Cattle Lameness 3

Question 1

What are the 2 ways to reduce disease prevalence?

Answer 1

• Treat exsiting disease
• Prevent new disease

Question 2

How can we reduce sole ulcers and haemhorrage by “Walking and standing for long periods on hard surfaces (e.g. concrete), especially in the post calving period”?(4)

Answer 2

–Promoting lying

»Cubicle comfort – make the bed really comfy so they want to be in them

–Post calving period

»Cubicle training for heifers

»Fresh cow groups

–Limiting standing time

»Collecting yard – make the standing groups smaller to prevent standing

–Rubber matting

Question 3

What 5 issues are common with cattle cubicles?

Answer 3

1. Many too small – Sheds designed for British Friesians which are a bit smaller!
2. Many worn out – Sharp/rough edges. Makes the cow reluctant to sit
3. Step >10”

• Slip off step
• When standing half in and half out, ­ pressure on legs & flexor tendons
• Bigger the step – force weight onto back feet

4. Insufficient bedding Þ Uncomfortable + hock and hip abrasions and ulceration Þ lameness
5. Ideally 5-10% more cubicle than cows –

–Ensure free choice

–Avoids bullying

–Choice of the bed they use

Question 4

What type of cubicle bedding has the greatest amount of lying down time?

Answer 4

Cow cushion

Question 5

What type of cubicle bedding has the least amount of lying down time?

Answer 5

Bare concrete

Question 6

What is the end result of a cow spending less time lying down? (3)

Answer 6

The alternative is to stand on concrete in slurry

• Softens feet
• Increases pressure abnormally
• Increased levels of lameness

Question 7

Why do we have dividers between cubicles?

Answer 7

We want them to go in forwards so all muck goes in passageway not on bed

Question 8

What size lunge zone do you want in the ideal cubicle?

What size bob zone?

Answer 8

90cm lunge

10cm bob

Question 9

What is the difference here and what does that mean?

Answer 9

Left: “Head to Head” cubicles. Lunge space can be shared forward

Right: “Head to Wall” cubicles. Lunge space must be provided forward

Question 10

What are th signs of problems with cubicles? (3)

Answer 10

• Cow half in/half out lying
• Cow half in/half out standing
• Standing not lying (especially near cubicle)

Question 11

What would the cow in an ideal cubicle look like?

Answer 11

Question 12

What are the 3 cow cubicle comfort tests and how are these done?

Answer 12

• Knuckle test – first into bed and twist. Tests to see how abrasive the bed is. (if your knuckles hurt – bad)
• Knee drop test – drop onto your knees on the bed. Should be willing to do it without the worry of it hurting. We are lighter than cows so I we are unwilling it is not good enough
• Lying test – just lie in cubicle. Not so great as we aren’t 700kg.

Question 13

What 2 things should we do for heifers about to use cubicles prior to calving?

Answer 13

–Cubicle training during rearing

•Provide at least one month in cubicles before they calve

–When cows out at grass?

–Expose to concrete before they calve

•Allows the foot to adapt to the post calving environment

Question 14

What cubicles should a fresh cow group have?

Answer 14

–Provide “best” cubicles at a low stocking rate or very clean straw yard for 4-6 weeks after calving

• Reduces pressure on feet during risk period
• Reduces stress during the post calving period

Question 15

How can we limit waiting time in a collecting yard? (2) What is the issue of this

Answer 15

•Split cows into more groups

–Disliked by farmers as increases complexity

•Increase parlour size

–Expensive

Question 16

What is a benefit and negative of using rubber matting through a unit or where cows stand for periods of time?

Answer 16

Benefit - comfort

Negative - cost

Question 17

How can we prevent foot overgrowth?

Answer 17

Routine foot trimming

Question 18

Who can do foot trimming?

Answer 18

–Farm staff (Must have appropriate training)

–Foot Trimmers

•Must be trained, ideally fully qualified/NACFT

Question 19

When do we foot trim? (4)

Answer 19

1. All feet of all cows are examined and trimmed at drying off
2. A number of cows with obviously overgrown feet are selected on a routine basis (therefore not all cows are examined)
3. All cows are trimmed in batches (often by a lay foot trimmer)
4. The whole herd is trimmed annually by a lay foot trimmer

Question 20

How can we reduce periparturient increase in the movement of the pedal bone?

Answer 20

–Provide periparturient animals with the best accommodation to minimise risk during this key period

Question 21

How can you lose of fat from the digital cushion and new bone formation on P3 (2)

Answer 21

–Minimise body condition score loss to peak yield. (Current recommendation are adequate targets for this purpose)

–Identify and treat animals early to limit the impacts of disease

Question 22

What are the 3 reasons we need to manage diet (especially high yielding cows)?

Answer 22

–Avoid subacute rumenal acidosis (SARA)

–Providing a source of high quality long fibre

–Minimise body condition score loss to peak yield

Question 23

What four things can be done to help poor underfoot conditions?

Answer 23

–Improve cow tracks

–Repair damaged yards

–Gateways and water troughs

–“Forcing” / pressurising cows forward

Question 24

What are the objectives of cow tracks? (6)

Answer 24

–Encourage rapid cow flow

–Comfortable and easy travel. Wide enough.

–Minimise damage and risk of lameness

–Keep cows clean – don’t want it too muddy (we use these for milking)

–Reduce loss of pasture due to poaching

–Support some vehicle use if absolutely necessary

Question 25

What is the ideal cow track (10)

Answer 25

–Cushioned for comfort –Wide (3.5m) –No sharp turns, steep sections or bottle necks –Quick drying and free draining –Free of sharp grit (these will get into white line lesions) –Free of material that can trap between the claws –Good grip –Not overly abrasive to wear down feet –Cheap –For cow use only (no vehicles)

Question 26

What are the possible substrates for cow tracks? (6)

Answer 26

–Oolitic limestone –Pine peelings, wood chip or rape straw –Chalk or sand –Shellet or similar soft stone –Concrete or tarmac (swept, ideally with a softer covering e.g. quarry belting). Need to keep it free of stones etc. –Cow carpet or quarry belting –Astroturf

Question 27

What can we do for cows at gateways and troughs to prevent the inevitable digital dermatitis developing?

Answer 27

•Often filled with rubble or hard core –Good for vehicles, bad for cows * Provide suitable tracks or “cow only” tracks through gate ways * Troughs –Cow friendly standing pads around troughs –(Mobile water troughs)

Question 28

What is the issue of forcing cows to walk quicker?

Answer 28

Prevents them watching and controlling their foot placement Also the most lame are at the back

Question 29

How can we prevent the prescence of small sharp foreign bodies in the environment e.g. flint stones?

Answer 29

–Sweep yards –Sweep roads and hard tracks if used for field access

Question 30

How can we prevent white line disease by preventing sharp turns on concrete?

Answer 30

–Improve cow flow and minimise bullying Remove –Narrow door ways and bottle necks (crowding and pushing) –Blind alley (bullying) –Overcrowding (bullying, pushing, running) –Rubber matting?

Question 31

What is the cow bullying heirarchy?

Answer 31

Dominance is mainly dependant on –Age (Older=More dominant) –Size (Larger=More dominant) –Weight (Heavier=More dominant)

Question 32

When are expressions of dominance and fighting more common? (3)

Answer 32

–Mixing groups –Group sizes are large? –Cows compete for a limited resource

Question 33

Name 6 resources cows compete for (8)

Answer 33

* Space * Feed * Feed space * Cubicles * The parlour * Water * Licks * Grooming posts & brushes

Question 34

Biotin: A) How much can we add to the diet? B) What has it been shown to reduce in studies?

Answer 34

A) 20mg/cow B) White line disease

Question 35

What do high yielding cow being fed high concentrate diets suffer from?

Answer 35

SARA - subacute rumenal acidosis ## Footnote –This may lead to a reduction in B vitamin production –Supplementation may be particularly important in these animals

Question 36

How can we reduce digital dermatitis through housing? (3)

Answer 36

–Keep the environment as clean as possible –Avoid areas of slurry pooling –Clean areas where stale slurry accumulates

Question 37

How can we reduce exposure to slurry (4)

Answer 37

* Scrape slowly and methodically and as often as possible * Hand scrape areas not reached mechanically e.g. cross passageways, around troughs * Repair / improve concrete to prevent pooling of stale slurry * Poor maintained rubber mat – can create dips and therefore cant be scraped

Question 38

How do automatic scrapers increase the risk of digitial dermatitis?

Answer 38

The “bow wave” coats the feet completely

Question 39

How can we reduce automatic scarpers increasing dermatitis risk? (3)

Answer 39

–Run scrappers as frequently as possible (less of a wave) –New builds * Avoid long runs * Add slats

Question 40

How can we reduce dermatitis through biosecurity?

Answer 40

•Herds free of disease. Maintain strict biosecurity to prevent disease entry –Animals * Maintain a closed herd * Or, isolate and treat animals on arrival –Fomites * Contaminated boots and protective clothing * Foot trimming equipment * Machinery * Herds with disease, maintain biosecurity to prevent the entry of a more pathogenic strain * Need to communicate with who we are buying from as we cannot test for DD

Question 41

How do we use footbaths?

Answer 41

* Foot baths can be used routinely to manage / prevent disease * Many product and regimes described. Should now be considered a “routine” –Between 2 and 7 days per week * Purpose build baths so easy fill & easy empty * Solution must be changed frequently –Rule of thumb: 1 cow passage per litre of foot bath e.g. 200 cow passages for a 200L bath * Can’t footbathe too much * Can be ££ * Do it as much as is needed to control DD * Might be able to do it less in summer when it is less common * Must be clean!!! Otherwise it is a breeding ground of poo.

Question 42

What are the possible footbathing products? (4) What are the effects of these?

Answer 42

•Formalin –2-5% (Usually 5%) –Unpleasant to work with. Carcinogenic. Handle with care –Hardens feet –Cheap •Copper sulphate or Zinc sulphate –Usually 5% (2% recently shown to be less effective) –More pleasant and safer to work with –Copper can build up on land to toxic levels over time •Other agents –1% Peracetic acid, 1% hypochlorite, salt •Many commercial products available –More expensive