This material was presented by Dr. Ernest Hovingh for DAIReXNET. See the full presentation on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS6U8EJBp7A Learn about lameness prevention in dairy cattle with a focus on footbaths! Dr. Hovingh discusses infectious and non-infectious lameness conditions, ideal design and placement of foot baths, appropriate solutions and handling, and more tactics to help you get the most out of this prevention tool.

1. Ernest Hovingh eph1@psu.edu
Dept. of Veterinary & Biomedical Sciences Pennsylvania State University
Preventing Lameness
in Dairy Cattle

2. Identif
y
Manage
Prevent

3. Preventing lame cows…
• Requires knowledge of the causes
of lameness…
– Infectious
– Non-infectious (“mechanical”)

4. Where does lameness occur?
• Almost all lameness in cattle
occurs in the feet… and most
of that is in the outside claw
of the hind feet

5. • Infectious
– Primarily a bacterial infection problem
• Non-infectious
– Poor quality hoof (sole, wall, .
white line) leading to .
mechanical breakdown
Why does lameness occur?

6. • Digital dermatitis (aka. hairy heel warts,
strawberry foot, Mortellaro’s Disease)
• Foot rot
Infectious Lameness Conditions

7. • Risk factors
– Introduction of infected
animals / contaminated
equipment
– Wet and/or dirty feet
– Damaged, irritated skin
Infectious Lameness Conditions
Photo credit: J. Shearer

8. • Prevention
– Biosecurity
– Keep feet dry, clean,
& healthy!
– Use of footbaths
Infectious Lameness Conditions

9. • “New and improved” dimensions
– Length: 10-12 feet
– Width: 2 feet
– Depth of solution: 4-6 inches
– Step-in height: ~10 inches
Footbath Design

11. 20”-24”
10”-11”
+/-36”
10’–12’
Solution
depth:
4”-6”
Removable solid
side panel/gate
~70⁰
Image credit: Hoards.com (with modifications)

15. “What’s the best thing to put in a footbath?”
Footbath Solution
Clean feet!

16. • Relatively little (properly controlled) research
• Formaldehyde (5%), copper sulfate (5-
10%), acidified CuSO4 (~3%) etc.
– Beware of very low pH solutions  may
damage skin (try to stay at 4.0…no lower than 3.5)
Footbath Solution
porcelainfacespa.com/

17. • Ensure the solution is mixed properly
– employee training and protocol
compliance
– Holzhauer, et al*:
• initial concentration of formalin was
inadequate in 56% of herds
• by the second milking, 89% of herds
had an inadequate concentration
Footbath Solution
heidelberg.de
*Concentration of formalin in walk-through footbaths used by dairy herds. Vet Rec 2004.

18. • Number of days/week & times/day vary
significantly!
Footbath Frequency
iconfinder.com

19. • Ensure the solution is replaced as needed
– usually +/-200 cow-passes
Footbath Frequency

20. • Heifers
– If needed…and can
be done properly
• Dry cows
– Preferably…if it can
be done properly
Footbaths – Dry Cows & Heifers

21. • Breakdown of
sole, white line,
wall or other
parts of hoof
Non-infectious Lameness

22. Non-infectious Lameness
• Breakdown of
sole, white line,
wall or other
parts of hoof

23. • The corium
produces all of
the structures
of the hoof
Protect the Corium

24. Force Exerted on Weight-Bearing Area
1,400 lb. cow
Weight
Distribution
7.75 in2/foot @60% bearing*
Standing Walking Walking
Front (50%) 45.2 lb/in2 90.4 lb/in2 150.5 lb/in2
Rear (50%) 45.2 lb/in2 90.4 lb/in2 150.5 lb/in2
(~.35 in2)
~30 lbs.
~30 lbs.
*Calculations by D. McFarland
Penn State University

25. Distribution of Weight-bearing
Approximate outline of claws [added]
Image taken from van der Tol et al., JDS 87:1732-
Pressure in red zones is ~5X that in the light blue zones

26. No weight-bearing here
when on this surface

27. • Protect the corium
– Thickness of fat pad (digital cushion)
– Thickness and ‘flatness’ of sole
– Walking surfaces & cow comfort
Preventing Non-infectious Lameness

28. Digital Cushion

29. Digital Cushion

30. Digital Cushion

31. Thickness & Flatness of Sole

32. Thickness & Flatness of Sole

33. Weight-bearing
Approximate outline of claws [added]
Prior to trimming After trimming
Pressure in red zones is ~5X that in the light blue zones
Images taken from van der Tol et al., JDS 87:1732-

34. • A cow interacts with the flooring & lying
surfaces many (24) hours a day!
Cow Comfort & Flooring Surfaces
Eating
Milking
Standing, walking, etc.
Drinking
Resting

35. Many of
these will be
covered in
another
webinar in
this series.
 Access to stalls
• Stocking density
• Time away from pen
 Design/construction of stalls
• Stall size/dimensions
• Improper stall structure
 Maintenance of stalls
• Uncomfortable resting surface
• Poor stall/bedding management
Cow Comfort & Flooring Surfaces

36. Many of
these will be
covered in
another
webinar in
this series.
 Compressibility/hardness of floor
 Texture of floor
 Other material between floor & claw
• abrasiveness & friction
 Weight of cow
 Shape/conformation/hardness of foot
 Motion of cow – speed, turning, etc.
Cow Comfort & Flooring Surfaces

37. Motion of Cow

38. Motion of Cow

39. Motion of Cow
3 3
Shear stress
in Zone 3

40. • Prevention is the best investment of time
and resources
• Preventive efforts should be targeted
– Infectious vs. non-infectious lameness
Conclusion
Biosecurity
Dry, clean, & healthy feet
Use of footbaths
Digital cushion thickness
Sole thickness & ‘flatness’
Flooring & cow comfort