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Foot bathing after every milking reduces lameness problems by 50%

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The combined approach of foot bathing after every milking and the inclusion of Provita’s Hoofsure Endurance as the foot bathing solution, has allowed Ballymoney dairy farmer Brian Knipe and his father Alfie to reduce the levels of lameness within his 100 strong cow dairy herd by almost 50%.

“I am delighted with the results obtained by putting an increased emphasis on foot bathing,” Brian confirmed.

“I had known for some time that increasing the frequency of foot bathing would be required if we were ever to get on top of the problem. The challenge was working out the best way to make this happen without putting additional stress on me and the other people working on the farm.”

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Sale season in full swing at Springhill Texels

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Last Saturday marked the beginning of the Texel pedigree sale season in Northern Ireland with the breed’s ‘Premier’ event taking place in Ballymena. The Foster family, from Ardstraw in Co Tyrone, are owners of the renowned Springhill flock with a history stretching back thirty two years.

“We had a good day in Ballymena,” confirmed Graham Foster. “A ram lamb sold to 2,500gns with a shearling ram making 1,400gns in the ring,” confirmed Graham Foster.

“We are also taking part in Scotland’s Premier Texel Sale at Lanark. This is the first time in twenty years that we have taken sheep to that event.”

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New Hoofsure HELP service from Provita

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Research from DairyCo shows that lameness can be successfully reduced by up to 70% through effective footbathing. It can be assumed that with the average UK milk output per cow and average herd size having increased by approximately 20% and 30% respectively in the last 10 years alone, lameness levels and stress on cows feet will also rise (Dairy Co Datum 2014).

The role of the veterinarian in reducing lameness levels has been discussed at recent conferences such as at the Cattle Lameness Conference 2015 and International Lameness Conference 2013, in Bristol. It has been suggested that not only has the size and shape of farms altered but so have the roles and responsibilities of farm owners, workers as well as vets and other contractors (Alcock, 2015). 

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Fantastic silage results

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Co Armagh dairy farmer Dean Wright is confirming a tremendous start to the 2015 silage season.

“We took a first cut during Balmoral Show week with the second following at the beginning of July,” he said.

“And we are delighted with the results achieved to date. The analysis of the first cut confirmed a dry matter 27%, an ME value of 11.5 a 70D value and an intake value of 99, plus good yields were achieved.

“The grass was wilted in the field for 24 hours.”

Dean points out that these analysis results were obtained prior to the second cut being taken.

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Achieving 2 lamb per ewe

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North Tyrone sheep producer, Isaac Crilly was a visitor to the Provita stand at Sheep NI. He currently manages a 500-strong flock of Belclare x New Zealand Suffolk ewes, the majority of which are crossed with Meatlinc tips.

“Mineral nutrition is crucially important,” he said.

“In my own case, we test the sheep and the soils. We have soils with high levels of copper, but most of it is locked up by molybdenum, therefore the sheep are low in copper. Additionally the sheep were low in selenium. As a result I needed to source a product with high levels of selenium and copper.

I selected ProVitaMin as it has a high specification, is produced locally in Northern Ireland and is very cost effective in terms of cost per dose. I have been using ProVitaMin plus Copper for the past number of years, and when combined with good management it has worked well. We take part in benchmarking to monitor flock performance and last year we sold just over 2 finished lambs per ewe.”

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Better preservation of crops

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Mixed weather has coincided with the start of the second cut silage season.

“Those crops that have been taken are light, but quality is excellent,” explained Provita’s Tommy Armstrong.

“Higher dry mater forages are harder to compact. Under such circumstances regular rolling as the crop goes into the clamp is crucially important, as is the use of a lactic and acetic acid inoculant, such as Advance+. Its use will reduce heating in clamps at feedout, secondary fermentation, mould and yeasts. This will help maintain feeding values and reduce waste once clamps are opened.”

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Footbath to prevent lameness

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The Provita stand at this year’s Sheep NI event was a focal point for discussion regarding a wide range of sheep management issues.
“It was tremendous to have so many flockowners coming up and discussing many management related issues which are of key interest to them at the present time,” confirmed Provita’s Tommy Armstrong.
“It was obvious that keeping hoof condition right remains a priority for sheep producers throughout Northern Ireland.
Tommy pointed out that Hoofsure Endurance, the unique footbath solution from Provita, is finding favour with leading sheep producers throughout Northern Ireland.

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ProVitaMin – the proven fertility boost

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Annalong Texel breeder Sam Gordon and his son Alistair, owners of the Lindstair flock, are committed to achieving the highest levels of performance from their ewes and other breeding sheep.

And their track record speaks for itself. Lindstair bloodlines have secured top prices in the sale ring throughout the UK over recent years. Moreover, breeding stock sold by Sam and Alistair has helped secure the development of other leading Texel flocks throughout the British Isles.

“Earlier this week Provita’s Tommy Armstrong called in with the Gordon family to assess the quality of the hoggets, which will be going to the ram later in the autumn

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Foot bathing sheep – the protocols to follow

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According to the main advisory and research organisations in the UK and Ireland, foot bathing is the most effective way of treating scald and footrot on a flock basis. But is only successful if all the sheep’s feet remain in the foot bath chemical for the recommended length of time

The following regime is advised:

  • Sheep should stand on a hard surface prior to foot bathing to help remove as much dirt as possible.
  • Sheep should then be run through a water bath prior to foot bathing to clean the feet prior to treatment.

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Flockowners across the UK give Hoofsure Endurance the ‘thumbs up’

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Hoofsure Endurance, the unique footbath solution from Provita, is finding favour with leading sheep producers throughout the United Kingdom.

It provides a proven means of keeping on top of feet problems within flocks. To improve the effectiveness of the solution prepared, an increasing number of sheep producers place a sponge mat on the floor of the bath. But in the same way as one swallow does not make a summer, foot bathing once in a blue moon will not deliver the degree of control over hoof problems required by sheep producers.

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