Lameness carries a cost, not just in the cost of treatment but also in the unseen costs of poor fertility, reduced dry matter intake, increase risk to other health problems and drops in milk yield.  It is estimated that conception rates can be reduced by 25% in lame cows and the risk of ovarian follicular cysts can increase by 2.5 times.  There is also the cost of additional replacements for culls made due to lameness.  Lame cows are six times more likely to be culled.

The average cost of one case of lameness, in terms of treatments and lost milk yield, is £180 per case (DairyCo Healthy Feet Programme).  For a 100 cow herd, if one third of the herd has a lameness issue this carries a cost of nearly £6,000 per annum, or 1 ppl.

One of the main ways of controlling lameness in the dairy herd is an effective foot bathing regime, which includes the dry cows and heifers.  Remember, you need to change the chemical in the footbath as directed, (which can be more than once a day), clean out the foot bath regularly and ensure the correct dilution of chemical.

For more information, please contact Phil Cooper at pcooper@fcgagric.com or your local FCG office.