Cattle Hoof Care – A Neglected Hoof

 

Author: Giridharan S, Final year BVSc and AH, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Tirunelveli

Guide: Dr. DharmaceelanS, Professor and Head, Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Tirunelveli

Email id of corresponding author: girisrini97@gmail.com

 

Introduction

India is one of the leadingmilk producing country in the world. India alone contributes about   ~20.17% share in total milk production in the global market. In the year 2018-2019, India’s production is about 187.7 million tonnes of milk with the per capita availability of 377 grams/day.

Nowadays, there is a huge competition among the dairy producers. In this situation, the dairies are able to survive by continuously increasing their efficiency of production and reproduction. The dairy cow produces at its best, only if she is healthy and feels comfortable. For this reason,the dairy producers should closely watch the overall health status of their herd. In general, the bovine lameness causes the third largest economic losses in dairy industry after mastitis and reproductive diseases.

“Not every LOL is Laughing Out Loud

But is Lameness Over Loaded”

Hooves are one of the most important structure in the animal’s body. An animal with hoof diseases may able to function, but there is a minimal reduction in animal production and performance. Animalsuffering from hoof problem is less likely to walk, will spend more time lying on the floor. So, that the animal will eat less, they are more likely to develop negative energy balance state which leads to reduce weight gain or milk production. In order to gain a better knowledge on hoof and its importance in dairy farming, it is important to understand the basic anatomy of hoof.

Hoof anatomy

Cattle is a cloven-footed animal, that means the hoof consists of two digits, the outer (lateral) claw and the inner (medial) claw. The space between the two claw is called interdigital cleft which separates the two heel bulbs and the area of the skin is called interdigital skin.

The hard covering of the hoof, known as the hoof wall or horn and is formed by keratinization of the epithelial layer. The keratin in the epidermis, when thickened and cornified is referred to as horn and is resistant to mechanical and chemical damage. The horn is produced by the tissue directly beneath the hoof wall called the corium. The corium is a nutrient rich tissue that has many blood and nerve supply. Beneath the hoof is a slightly softer region called the sole. The point where the hoof wall is bound to the sole is called the white line – a non-pigmented junction.Digital cushion is a pad of fatty tissue, situated below the distal phalanx, that serves to protect the corium.

Figure 1. Basic anatomy of bovine hoof

Where are we today in-perspective of lameness

A common problem in recording the incidence of lameness is that many farmers don’t aware of what the lameness could bring to their farm until there is a significant reduction in milk production and reproduction performance. If the lameness is not detected at early stage, it leads to severe economic loss in the aspect of animal’s health, production and reproduction.

Causes of lameness

There are a large number of causes that can result in lameness. Lameness is not a disease but a clinical sign which may or may not be characteristic feature of a disease. Foot problems causing lameness can be divided into infectious and non-infectious origin.

 

Non-infectious causes

Non-infectious causes can be due to housing and flooring condition, malnutrition (e.g. hypovitaminosis), environmental and genetic factors and other metabolic diseases (e.g. ketosis, hypoglycemia).

Sole ulcer

Sole ulcers are caused when the infection forms between the sole and underlying tissue. Sole ulcers are mainly due to trauma. Lesions are often associated with sole bruising and sole hemorrhage due to acidosis.It should be managed by a regular hoof trimming. The aim is to transfer weight bearing to the healthy opposite claw. So, it may be fitted with a block to lift the affected claw so that the claw is relieved of pressure and had an opportunity for the sole ulcer to heal.

White line disease

It is a condition caused by foreign body to penetrate and affect the white line area which ultimately leads to separation of sole from the side wall of the hoof. Passageways, milking parlor and holding areas need to be kept as free as possible of stones, debris and other foreign materials.

Infectious causes

Interdigital dermatitis

It is also called ‘slurry heelor heel horn erosion’ is a lesion develops in the interdigital cleft of the claws. It is caused by anaerobic bacteria Dichelobacter nodosus. Predisposing factors for the diseases are the animal continuously standing in constant wet surface and in manure slurry for prolonged period.

Foot rot

It is also called ‘interdigital phlegmon or foul in the foot’.  Fusobacterium necrophorum is considered the major cause of foot rot. When the bacteria penetrate the tissue and become embedded in the hoof. It is accompanied by the hard swelling in the middle of the pastern region. It is common in cattle kept on wet floor.

 

 

Digital dermatitis

It is also called ‘hairy heel warts, strawberryfoot rot, Mortellaro’s disease, raspberry heel’. It is characterized by a small circumscribed red to grey ulcerative or granulomatous lesion surrounded by a small white epithelial border near the coronet region.

Economic losses due to lameness

The economic losses due to lameness in a dairy farm is the result of clinical diseases and it leads to production losses rather than to the cost of treatment of the affected animals. The economic losses can be grouped into direct and indirect costs.

Direct cost consists of

1. Veterinary cost for treatment
2. Extra labour cost
3. Cost of advanced culling

Indirect cost consists of

1. Reproductive disorders
2. Loss of milk due to stress

Reduced milk production

The reduced milk production consists of two categories firstly the decreased milk yield and secondly the discarded milk due to antibiotic residue. Due to the pain, the animal will be stressed therefore it results in a decreased production. Owing to the stress not only the quantity of milk is decreased but also the quality of milk lowers.

Increased calving interval

Lameness has an adverse effect on the reproductive performances on the animals, because they have difficulty with movements. Therefore, the detection of estrous is absent and the cow needs more services or insemination thus the calving interval get increased.

Veterinary costs

The veterinary costs include the veterinarian’s fee and the cost of drugs. The cost of treatment depends on the type and severity of the disease. In most of the cases, lame cows require multiple treatment and usually have to be treated for a week, depending on the severity and duration of the disease.If the lame cows administered with parenteral antibiotic therapy, there will be an antibiotic residue in the milk, therefore the milk has to be discarded for certain period of time until the withdrawal period of drug reduces.

Increased labour cost

The labour cost for the workers treating the lame cows has also beconsidered. The extra-time for the workers to treat the animals and therefore the milking time is also lengthened.

Increased culling rate

The cow with foot problems can result in advanced disposal of the animals from a herd,hence the lameness is also one of the most common reason for early culling.

Treatment

The aim of the treatment is to alleviate pain and give a quick relief to the animal. The successful treatment is determined by early intervention. It is only possible if the affected animal is identified at an early stage. Most of the lameness in a dairy cow are related to lesions in the claws of the horn. Treatment of a claw always begin with corrective trimming of hoof. The purpose of hoof trimming is to restore the normal functional weight bearing surface of the hoof. Incase of non-infectious diseases like sole ulcers, white line disease the hard horn around the affected area has to be removed to prevent irritation. Incase of infectious diseases the lesions to be cleaned with 1% potassium permanganate solution and dried. Topically antibiotic ointments, cream, spray or gel should be applied. The animal should be administered with parenteral antibiotic therapy and the animal should be marked and the milk withdrawal period should be observed. Regular checking of claws once in three days. Provide rest to the affected animal is highly beneficial to promote healing and pain relief. The affected claw can be lifted by applying the block to the opposite sound claw to relieve the weight bearing. In some of the severe conditions like septic pedal arthritis, amputation of the claw is the best option.

Prevention

Foot bathing

Prevention of infectious lameness is far better, cheaper and more successful than treatment. Hence, footbath is recommended for the control and prevention of infectious hoof diseases. Footbath should be used routinely to control the infectious hoof disease. It is most commonly used to prevent and control interdigital dermatitis. Most commonly used formulations include formalin solution (5-10%) i.e. 3 to 5 litres of commercial formalin added to 100 litres, zinc (or) copper sulphate and quaternary ammonium compounds and other commercial products in various strengths. Footbath should be filled up to level of 12cm and the recommended dimension for a footbath are 75cm wide, 3to 5m length and 18cm depth.The best location for a footbath is at the exit lane of milking parlor and at the entrance of the farm. A footbath can be used for about 2-3 days depending on the number of animals. Footbath should be replenished, if it becomes too dirt.

Nutritional factor

Nutrition plays an important role in terms of hoof health. Sudden change of diet, particularly diets that contain high concentrate leads to drop in rumen pH causes ruminal acidosis will result in a dramatic increase in lameness. Prevention of acidosis by giving the fiber-based diet with adequate roughage (e.g. silage and hay) stimulate rumination, increase saliva flow and neutralize the acid produced in rumen.Sudden change of diet should be avoided. Providing good quality roughage. Gradual increasing the amount of concentrate during early lactation. Feeding a well-balancedmineral mixture with additional trace minerals especially zinc, manganese, copper, cobalt and biotin are a key component of the nutrition to minimize lameness. Zinc has a rolein improving hoof condition, due to its healing effect, increased rate of epithelial tissue formation. Keeping an animal well fed with proper nutrients, they will produce good quality hoof horn and have stronger feet.

Flooring

Concrete floor

Most of the shed have concrete floor, because it is fairly durable, cheap and wear resistant. Hardness, abrasiveness and slipperiness are the features of concrete floor and it leads to foot lesions and lameness. It has an adverse effect on health, welfare, production and reproductive performance of the animal. Newly built dairy farms may have hard and abrasive concrete floor that could lead to over wearing of the claws. A concrete floor with wooden float provides best surface for cow’s foot. In case of smooth concrete floor reduces wear and it leads to overgrowth of horn which require frequent trimming of claw. Concrete floors normally do not provide required friction to support the normal movement. So, grooving the surface of smooth concrete floor is essential to improve traction and reduces injuries from falling. A diamond pattern is the most recommended grooving pattern in the floor to maximize the traction.

Ideal flooring for dairy cows

In recent years, there has been a significant interest in way to reduce the disadvantages of concrete floor by incorporating rubber belt. Softer flooring materials like rubber might be future alternatives in floor for dairy cows to improve comfort and hygiene for the feet. Flooring quality especially in view of softness, friction and hygiene is of greater importance for health of foot and legs of cows. Soft and less slippery rubber floor can reduce various gait abnormalities and therefore, related with lower claw wear. It had a lower thermal conductivity than concrete.

Hygienic housing

Foot diseases and lameness occur in all types of housing systems but the incidents and seriousness differ from farm to farm. Poor hygiene is due accumulation of dung and urine in the lying areas and passages. It predisposes the hooves to various foot lesions and leading to lameness. In poor hygienic condition animal will spend more time standing in slurry therefore they may have softer feet. The wet floor causes softer horn and claws which leads to severe foot lesions. Good hygiene can be achieved through thorough cleaning and disinfection of the farm every day. Dry floor reduces the access of bacteria and it was less slippery. Therefore, the hygienic condition and regular cleaning of floors are very important in terms of maintenance of healthy feet.

Hoof trimming

Hoof overgrowth may cause discomfort to the animal. So, it is important method to improve the claw shape and to prevent recurrence of lameness. Lameness is caused by abnormal weight bearing due to overgrowth of the horn. Hooves grow at ~ 1/5 to 1/4 of an inch every month. If wear is less than the growth it leads to overgrowth of the hoof. Once overgrowth of the horn occurs, then trimming is necessary to prevent lameness. A skilled person requires for the hoof trimming. Inadequately trained person can damage the feet which leads to lameness.

Breeding

One of the reasons for an increased incidence of lameness is that the genetic selection of traits focusses mainly on quantity and quality of the milk, reproductive traits and ignores the other important traits such as body conformation, leg conformation etc. in order to reduce the susceptibility to foot disease, these selection traits must be added in future. These traits must be heritable and have a positive correlation with the occurrence of foot diseases.

Conclusion

Prevention of hoof disease starts with the regular check and care of digits. Sound legs and feet are the most important characteristics for good health of the dairy cow.

Take home points

1. Regular using of footbaths
2. At least six months once the regular trimming of hooves must be done
3. Avoid sudden change of the diet
4. Provide sufficient quantity of good quality silage
5. Maintain a hygienic environment in and around milking parlor, walk ways and standing area
6. Proper drainage facility to avoid dirty circumstances
7. Provide a dry and smooth surface area to prevent injuries and slipperiness
8. Periodic cleaning of foots with 1% potassium permanganate solution

 

 “Legends leave their foot prints on the sand

    Peoples always talk about that

                                        But I prefer hoof prints”

Reference

1. Blowey R. Cattle Lameness and Hoofcare. Ipswich, UK: Farming Press; 1993
2. Economic cost of lameness in dairy cattle herds, Journal of Dairy, Veterinary & Animal Research, Volume 6 Issue 2 – 2017
3. Michael Neary, et.al., Hoof Anatomy, Care and Management in Livestock, Purdue Extension, ID-321-W
4. Shearer JK. et.al., Perspectives on the treatment of claw lesions in cattle, 2015, journal veterinary medicine: research and report, volume 2015:6, pp 273-29
5. van Amstel SR, Shearer JK. Manual for the Treatment and Control of Lameness in Cattle. Ames, IA: Blackwell Publishing Professional; 2006.