As we've discussed in part one of this two-part series, natural hoof care starts when the cow is born and continues throughout its life. The phrase "natural hoof care" can describe organic products, or it may refer to a more holistic way of looking at your herd's health. This guide addresses the latter. Read on for a handy checklist that will keep your cows' hooves healthy without the use of chemicals.
Natural Hoof Care Checklist
Intracare has developed a special checklist to help farms optimize claw health. Jan van Geest: "Using this checklist, we assess various factors on the dairy farm, such as floor quality, climate, nutrition, the number of times claws are trimmed and the percentage of animals with claw problems." Intracare splits up the latter factor into the various sorts of claw problems. "The scores on the list indicate the factors the dairy farmer has to focus on, in the first instance, in order to improve claw health," Van Geest explains.
Claw Trimming as Part of Your Natural Hoof Care Routine
Van Geest would like to see natural hoof care become part of the standard operational management. "If this was the case, cattle farmers would be able to prevent claw problems from taking on such serious forms that they have to dispose of cows prematurely. Furthermore, the cows rapidly respond to this care with higher milk production." It is therefore important that the cows' claws are trimmed regularly. "The farmer can do this himself or contract it out to a hoof trimmer. I recommend that trimming be carried out at least twice a year by a hoof trimmer. Trimmers generally have more experience, which is ultimately the benefit to claw health," says Van Geest. Dairy farmers who do this work themselves must have sufficient knowledge, so that they can carry out the job properly and can recognize the symptoms observed. "This latter point is particularly important. Many dairy farmers assume that their work is over once they have trimmed the claws. However, this is not true." Van Geest continues on to say that "If the farmer registers the symptoms he ascertains every time he trims the animals' claws, he can find the causes more rapidly and tackle the problem in the right manner." There are several possible causes, such as the wrong rations, cubicles of the wrong dimensions, neglected grid floors, excessive manure in the cubicles and cowshed corridors or an excessively damp climate in the cowshed. If these factors are solved, the general claw health in the herd will, in time, improve greatly.
Points for Improving Claw Health with Natural Hoof Care
Various points require attention if claw health on the dairy farm is to be improved. If you are committed to employing only natural hoof care methods, you'll follow these steps as closely as possible.
Claw Care
• Trim claws at least twice a year
• Use preventive and curative claw care agents
Nutrition
• Ensure that there is sufficient structure in the rations to prevent acidification of the rumen. This reduces the risk of laminitis considerably.
• Ensure minimum and gradual ration changes.
• Check whether the ration provided to the animal is actually the ration eaten. This gives an indication of the activity of the animals.
Cow Comfort
• Reduce the infection pressure with the aid of a dung scraper or by adjusting ventilation.
• Cows must have a sufficiently large cubicle of the correct dimensions. The guideline is that 80% of the animals lie down within 3 hours of milking and that the animals do not stand for longer than 5 minutes in the stall before they lie down.
• Make use of a dung scraper to keep the grids clean. Because of this, the claws remain cleaner, which reduces the risk of claw problems.
• Ensure that there is sufficient ventilation in the cowshed for a fresh climate. An excessively damp climate is an ideal breeding ground for bacteria.
• Ensure that floors are level and sufficiently roughened up. This will prevent the animals slipping quite so easily and so reduce claw damage.
• The feed trough must be approximately 10 centimeters above the grids.
Dry period
• Ensure a good mineral supply during the dry period so that the claws have the chance to recover. Treat all the animals prior to the dry period; this can prevent a great many problems later.
Rearing
• Ensure that the animals have balanced rations during rearing. This is the basis for good claw health.
Natural hoof care is an ongoing process and it may take time to see results on cows that are already experiencing lameness. The best way to keep your herd's hooves healthy is to implement natural hoof care early on in the cows' lives and continue as they get older. Be consistent and your herd will thank you with healthy hooves.
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