A proactive approach to reducing lameness

Working with vet, Dr Nick Bell, as part of Healthy Feet Lite, Dan and his team have been looking at simple changes they could make to maintain consistently good mobility scores. Dan’s team regularly mobility scores the herd, checking feet and pro-actively addressing any concerns as soon as they can.

Parlour – only the milking herd regularly runs through the footbath and Nick highlighted the importance of ensuring that both youngstock and dry cows continue with a footbath regime to control digital dermatitis.

Tracks – Cockhaise has a good network of cow tracks, but they also take vehicles and have experienced rain water pooling at key points. Nick suggested building up a camber on the tracks to improve drainage.

Cubicles – Nick emphasised that cows should be lying for at least 12 hours a day for rumination and milk production. AHDB has demonstrated that a deep bed can increase lying time by 1 hour. Nick recommended that Dan and the team undertake a ‘Standing Index’ over the winter when cows are housed to give them an indication of cubicle comfort. The team will count, 2 hours before milking, the number of cows standing or perching and calculate this as a percentage of the herd.

Self-feed silage clamps – Dan raised some concerns about the clamp surfaces. Dan and the team had previously tried to put a skim over this surface but need to revisit this.

 Nick said diamond grooving concrete has been proven to be the best to prevent slipping and while tarmac can provide good grip, it is also more abrasive.

Heifers – Nick suggested exercising heifers prior to calving on a concrete surface to help develop the fat-pad. Promoting the development of the fat-pad in heifers can help reduce the development of bruising or ulcers in the future.

1. Control digital dermatitis by having a clean foot and a foot disinfectant regime, ideally daily, that includes youngstock and dry cows.
2. Improve both cow comfort, to increase lying time, and cow flow, to reduce impact on the foot, to minimise sole bruising.
3. Treat issues such as bruising or digital dermatitis as quickly as possible and apply the most effective treatment.
4. Consider how heifers will transition into the herd. Train them to cubicles, get them used to being in the herd and on concrete to maximise their digital cushion.

1. Take a ‘Standing Index’ of housed cows over the winter to confirm whether the cubicles are providing sufficient comfort.
2. Trialling a wooden kerb at the end of some of the cubicles to see if this helps increase the depth of bed and improve lying time.