Farms with high milk production do many things right, but a lot of it comes down to the four feet a cow walks on.
"A sore foot impacts everything she does," said University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine's Nigel Cook during his presentation at a UW-Extension dairy modernization meeting last week. "You don't have control until you have control of lameness."
Cook and his colleagues conducted a cluster analysis of 557 Wisconsin freestall herds with more than 200 cows. The analysis categorized farms using 16 different DHIA monitors of herd performance. There were 66 herds that surfaced to the top in terms of milk production and cow health. Those herds also had an average incidence of lameness of 13 percent, which is much better than the average, Cook explained.
How do these elite herds minimize lameness? One major element was bedding type. Sixty-two percent had sand-bedded stalls, and 70 percent used deep, loose bedding of some sort.
Also noted was that 74 percent of the herds had bigger stalls, at least 46 inches wide. "We must provide cows a soft surface to lie on, a stall that allows her to lie and enough time to do so," Cook said.
When cows aren't lying, they are standing and walking on hard surfaces. "Poor trimming plus excessive wear results in a disaster," Cook said.
Therefore, proper trimming methods done by a competent trimmer on a regular schedule are key. Of those top herds, 58 percent trim cows at least twice per lactation. Almost half (49 percent) trim heifers before calving. They also ran their footbaths an average of 4.5 times per week.
To ease some of that wear and tear, a number of farms utilize rubber flooring. You don't need to put rubber everywhere, though, Cook advised. "Use it wisely," he said. "It's incredibly beneficial when used in the right place."
The top group from the survey seemed to agree with Cook's thinking and used rubber flooring where it mattered most. Just 5 percent had rubber floors in the pens, and only 15 percent had it in the transfer lanes. On the other hand, 41 percent had it in the holding area, and 68 percent had it in the parlor.
Each farm does it a little differently, but utilizing these common themes to take control of lameness has resulted in more milk in the bulk tank for these Wisconsin dairies.
(c) Hoard's Dairyman Intel 2015
January 12, 2015
