Dairy: Coming soon: a standardized system for identifying foot problems in cattle

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Appropriate assessment at the chute side and standardized reporting can help cut the incidence of lameness, which now costs farmers an average of $300-$500 per cow

by SUSAN MANN

What do a korn, tyloma and interdigital hyperplasia all have in common? They are three different names for the same hoof problem – a piece of flesh protruding from between a cow's toes.

But the days when certain foot problems had several different names are numbered. At their recent annual meeting, members of the Ontario
Hoof Trimmers Guild agreed to adopt a standardized system for identifying foot problems in cattle; the Foot Atlas system and lesion identification chart.

The Foot Atlas system was created by Dr. Jan Shearer, a University of Florida lameness expert. It gives specific sites of the hoof a number for location and provides standardized assessment of problems affecting that specific area, says Vic Daniel, Guild speaker and a trimmer from St. Marys. The lesion identification chart, developed by the International Lameness Committee and Zinpro Corp., is in a pictorial format.

Daniel says that the standard system will provide clear and concise assessments of lesions. "More importantly, because we are all talking the same language, we can then do more research on genetics and animals being susceptible to certain problems or animals that are quite durable."

Dr. Ann Godkin, a dairy specialist with the Ontario agriculture ministry says that using a standardized system on Ontario's farms will lead to quicker resolutions to problems. "It will also lead to the correct solution."

For example, sole ulcers can be caused by several different factors. "If we can get an accurate diagnosis as to how many cows have a sole ulcer problem and when it occurs, both during the time of year and in the stage of lactation, then I think producers are much more likely to get the correct solution," she says.

Lameness is a big problem in Ontario's dairy herds, Godkin says. "This is another part of the team, essentially the diagnostic team, getting into gear to help us solve that problem."

Dr. Gerard Cramer, a Stratford-area veterinarian who focuses on lameness, says the problem costs farmers an average of $300 to $500 per cow depending on what the lesion is and how soon it's caught. More serious cases can cost $700 or higher per incidence. The costs are incurred through reduced milk production potential and increased culling.

Hoof trimmers using a standard lesion identification system "will get everybody talking the same language," Cramer says. That's good for farmers because it will enable their advisers, such as vets and nutritionists, to "know what the hoof trimmer is talking about instead of having doubts." It will also help advisers to identify when the problem happens in the cow's life and track specific cows.

Cramer and Daniel both say the system will also help to determine more accurately if a cow's hoof problem is improving or deteriorating because conditions are given a numerical value, with three being the most severe and one being minor. Without the scoring system, trimmers or vets rechecking the problem weeks later wouldn't have a benchmark, Daniel says.

Godkin notes that herds are getting larger in Ontario and lameness problems persist. "We need to drill down as to whether we're building the right kinds of barns, whether we're delivering feed so cows consume it at a constant rate, and whether we're feeding them the right things."

All of those factors, if they're not done correctly, can contribute to foot problems. But everything hinges on the appropriate assessment being made at the chute side and being reported in a standardized way, she notes.