Animal health
Project aims to reduce and treat pain in lame dairy cows
A
new project to recognise and treat pain in lame dairy cows has been launched by veteri-
nary group Vet Partners.
The Project Feet initiative aims to better understand attitudes within the sector towards recognising and treat- ing pain by the entire herd manage- ment team – including farmers, foot trimmers, veterinary technicians and vets.
About one in four dairy cows may be experiencing some degree of lame- ness at any one time, according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Devel- opment Board. Contributory factors include poor cattle housing, hard sur- faces, ineffective foot trimming and poor nutrition.
The average cost – in terms of treatmen, loss of yield and potential shortened productive life – may be about £180 per
for
Lameness in dairy cows requires more attention,
says vet Emily Craven
cow. At current levels, this equates to almost £15,000 for an average-sized herd.
Elephant in the room
Project Feet was founded and devel- oped by a team led by Norfolk vet and ruminant specialist Emily Craven, of the Oakwood Veterinary Group, Harleston. It will focus on the treat- ment and management of lame cows, she said.
“Lameness in dairy owners re- mains the ‘elephant in the room’ where we know the national preva- lence is high – but we are often guilty of thinking of it as someone else’s prob- lem,” said Ms Craven.
“It is a welfare issue for cows, a perception issue for dairy farming and is something that we need to collectively take ownership of.”
Survey Reducing lameness takes two ap- proaches – treating and managing lame cows; and preventing new cas- es. Ms Craven said the project was in- viting people who work with lame dairy cows to complete a short survey. The anonymous survey aims to un- cover what people think of certain con- ditions and how to approach the treat- ment of various diseases. It takes about 10 minutes to complete and all com- pleted entries will go into a prize draw to win £100 in shopping vouchers. VetPartners farm director Ian Cure
said: “Lameness is something that di- rectly effects on-farm effi ciency for all our dairy clients. By working togeth- er to improve mobility and foot health, we also reduce the risk of other dis- eases, such as mastitis and transition diseases.” For survey details and to take part, visit
bit.ly/ProjectFeet
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