UK Dairy Day Dairy farmers pay high price for lameness
producers on a robotic system. Lameness remains one of the high- est costs to a dairy business – despite a range of industry initiatives to re- duce it among UK herds, says Wynn- stay dairy specialist Beth May. “A lame cow will stand more, eat less and ultimately have less energy left over for milk production,” explains Miss May.
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Moderately or mildly lame cows produce about 4-9% less milk than a healthy cow – a daily loss of about 1.5 litres. With the average 200-cow herd running at 30% lameness, this is equiv- alent to 48,500 litres of lost milk worth £13,600.
Miss May says: “This is not con- sidering the other long-term impacts lameness has on fertility, culling rate, number of replacements needed on- farm, additional labour, trimming and vet’s bills.” For robotic herds, Miss May says it is critical to keep a close eye on ear-
arly detection is key to stay on top of lameness and prevent low- er milk yields – particularly for
actionary cures.” Miss May says there are numer-
ous ways for producers to keep lame- ness cases at bay.
ly cases. Lame cows in a robotic sys- tem are likely to need fetching more for milking, so it will impact the av- erage number of visits and therefore milk yield. “As you don’t see the cows walking to the parlour on a daily basis, there’s less visual inspection of the cow’s mo- bility and hoof condition. To get on top of cases requires an early, proactive, preventative approach rather than re-
A proactive approach to lameness is important, says Bethany May.
“Consider monthly locomotion scor- ing or mobility scoring sessions with an accredited scorer to assess your cur- rent level of lameness and help pick out any cows for early treatment.” Wynnstay advises recording at least 10% of the herd on a monthly basis, near the exit of the robot, where they can be observed walking to a cubicle or feed fence. Results should be tracked to monitor problem cows and those who may be borderline. “Assessing in low pressure areas of the shed, such as loafing areas or wide passageways will allow you to assess cows walking freely and will give a more accurate record,” suggests Miss May.
Hoof trimming should only be done because of overgrowth or trauma to the hoof, she adds.
“They’re only overgrown or dam- aged because something in the envi- ronment is not right.”
AUGUST 2021 • ANGLIA FARMER 59
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