Vet's fears over lameness in cow herds

One cow in four could be suffering from foot problems, largely unnoticed, according to a vet speaking at the annual National Mobility Event, promoted by a dairy industry charity, which was held this year at Reaseheath College, Cheshire.

Professor Nigel Cook of the University of Wisconsin-Madison – a Bristol University graduate – said lameness was a big issue for an industry wanting to sell itself as animal-friendly. He had seen it in 20-25 per cent of US cattle and the UK situation could well be worse. All published figures failed to recognise the limitations of data collection on farms.

He said: "Farmers do not recognise as many lame cows in their herds as do trained independent observers, while vets see very few of the cows that are actually lame. In many herds, the hoof trimmer provides most of the lameness treatments – the rate of lameness is perhaps more related to frequency of trimming rather than rate of new lesion development."

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Prof. Cook said some cows had problems which were never noticed and some were never treated because of lack of time and resources. He added that automatic scraping and flushing systems, for washing manure out of cattle houses, meant cows' legs and feet were subjected to a slurry bath twice a day, increasing the risks of infection. Footbaths could help but it was important legs were clean so the chemicals could work properly.

CW 24/4/10