Lameness is estimated to cost farmers at least $250 for each cow that develops the problem and can significantly reduce cow comfort and longevity. To help farmers prevent and detect lameness in their herds, Dairy Australia has launched a new website with a range of practical and easy-to-use resources developed under the Healthy Hooves project.
Dairy Australia's new website www.healthyhoooves.dairyaustralia.com.au features the Healthy Hooves lameness scoring system, which enables dairyfarmers to monitor the number of lame cows in the herd. Dairy Australia's program development manager, Erika Oakes, said that by regularly scoring their herd, farmers would be able to assess their current lameness level, and set a target for the herd, while assessing what changes need to be made on farm to reach the target.
"Lame cows are harder to get in calf, have reduced milk production and lower body condition scores," Ms Oakes said.
"Putting effort into preventing lameness is far better than waiting until cows need treatment.
"We have developed a simple lameness scoring system for our Australian conditions to help farmers prevent lameness and detect issues early."
The Healthy Hooves four-step lameness scoring system uses different aspects of the cow's movement to detect levels of lameness including stride length, walking speed or evenness, back position and head position.
The website features a series of short videos that show how to lameness score, including some examples to test how well to score different cows. Further videos cover others aspects of prevention, treatment and management of lameness such as tracks, cow flow, examining lame cows and treatment of common foot problems.
A full colour lameness scoring poster is also available to assist with training staff to use lameness scoring and can be downloaded online or ordered via the website.D
Visit website www.healthyhoooves.dairyaustralia.com.au for more information.
