Preventing and Treating Lameness in Cattle Farming
Over the past 10 years, lameness has been the second most common pathology in dairy farming. It is a disorder of the locomotor system, a reflex by the animal attempting to relieve pain. This can lead to a decrease in production, fertility, and an increase in mastitis and metritis. Ultimately, it results in economic losses due to reduced production and increased costs.
Severe lameness (clinical expression lasting more than one month) carries a 35% risk of sending the animal for culling and a 10% risk of euthanasia. A lame cow thus costs the farmer on average 250 euros. This is why it is essential to recognize and treat lameness as quickly as possible.
Origins of lameness
The factors that can cause lameness are multiple. 90% of lameness cases are of podal origin, and are associated with 5 main diseases.
Multifactorial diseases
Laminitis
Laminitis or diffuse aseptic pododermatitis, is not infectious. It is a metabolic lameness, caused by an unbalanced diet leading to acidosis and ketosis. One can observe hemorrhage and/or an ulcer and/or deformation of the sole.
Interdigital dermatitis
Interdigital dermatitis, or interdigital dermatitis, is infectious and contagious. It is due to the combined action of bacteria (notably Dichelobacter nodosus and Fusobacterium necrophorum). It is often the cause of erosion and cracks at the heel. The inflammation is superficial, without loss of skin integrity.
Mortellaro disease
Mortellaro disease or digital dermatitis, is the most frequent disease causing lameness. It is contagious and caused by a spirochete bacteria of the genus Treponema which develops the disease only on skin weakened by moisture or trauma. Typically, it creates a superficial ulceration, finely granular, bright red in color, bordered by a white line and rough hairs, with a characteristic odor. This ulceration is located in a crown shape at the front or back of the foot, between the claws or on the limaces. It can form cysts and thus maintain the disease in the herd despite treatments.
Laminitis, interdigital dermatitis, and Mortellaro disease are multifactorial diseases. This means the causes of these lameness cases can be very diverse. These causes must be sought in:
- Nutrition (quality, quantity, and balance) which plays a crucial role in the quality of the hooves, especially the horn, and in the occurrence of lameness through, among other things, metabolic disorders (energy deficit, acidosis).
- Housing plays an equally essential role in the occurrence of lameness: on one hand through the quality of floors, bedding, movement areas (mechanical and/or traumatic causes) and on the other hand through general hygiene (infectious causes).
- Health management (management and quality of individual and collective curative and preventive treatments) mitigates or worsens problems. In particular, inadequate hoof trimming can cause or worsen lameness.
- Genetics also impacts foot health. Indeed, there is a genetic determination of susceptibility to foot diseases.
Traumatic diseases
Interdigital phlegmon
Interdigital phlegmon or interdigital phlegmon, is an infectious disease. It is caused by the entry of microbial germs into an interdigital wound. The onset is sudden and causes severe and painful lameness. This creates a hot, red, and painful inflammation at the coronet and pastern. It also emits a foul odor. It is the only podal disease that requires antibiotic injection.
Sole abscess
Sole abscess or septic traumatic pododermatitis, is an infectious disease resulting from the penetration of a sharp object (stone, nail...) into the sole. This leads to the creation of a cavity between the pododerm and the sole, filled with a gray-pink liquid pus, more or less under pressure. The resulting lameness is very painful and sudden.
| Interdigital dermatitis | Mortellaro | Interdigital phlegmon | Sole abscess | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Speed of progression | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Pain | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 to 3 |
| Inflammation | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
Economic impact of lameness[2]
Lameness causes a decrease in appetite and movement, thus reducing intake and increasing the risk of other pathologies such as mastitis and metritis. All this ultimately leads to decreased production, fertility, and increased veterinary costs. Lameness is therefore responsible for economic loss linked to reduced product quantity and increased expenses.
The average financial impact of lameness is estimated between 200 and 300 euros per affected cow.
| Type of clinical expression | Production decrease
(kg/year) |
Probability of culling over one year for an affected cow
(%)(including % euthanasia) |
Increase in calving interval
(days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mild lameness : clinical expression duration less than 8 days | 50 | 4 (2%) | 6 |
| Moderate lameness : clinical expression duration between 8 days and 1 month | 250 | 8 (2%) | 15 |
| Severe lameness : clinical expression duration more than one month | 800 | 35 (10%) | 30 |
Recognizing a lame cow
At rest
When to spot lame cows when they are static?
- During cubicle maintenance: Identify if animals have difficulty standing up or lying down.
- In the milking parlor: This is the perfect moment to observe the positioning of the cow's feet. The cow will occasionally lift its lame foot, lean on its healthy foot, and it is possible to detect characteristic odors as with Mortellaro disease.
- At the headlock : The animal is standing still. One can then observe the curvature of the back, the weight distribution, and the stance.
Key points to observe at the headlock
- The curvature of the back line: a healthy cow has a straight back line while a lame cow arches its back.
- The modification of weight distribution: Several positions can be observed:
- To relieve its hind limb, the cow will place it outward.
- To relieve its forelimb, the cow crosses it with the adjacent limb.
- If the cow has a Mortellaro lesion, or digital dermatitis at the heel, it will favor weight bearing on the toe.
- The modification of stance: Animals with pain in the hind feet tend to spread their legs and tighten their hocks (see photo), thus rotating their feet. A cow positioned like this requires trimming. Poor stance can be genetic but it is necessary to check if it is not due to lesions.
In motion
Identifying a lame cow in motion involves observing 6 indicators:
- Walking speed: Cows should be able to keep pace with a person. If lame, they will walk at their own pace.
- Walking rhythm: Regular and fluid rhythm between the four limbs. If lame, the rhythm will be interrupted and uneven.
- Stride length and foot placement: Hind feet should land in the same spots as the front feet. Lame cows will have a slightly shorter stride and place hind feet slightly behind where the front feet landed.
- How weight is borne by the 4 feet: Lame cows will favor their lame limb which will not bear full weight. The opposite leg will bear more weight.
- Back line: Healthy cows walk and stand with a straight back, while lame ones tend to arch their back.
- Head position: A healthy cow carries its head slightly below the back and it moves only slightly during walking. A lame cow has a lower head and it swings more.
Depending on the intensity of these indicators, the severity level of the lameness can be deduced.
| Severity | Actions to take |
|---|---|
| None | No action needed, but observe regularly. |
| Mild | Uneven gait. Record the animal, monitor it, and lift the foot to check for lesions. Perform preventive trimming. |
| Moderate | Record the animal and examine within 48 hours. Perform preventive and/or curative trimming. |
| Severe | Urgent care, record and examine the animal as soon as possible. Perform curative trimming. |
Preventive management
Recognizing risk factors
The building
It is important, when planning a building, to consider the lameness issue. Several points must be studied:
- Reducing the animals' lying time.
- Traumas during movement.
- Moisture and poor hygiene of living areas.
These are all risk factors that increase the likelihood of lameness.
Lying areas and reducing lying time
More and more farms have cubicles rather than straw yards. This increases the risk of lameness because in straw systems, the straw absorbs moisture.
In slurry systems, the moisture of floors and buildings is therefore higher. In a cubicle system, cows lie down 10 to 14 hours a day. It is therefore essential that the lying area is comfortable, soft, clean, and dry, whether in cubicles or straw yards.
The base must withstand the forces exerted by the cow's feet when lying down or standing up, which she does several dozen times a day. To simply assess the comfort of the lying areas, one can drop to their knees to simulate the cow's movement.
To prevent animals from standing too long, the number of cubicles or the area of straw yards must be adapted to the number of cows. Cubicles must also be adapted to the size of the animals:
- Width and length: Large animals should not have their hindquarters in the alley but small ones must be able to move in the alleys. There are calculation rules to size cubicles. [3]
- The space in front of the cubicle must not hinder standing movements.
- Presence of a stop bar to prevent the animal from moving too far forward.
- Adjustment of the neck rail.
- Type of cubicle partitions.
- Slope: If too steep, it causes discomfort because weight on the hind limbs is too high. If too flat, there is poor liquid drainage.
- Bedding materials: If insufficient or inappropriate, discomfort can increase standing time or health risks.
- ...
All these points, if not respected, can influence the appearance of lameness. In any case, the animal should never stand for more than 1h30, especially during milking. Milking facilities and practices must therefore be adapted to achieve this objective. Water is also a crucial parameter. An insufficient number of drinking places increases standing time.
Traffic areas
Cows must be able to move without risk of slipping or falling. Slippery floors reduce cow movement which can cause uneven hoof wear and lameness.
Floors must also provide some horn wear but without being too rough. A compromise must be found. For this, several types of floors can be installed. For example, a mat in front of the feed bunk but concrete in the alley between cubicles.
Proper scraping of surfaces is essential to control moisture and cleanliness of the floor. Floor maintenance reduces lameness risk by limiting pathogen development.
Traumas and injuries causing lameness can also be caused by obstacles in buildings:
- Steps too high, with sharp edges.
- Tight traffic angles.
- Traumatic elements like certain scraper rails and tractor settings.
- Worn floors with holes.
Building ventilation
Poor ventilation results in wet areas, cold spots, drafts... These areas are avoided and available space decreases, increasing the risk of crowding and thus the appearance of podal lesions.
Access paths to pasture
Pasture generally has a positive impact on reducing lameness in farming. The farmer must still consider the path taken by the animals and the distance to travel.
A path adapted to cow movement is a path:
- Well drained so water infiltrates.
- With layers of soil and sand for animal comfort.
- With an appropriate width for herd passage but avoiding tractor access that could damage the path.
A sloping, muddy path with stagnant moisture and sharp stones promotes lameness.
Nutrition
Nutrition is important for foot health for two reasons:
- The digital cushion must be thick to absorb shocks during movement. If the cow loses weight, the cushion immediately loses volume and favors lesion development.
- All nutrients must be provided in sufficient quantity to obtain good quality horn.
It is therefore essential to avoid any weight loss. Thus, avoid overly acidogenic rations (too rich in energy, poorly balanced in nitrogen or lacking fiber) and energy deficits. Particular attention must be paid to the dry-off to early lactation transition as this is when the risk of ketosis is highest.
Moreover, feeding such as green feeding or adding beet in the ration will cause accelerated transit and thus generate more liquid and sticky feces which will deteriorate floor hygiene and thus foot health.
Hydration
Do not underestimate the role of water. It must be provided in sufficient quantity and be of good quality. Poor quality may lead to refusal of some drinkers, thus reducing available drinking places and increasing standing time.
The mode of provision must be considered as it can affect lameness incidence. Recall that insufficient drinking places increase standing time. One drinking access (50 to 60cm) is planned for 10 lactating cows. [4] Also, the presence of parasites in drinkers greatly reduces their use and thus the number of available places.
Leaks cause wet areas that increase the risk of infectious podal lesions.
Health management
| Nature of risk factor | Laminitis | Interdigital dermatitis | Mortellaro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under-detection of lameness or lack of lesion knowledge | Major | Major | Major |
| Absence or inadequacy of preventive measures | Secondary | Major | Major |
| Absent or inadequate treatments | Major | Major | Major |
Health management involves early, rapid, and appropriate care of lameness. It also involves controlling foot hygiene, thus floor hygiene.
Lameness detection
Under-detection of lameness leads to delayed lesion management allowing them to worsen.
For example:
- Sole lesions initially cause only slight lameness, which might seem minor but require rapid management.
- Mortellaro disease is highly infectious and irregular lesion detection allows it to spread within the herd.
Lesions must also be correctly recognized. If not, the treatment will be inappropriate and the lesion will worsen.
Lack of preventive trimming leads to complications or undetected problems that may persist.
Floor hygiene
If floor hygiene is not monitored, pathogen development will be favored causing infectious lameness such as Mortellaro and interdigital dermatitis. Therefore, cleanliness of cubicles, traffic areas, milking parlor or milking robot waiting areas, passages between cubicles, building exits... must be ensured.
All places where animals put their feet must be clean.
Introduction of new animals into the herd
It is important to check for possible infectious lesions when new individuals arrive.
Preventive trimming
In livestock farming, trimming refers to the care of the horn of ungulates in order
to maintain or restore the functions of the hoof.
Preventive trimming does not only concern lame cows unlike curative trimming. Each animal must have its feet lifted
and inspected and if necessary trimmed at least once a year.
However, it is important to choose the right time to perform this preventive trimming. It should be avoided during the last 4 weeks of gestation, the first 4 weeks of lactation, when cows are going to be housed in a barn, and when cows walk on long or abrasive paths (concrete, asphalt). It can be done between 60 and 100 days of lactation and before drying off if a second trimming is planned. If the herd has an extended lactation, waiting until drying off is too long. It is preferable to do it between 6 and 10 months after calving.
Main objectives of good trimming:
- Restoration of the ideal shape of the claws so that they are balanced and better able to support the animal's weight.
- Removal of dead and diseased horn to promote the growth of new healthy horn.
- Detection of lesions and, in this case, resort to curative trimming (cf. Curative management)
Practical training is essential!
Curative management
Low lameness
Conditions for successfully lifting a cow's feet
As soon as a cow shows lameness, even mild, swelling of the coronet or pastern, conformation defects or deformations of claws, its feet must be lifted as soon as possible. Late intervention would reduce the chances of rapid healing.
The restraint system must be adapted to the needs and the trimming location:
- It must always be ready to use.
- It must allow one person alone to bring the animal.
- It is better to have a specific system for trimming than a multifunction cage.
- It must be adapted to the size of the animals.
- It must be adapted to the frequency of lameness in the farm. A low-cost but effective system will suffice for a farm with few problems. If regular interventions are necessary, a more elaborate and specific restraint system should be chosen.
The goal is that one person alone can bring a cow into an adequate restraint system in less than 10 minutes in order to manage lameness early.
Recognizing and managing lesions
The site boiteries-des-bovins.fr has set up an interactive page to help farmers recognize lesions. Once the lesion is identified, it advises on treatment and helps recognize causes to implement appropriate prevention methods.
Curative trimming
The objectives of curative trimming are to identify the cause of the problem and treat it. For example, prevent the penetration of foreign bodies into the lesion and relieve the injured claw by resting it. As with preventive trimming, practical training is necessary.
It is important to avoid further damaging already injured tissues. The work is therefore precise and tools must be sharpened. Healthy horn must be preserved, especially the new horn. The support surfaces arranged by preventive trimming must be respected as much as possible. After intervention, the animal must be relieved, stand better, and move better.
After intervention on the affected foot, it is essential to examine the opposite foot which may also require preventive or curative treatment due to the lameness.
Immobilizing the animal after curative trimming for 3 or 4 days on a comfortable and clean bedding can be beneficial. If improvement is not confirmed in the following days, the claws must be re-examined quickly. If the lesion is deep, deep tissues are affected (tendons, joints, bones). Yellowish pus is then observed in the wound. The farmer must then consult a veterinarian. They can then decide together on early culling or more intensive care.
High lameness
Most of the time, the problem of a lame cow is located at the feet. But sometimes, the cause is higher up. This can be:
- Joint lesions (arthritis, dislocations, osteoarthritis).
- Bone lesions (fractures, osteomalacia).
- Muscle lesions (muscle hematomas, muscle abscesses, tears, ...).
- Skin and sub-cutaneous lesions (edemas, tarsitis and hygroma, udder edema, cuts).
- Nerve lesions.
- Tendon contractures.
- Spastic syndromes.
- ...
For further reading
Visit the site Boiteries des bovins.
Sources
- ↑ Web-Agri, Recognizing different foot pathologies: https://www.web-agri.fr/boiteries/article/78575/reconnaitre-les-differentes-pathologies-du-pied
- ↑ Eilyps, livestock consulting: https://www.eilyps.fr/
- ↑ International recommendations for housing dairy cows and replacement heifers, International Commission of Agricultural Engineering: http://boiteries-des-bovins.fr/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/CIGR_logement_des_bovins_laitiers_2015-1.pdf
- ↑ The drinking trough, properly placing drinkers in dairy buildings: https://www.labuvette.fr/conseils/bien-disposer-les-abreuvoirs-en-batiment-vl
- ↑ Boiteries des bovins, reconnaitre et gérer des lésions : http://boiteries-des-bovins.fr/reconnaitre-et-gerer-les-lesions/
