Cows on the vast majority of farms have spent much longer in the shed than was expected by most, which has led to increased cases of lameness.
With the breeding season approaching on farms, a cow with a lameness issue will often struggle to go in calf.
Ahead of the planned start of mating, you should complete an assessment of your herd to identify cows with potential lameness issues.
Not only can it have a detrimental effect on dairy cow performance, it is also an animal welfare issue.
Lameness
The locomotion or mobility of your herd should be accessed ahead of breeding and cows that show signs of a lameness issue should be draft out and seen by a hoof pairer.
Locomotion and mobility scoring are based of a five-point system (below) based on both gait and posture:
- Normal: The cow is not lame; the back is flat;
- Mildly lame: The back is slightly arched when walking;
- Moderately lame: The back is arched when both standing and walking. The cow walks with short strides in one or more legs;
- Lame: The lame cow can still bear some weight on the affected foot;
- Severely lame: The back is arched; the cow refuses to bear weight on the affected foot and remains recumbent.
Herd assessments should be performed when the cows are walking on level, unobstructed walkways that give the observer a clear view.
On many farms, locomotion scoring is frequently performed when the cows are leaving the milking parlour.
The key to locomotion scoring is knowing that a cow’s hind foot should land in the same place as her front foot – failure to do this may be an indication of a lameness issue.
Treatment
Once an assessment has been completed, it is vital that you then get the cows with lameness issues treated – even if there are only one or two cows in the herd that need to have their feet lifted.
As already mentioned, lameness is an animal welfare issue and can be quite painful depending on the type of issue.
Preventative measures should also be adopted on farms, including the regular pairing of cows and foot bathing.
Other preventative measures include the use of rubber on concrete surfaces where cows are turning and astro-turf on farm roadways.
Having good farm roadways are vital for lameness prevention, although in many cases, farm roadways will not be the cause of lameness issue this year.
Another area that farmers need to focus on, is allowing cows to walk at their own pace and prevent rushing them.
