select the bull to do a particular job
with a specific group of cows, use a team of bulls and change the team at least annually.
Bear in mind that we are looking for a middle leg set (not too straight or too sickled),
consistently selecting for a straight leg would not be ideal. We must also never forget that
half the genes of the offspring come from the dam, a near to perfect sire can not work
miracles on a less than perfect cow! Therefore breeding objectives can be summarised
as:
• Breed only from cows with good locomotion, legs and feet
• Select for production traits first
• Select lifespan, locomotion and trait composites second
• Check those bulls selected for specific traits to improve legs and feet as well as udders
and other desirable traits
• Cows with average legs and feet can survive well under good management
• Do not breed from cows with a history of clinical lameness, with badly deformed feet
and legs or suffering from solar ulcers
• Use corrective mating where appropriate
• Cull any animals suffering from chronic lameness
Finally, excellent feet and legs can be ruined by poor management and poor legs and feet can be tolerated under good management. Foot trimming helps make the best of what is available but is not the only solution – if the quality of horn is poor then the cow will continue to have problems.
Veterinary Factors
The main veterinary factors involved with dairy cattle lameness are:
• Culling/welfare
• Locomotion scoring
• Effects on staff morale
• Restraint
• Dry Matter Intake (DMI)
• Diagnosis
• Oestrous behaviour
• Treatment
• Fertility
Proportion of herd with clinical lameness
The main factors affecting the amount of subclinical lameness include:
• Environment (including yards, tracks and season)
• Breed and other animal factors
• Nutrition and other management factors.
Proportion of herd with clinical lameness
Every milking herd will have some subclinical and clinical lameness. The proportion of lame cows in a herd depends on the number of cases that go from subclinical to clinical (cows treated per year) and the rate of recovery.
Rate of clinical to subclinical:
• Harshness of the environment, robustness of the cow and how she is managed, plus
• Whether the early (subclinical) lesions are effectively treated (regardless of whether
detected or not e.g. digital dermatitis may be treated with a footbath without the farmer
realising the problem).
The rate of recovery from lameness:
• Harshness of the environment, robustness of the cow and how she is nursed
• Effectiveness of treatment
• Type of lesion e.g. sole ulcers are slow to recover, if they recover at all.
A five point plan to reduce lameness. ————
To minimise the severity of lameness, the following measures can be highly effective:
1. Inspect the locomotion of every cow, every day (e.g. during herding) and treat every
case of clinical and subclinical lameness effectively and promptly (within 24 hours for
clinical lameness)
2. Manage transition cows (3 weeks before and after calving) and lame cows on well-
managed straw yards (or in extremely comfortable cubicle housing) during the housing
period
3. Lift, inspect and if necessary trim all feet of all cows at least once yearly (drying off)
4. Footbath all animals in the herd (including dry cows and youngstock if practical) with an
effective disinfectant and foot conditioner at least once weekly
5. Provide level, dry and well-drained walking or standing surfaces, free of hard stone or
gravel
Lameness treatment ———-
It is not the intention for this handout to cover the practical aspects of routine claw trimming but an introduction to the examination of the foot, basic principles of effective claw trimming and pointers to effective treatment.
Lameness treatment should follow some simple principles:
• Lift and examine the claws and between the claws as soon as abnormalities are
detected. 99% of lameness originates around, in and between the hooves, so there
needs to be a readily accessible and easily usable means for examining the feet.
Whatever method is used for examination it must be safe, efficient and welfare friendly
for both the cow and operator. Being accessible and welfare friendly will encourage
prompt examination and treatment, and improve morale for time-constrained farm staff.
• Only trim if experienced and preferably trained to use the Dutch 5-step technique.
• Do not over trim. The hoof is a hard piece of insensitive tissue that covers the
sensitive tissue called the “quick” or the corium. Over zealous trimming can expose
the quick greatly increasing pain and prolonging recovery. The maxim of “a bit more
can be trimmed off in a few days time” is far better than over trimming.
• Prevention of lameness is of paramount importance followed by prompt effective
treatment. A correct diagnosis enables the most effective treatment and changes in
management to be instigated to facilitate recovery. Many use the term foul for all
lameness conditions however, this is not the case.
• The most common lesions are :
¾ Sole haemorrhage
¾ White line disease
¾ Digital dermatitis
¾ Interdigital dermatitis
¾ Interdigital growths
¾ Foul in the foot
¾ Laminitis
¾ Pedal sepsis
¾ Penetrating injuries
• Some may require antibiotic therapy but some require effective hoof trimming.
• The main principles of trimming are:
¾ Return hooves to correct shape and balance
¾ Remove necrotic and infected tissue to allow new healthy horn to grow ¾ Remove horn to allow drainage to prevent abscess formation
¾ Remove horn around a lesion to reduce the pressure on the lesion and reduce pain
allowing the lesion to “heal”
The majority of hoof lesions are in the outer claw of the hind leg and inner claw of the fore
leg.
To reduce pain and allow time for lesions to recover may involve “blocking” the unaffected
claw which prevents the affected claw being continually traumatised by contact with the
floor.
Control measures ————-
• High standards of biosecurity and hygiene, even if you have digital dermatitis already
¾ Once you’ve got it you have it forever
¾ Avoid buying in different “strains” or mixture of “strains” (multiple families of bugs
could produce more severe disease problems)
¾ Ideally operate a closed herd but even then you may still have a breakdown (slurry
from vehicle wheels, boots, contaminated foot kit)
¾ Buy from “free” herds but inspect and treat on arrival. Isolate for as long as
practical and re-inspect or retreat before introducing to herd.
¾ Beware the bull (especially old hire bulls), beef stock and sheep – they can all bring
it in
¾ Remember disease can be spread to youngstock and dry cows on other units
¾ Be hygienic when handling or treating lameness and digital dermatitis lesions
• Herd treatment generally means an antibiotic foot bath at the right depth, right
concentration and with clean feet. Only the power-hose, straw yards and wet pasture
clean feet thoroughly. Consult your vet on best treatment protocol for your farm and:
¾ Remember youngstock and dry cows
¾ Always have a pre-wash bath. This triggers the dunging reflex, most of which will
be deposited in the first bath, preserving the second bath.
¾ If possible make a special job of it to be sure cows are not drinking antibiotics ¾ Ask your vet about spray treatments if foot bathing is a problem
• Cows at pasture – a great method of cleaning feet unless gates/tracks are muddy
• Keep up treatment/disinfection – this is more effective when the feet are cleaned at
pasture
Slurry management
¾ Careful scraping important – use a quality box scraper, drive in first gear along
kerbs and feed barriers, replace worn rubber blades regularly
¾ Beware increased slurry levels under certain situations (on slats, with automatic
scrapers, with high yielding herds that produce large amounts of dung, densely
stocked yards or narrow alleys)
¾ Beware stale slurry in corners of sheds, AI pens, out-of-parlour feeders, beside
round feeders, next to water troughs, along the edge of collecting yards, in crush,
around foot bath, in the race
¾ Beware pools of stale/standing water or muddy gates/water troughs
• Feet cleaned & disinfected ———–
¾ In most herds the most practical, time-efficient, cost-effective way of coping with
high slurry challenge is to wash it off every day
¾ Foot bathing is usually the most efficient way to do this, but careful planning is
needed to make the job easy (easy drain and clean, easy fill, distant from parlour,
concrete baths are more cow friendly, straw used in pre-wash)
¾ Use the right agent, at the right depth (more than 10cm deep so disinfectant runs
down the hair), replaced regularly (200litres normally does 200 cows once).
¾ 5% formalin works well under most herd conditions but is not very effective on raw
lesions (so use after antibiotic treatments or use a weak and rising formalin solution
– see later) and is unpleasant to work with. Replace if very contaminated, if more
than 1 cow per litre of foot bath has gone through it or within 48 hours
¾ If using antibiotic is to be avoided, start with 3 consecutive days per week of 2%
formalin solution and raise the concentration by 2% every week until 10% is
reached, then drop back to 5% after 1 week. Repeat regularly and as needed
¾ Copper sulphate seems to work better when acidified (e.g. with dilute FAM30) and
used at high concentrations, but will result in copper salts in the slurry tank
¾ Dilute hypochlorite is probably effective but is best used in conjunction with other
treatments
¾ Dilute peracetic acid has been shown to be effective
¾ Consult your vet on the best protocol for you and your herd.
Foot bathing checklist ———
Footbathing should be used when all other methods of control are failing. None-the-less,
if done correctly, footbathing can be a very effective means of controlling digital dermatitis
and foul-in-the-foot, as well as hardening feet. However, it needs to be done to high
standards to be effective. Use this checklist to ensure you’re meeting the highest
standards.
Indicators of problems with your routine foot bathing:
• Outbreaks of digital dermatitis or foul-in-the-foot
• Lameness outbreaks straight after footbathing
• Lameness due to digital dermatitis (regular and effective footbathing should prevent
this)
• Superfoul
• Severe or chronic digital dermatitis
• Cows weight-shifting and shaking feet (particularly after going through the footbath)
• Growths between the claws
• Burnt skin around feet or on udder
• Poor cow flow
• Cows jumping through bath
• A time consuming job
Type of herd treatment
Please consult your veterinary surgeon on regimes, withdrawal times, precautions and dose rates for:
• Antibiotics – useful for strategic treatments
• Disinfectant – useful for routine prevention
• Chemical treatments – useful when antibiotics aren’t an option
Is the bath the appropriate dimensions
• Depth should be enough to cover the heels (more than 3 inches, 75mm) and deeper
the better (up to 6 inches, 150mm). Deeper baths mean more agent runs and trickles
down on to heels
• Wide enough – preferably wide enough to allow one cow to pass another
• Long enough – 2 sections each 8 -10 foot (2.4-3.0m) long. The longer the better.
Is footbathing agent correct concentration at the start and the end
• Work out the volume of the bath and the right amount of agent you need (see sheet)
and double check your figures
• Some agents need dissolving in warm water first (e.g. copper sulphate)
• Dung will dilute any solution so that the last cow through gets less treatment. Under
typical conditions, a 200 litre bath of formalin will treat 200 cows. Best policy is to
empty and refill once the number of cows bathed exceeds the volume of bath. Some
agents evaporate or bind with slurry, so refilling after 24-48 hours is also
recommended. Refill if you think it looks severely contaminated.
Are the feet clean?
Feet may be excessively dirty in winter, if yards are deep with slurry, if straw is used
sparingly or not at all, or if automatic scrapers are used. Foot bathing is more effective if the feet are cleaned by:
• Washing with powerhose (important for antibiotic treatments)
• Footbathing daily
• Straw yards
• Being out at pasture
And kept clean by: ——–
• Slurry (and straw) deactivates disinfectants. Therefore, maintain an effective footbath
you should:
• Completely clean the bath of slurry before starting – to do it properly you need running
water, a sloped bath, a good squeegee or volume washer and a good drain
• Make bathing a daily routine – cows are more relaxed and produce less dung. Use
something like diluted hypochlorite solution on days between treatments.
• Ensure good cow flow – minimise the stress for cows
• Do not run sore footed cows through strong formalin – it’s cruel
• Use a pre-wash bath – cows defecate in this which preserves the second bath
• Do not use straw in baths (except when encouraging good cow flow at the start of a
programme).
Is cow flow good?
• Put bath on normal exit route for cows (or make part of normal exit route) i.e. place the
bath between parlour and feed barrier/cubicles
• Place distant from the parlour (so one row of cows can queue, especially if the bath is
single cow width)
• Make bathing a part of the daily routine for cows
• Use solid baths that don’t bang or clatter
• Make the bottom comfortable to walk on – no sharp ridges, old carpet can help.
Allowing treatments to work
Cows need to walk out onto a clean, dry yard for 20 minutes to allow agents to work on feet. This is hampered by:
• Walking into unscraped yards or muddy tracks/gateways
• Walking out onto pasture or straw yards
• Deep pools of water or slurry in yards.
