XLVets Fact Sheet

Dairy Cow LamenessLameness of the foot - part of the triad of troubles that contribute most

to dairy cattle disease, along with mastitis and infertility.

Milk Fever The most common problem immediatly around calving is milkfever. Milk fever brings its own prob-lems, including sometimes the totalloss of the cow, either directly fromthe effects of hypocalcaemia or frominjuries caused when struggling torise.

There are also many problems thatfollow on from milk fever including:

A high proportion of cows that havemilk fever will retain their afterbirthsand many of these subsequentlydevelop metritis (womb infections).Cows with retained afterbirths or metritis will produce over 7kg less

per day for their first threeweeks of lactation. Cows with retained afterbirthsor

Lameness andLocomotion LLLL

With some herds having lameness rates of 40-50%, this is a massive drain onresources. A lame cow increases her chances of being culled six-fold (a factbacked up by the reasons for slaughter on the OTMS Casualty Slaughter certificates). Since chronically lame cows cannot reliably be transported, manyfarmer clients of XLVets are now reviewing their strategy for tackling the lamenessissue and we are seeing a dramatic rise in the number of individual milking andcull cows being treated.

The bulk of lameness disease

costs are in the reduced chance

of conception and greater number

of days open.

Lameness can reduce conception

rate by greater than 25% and

increase the risk of ovarian

follicular cysts by 2.5 times.

If a calving interval is increased

through lameness and poor

fertility from 420 days to 450

days, this is an extra 30 days

open at £5.75 per day, amounting

to £170 (DAISY Report, 2002).

LAMENESS

DISEASE COSTS

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TREATING LAME COWS

Treating lame cows is one of themost demanding health issues tobe approached on farm, as it isexpensive on both time and physical effort. It is therefore very important that efforts aremaximised to best effect, i.e. thecost-to-benefit ratio is as low aspossible.

Vets often find the best way toinvestigate lameness is via aholistic approach that includes aherd locomotion score to gaugethe severity and extent of the problem.

Lameness ScoringA simple system of scoring cows

is to grade them from 0 throughto 3, where 0 is normal andgood locomotion and 3 isvery lame.

Once each cow had been graded,a plan of attack for treating lamecows can be implemented.

Grade 3 cows that are very lame,are often treated time and again,by farmer and vet. These cowsare broken and will often neverbecome sound. They should stillbe treated as effectively as possibleto maximise their comfort andimprove their welfare, but a realisticcap should be put on their treatment costs.

If all that is required is a quick corrective trim every 1-2 monthsthen this can be very economical.It has been demonstrated that this

can dramatically increase the cow’slongevity, although she may never beeligible for live off-farm transport.

A far more effective use of resourcesis to tackle the grade 2 or grade 1cows, to get them back down tograde 1 or 0, as they can often becured.

One way we have approached thisin the past is for the vet to tackle the3’s, and the farmer or qualified layfoot-trimmer to tackle the 2’s or 1’s.

It is preferable if the foot trimmer is registered with the NationalAssociation of Cattle Foot-Trimmers(www.nacft.co.uk).

It is also important that the reasonsfor lameness, or any lesions found,are recorded so that progress, deterioration and control points can be identified.

FOOT TRIMMING

XLVets Committed to UK farming

Mobility Scoring QuizTest your knowledge at the DairyCocow mobility quiz page. Go towww.dairyco.net (see over page).

Technology has a very valuableplace in the management oflameness.

Computer programs such asInterHerd which can manageinformation on lameness diagnoses, generate lists of cowsdue for trimming, and monitoreffects on performance andanalyse trends in lameness.

Mobile phone technology nowallows us to easily transfer photos of lesions on cow feetfrom farmer to vet, where thiswould not normally justify a special visit. This could well beextended to longer video clips inthe near future, possibly leadingto an easy to use library ofimages to assess progress.

Technology

XLVets Dairy Cow Lameness

Regular foot trimmingAll cows should be hoof-trimmed atleast once or ideally twice in lactation,even if they are sound. This way, cows are prevented as much as ispossible from advancing up the lameness ladder.

Handling equipment and tools mustalso be of the best affordable qualityas this makes a hard job more rewarding. Look at www.wopa.nl forsome decent equipment ideas.

Lameness and the environmentThe remainder of a holistic approachto lameness does require a thoroughreview of the whole of the cows’environment, with a major emphasison housing design and cow trackmanagement. This can be reviewedwith a good cattle vet, especiallythrough the CowSignals® approachto buildings and hoof assessment(www.cowsignals.com ).

XLVets Committed to UK farming. Go to www.xlvets.co.uk

XLVets is a nationwide group of independently owned,progressive veterinary practices committed to the futureof the UK livestock industry. We work together to defineand continually develop veterinary practice standards.

For further information contact your local XLVets practice:

Lameness andLocomotion LLLL

Find out more ...The DairyCo website is hosting The Healthy Feet Project. Their website www.dairyco.net has a wide range of practical information to help dairy farmers reduce the number of lame cows on their farms.

www.dairyco.net

An understanding of the types of lameness and a structuredapproach to tackle underlyingcauses is required to avoid casesgetting as severe as these examples. Talk to your vet aboutlameness management.

MANAGING LAMENESS