The demonstration hosted by Pat Lenehan and his nephew Pete was well attended by farmers with lameness problems on their farm. Not all of them footbath regularly or have a system set up to allow regular footbathing. Pat and Pete milk 70 cows in Crossmaglen. When they were installing a new parlour, they contacted Provita rep Kieran Donnelly to arrange a no obligation visit to action Provita’s Hoofsure Endurance Lameness Programme HELP to advise them on their footbathing set-up. They wanted a system that would minimise disruption to milking and allow good cow flow. Following consultation with Kieran, the pre-cast concrete footbath set-up allowed a full side of cows to exit the parlour before they reached the footbath which allows more dominant cows to walk through more rapidly and the more hesitant cows to have space and go through at their own pace. Cows are footbathed at every evening milking. When Kieran scored the herd for digital dermatitis (DD) as part of the HELP service, the vast majority had DD. A protocol with high concentration of Hoofsure Endurance footbath solution was put in place for 2 months with positive results visible within 2 weeks into the programme – active DD reduced from 85% to 20%%. Once DD levels were low with infection pressure down, the concentration of Hoofsure Endurance used each evening has reduced.
Lameness is a major challenge in dairy herds across Northern Ireland. Digital dermatitis (DD) is an infectious condition and one of the major causes of lameness reducing mobility, comfort, feed intake milk yield, fertility. This infectious condition can spread quickly through the entire herd and can reduce milk yield by at least one litre per cow per day. David Tisdall, at the AVSPNI conference mentioned that lameness can range from 0% to 79.2% and overall levels are increasing with a reported average 36.8% of lameness incidence. Lameness can be controlled, however too many lameness protocols on farm are substandard. It was suggested at AVSPNI conference that the main obstacles to controlling lameness were time and labour restrictions, plus the unpopularity and tedium of the job itself. Furthermore, if lameness levels reach a noticeably high level, farmers may feel it is irreversible and too difficult to reduce.
Hoofsure HELP service is offered by Provita to help farmers identify and manage lameness, and to put effective protocols in place:
- Initial on-farm lameness and footbath assessment
- Calculated cost of lost milk yield
- Recommended footbathing and topical product plan
- Regular footbath and lameness re-assessment
- Customised DD APP for mobiles and tablets to show lameness assessment results
- Free to farmers who order minimum 1-month supply of Hoofsure Endurance footbath solution
Hoofsure Endurance footbath solution is a propriety blend of organics acids, essential oils and wetting agents. Proven to be19% more effective than formaldehyde and 7% more effective than copper sulfate meaning it is safe for the animal, the user and the environment.
Hoofsure Konquest Hoof Gel is highly concentrated with potent penetrating action. It also has advanced bio-adhesion properties and can be used with or without a hoof bandage.
Hoofsure Combat Hoof Spray is a unique film-forming spray providing persistent longer lasting activity. It can be used for spot-spraying in the parlour or during hoof-trimming.
Hoofsure Range is available through your local merchant or veterinarian. For more information or to arrange a no obligation HELP service visit from your local Provita rep FREEPHONE 0800 328 4982.