Lameness poses serious threat to cow’s health and welfare and, as we move into May, roadways and surfaces need to be maintained to ensure that cow’s heat activity is not limited by the condition.
In order to achieve the best expression of heat and the best conception rates, we need to do everything we can to to make sure that cows are in good condition and that their feed requirements are met.
Lame cows will spend shorter intervals up grazing and more time lying down, which significantly reduces their dry matter intake (DMI), leading to a loss in condition.
This altered behaviour and reduced DMI means that lame cows are less likely to come into heat and, even if they do, they will more than likely have a lower conception rate.
When cows or heifers are lame, stress hormones are released, which can interfere with normal functioning of the rumen and with the endocrine system that regulates the reproductive system.
The knock-on effect of this is that lameness can then significantly reduce milk production and fertility, meaning that lame cows are at greater risk of early culling.
Behaviour
Having cows lame around the start of the breeding season runs the risk of these cows not getting conceived until the latter end of the breeding season or ending up empty.
Locomotion scoring should be carried out in the next number of days to identify the cows that are even mildly lame as, by the time they are obvious – trailing at the back of the herd and coming in last each milking – the issue is often too far gone.
The mildly lame cows should be identified and treated before it gets to the severe stage and their heat activity is hindered.
With heat behaviour in the herd also ramping up, there is also a huge risk of hoof trauma which can lead to sole bruising and white line disease.
With the increase in activity in the herd, you want to limit the amount of jumping and shoving around occurring in collecting yards, roadways, and hard surfaces.
The only way to achieve this is to limit the amount of time the herd spends on these hard surfaces by letting cows to return to the paddock immediately after milking.
The use of timed or text-activated gap openers such as a batt latch allows cows to exit the paddock on their own accord and at their own pace.
Roadways
However, there is no point in investing in a batt latch if roadways are in desperate need of repair, especially when cows are in heat and activity is ramping up.
In a grazing herd, the lameness issues that arise the most are mechanical, like bruising, white line disease, and ulcers, rather than infectious diseases such as mortellaro, foul in the foot, or other infections.
The area that should be prioritised for improvement are as follows:
- Specific problem areas;
- Problem road surfaces;
- Interface areas;
- Roadway verges;
- Cow flow;
- Hoof trimming;
- Foot bathing.
Standing water, poorly drained areas, broken surfaces, and shading under trees are all problem areas that can cause major lameness issues on farms, and they should be rectified for the upcoming breeding season.
Small pebbles and grit are the main cause of white line disease and if they are identified upon hoof trimming, it indicates an issue that has to be rectified. All surfaces should be smooth and well-compacted.
The step from roadway to concrete can cause problems as stones are flicked up and there is no give in the concrete, so farmers should consider laying down a strip of astro-turf to flick off the stones before stepping on concrete.
Remove any grass verges, grass, and sod building up on the roadway as they will only impede drainage.
Sharp turns along the roadway or around the parlour should be removed, matting put down on congested areas and the collecting yard should have more than 1.5m2/cow, to improve cow flow and reduce stress on cows’ feet.
