Lameness in milking heifers - an update
How big of a problem is it?
Two studies are summarised below:
Maxwell et al. (2015) reported that 95% of the 139 milking heifers in the study that were foot trimmed at 50-80 days in milk had some disease in at least one claw.
Capion et al. (2009) looked at 147 milking heifers and found that 80 of them had moderate to severe sole bruising and 105 of them had a white line lesion.
Randall et al. (2016) found that milking heifers that were lame between 60-100 days in milk gave nearly 3 litres less milk per day compared to milking heifers with no lesions. They also found that heifers that had Digital Dermatitis (DD) in their first lactation were culled from the herd 341 days earlier than those without DD and had a lifetime reduction in milk yield of 3,513kg.
Why are heifers particularly at risk?
The 6 week period around calving poses a massive risk of lameness for cattle of all ages, but particularly for heifers. Heifers have multiple group and diet changes around calving, have to learn about how to lie in cubicles and how to dodge more senior bully cows. They also have to get used to standing on concrete, are often waiting the longest to be milked, and get exposed to the bacteria causing Digital Dermatitis.
The 60 day trim.
If heifers are calving in and being housed for the first few months of lactation, the 60 day trim becomes a really important tool to protect her foot health for her lifetime. A routine trim at this point gets her foot rebalanced, takes the pressure off the sole ulcer site by removing excess sole and redistributing her weight correctly, and can stop a bruise developing into an ulcer which she would otherwise end up dealing with her whole life.
Have you heard of EDPET?
Early Detection and Prompt Effective Treatment
EDPET is one of the cornerstones of successfully treating a new case of lameness. EDPET means all new, mild cases of lameness should be picked up and trimmed within 48 hours of first going lame - using pain relief and blocks at this point maximises her chance of a full recovery. Sometimes it is easy to get stuck in a cycle of presenting the same old cows with foot issues to the foot trimmer and never managing to get to the new, fresh, mild cases that have a much better chance of a cure.
Next time you're making your list of cows to foot trim - pull out some 60 day heifer trims and see what their feet tell you - if they're perfect and balanced you can relax a bit and concentrate on other areas for foot health - but if you're finding bruises or early Digi lesions then know it is a valuable trim that is protecting her future in your herd.
Is there anything we can do to protect heifers and their feet as they join the milking herd?
- Make sure heifers have had contact with concrete before they calve to develop the fat pads in their feet - this internal cushioning is critical to keeping heifers sound
- Make sure heifers have comfy cubicles and lie in quickly - if they're refusing a cubicle that first day after joining the milkers, help them into the cubicle and give them pain relief to minimise the damage to the inside of the foot
- Make sure there are spare cubicles so heifers have options where to lie and don't have to squeeze in between two dominant cows
- Make sure there is at least 80cm feed space per cow in the milkers so less dominant heifers can feed easily and minimise weight loss
- Make sure dry cows and heifers are footbathed as often you footbath the milkers - this means the skin around the hoof is more resilient against the bacteria causing DD in freshly calved cows
The downer ewe at lambing time - twin lamb disease and low calcium
With lambing time either in full flow or rapidly approaching, here's a reminder to be on the lookout for twin lamb disease and low blood calcium.
Twin lamb disease and low blood calcium are common problems in ewes around lambing and distinguishing between the two can be difficult; ewes suffering from one are likely to be at risk of suffering from the other.
1. Twin Lamb Disease:
Twin lamb or pregnancy toxaemia is most common in older ewes carrying multiple lambs. It is caused by the ewe not being able to eat enough during late pregnancy as the growing lambs take up more and more room in her abdomen and limit how much food she can get in her rumen. To compensate, she ends up using her body fats as an energy source which creates toxic by-products called ketones. We can test for ketones on the farm using a small blood sample and our ketone meters.
What to look out for:
Treatment:
Treatment should include drenching with an energy source such as “Ewe-Go” and importantly an anti-inflammatory injection. If signs are severe, IV glucose or aborting the lambs may be required to save the ewe.
Prevention:
Prevention involves making sure ewes are fed appropriately for the number of lambs they are carrying; body condition scoring, ensuring sufficient trough space, good quality forages and avoiding rapid diet changes can all help.
2. Low blood calcium: "hypocalcaemia"
Unlike cattle this is more likely to occur during late pregnancy in ewes rather than just after lambing. Like cows, older ewes are more at risk, and carrying twins or triplets also increases her risk. It can also be triggered by stressful events such as moving/housing or a change in diet.
What to look out for:
Treatment:
Treatment involves giving 60-80ml WARMED calcium under the skin over several sites (the response to IV calcium is much more rapid but needs to be done carefully and should be carried out by a vet). Oral calcium supplements such as “Ewe-Go” can also work well.
Often twin lamb and hypocalcaemia can be hard to distinguish so if you're not sure, treat for both conditions.
Ewe-Go Drench:
Ewe-Go Drench contains both an energy precursor (glycerol and propylene glycol) and calcium, some of which is in the form of calcium chloride which is rapidly absorbed from the gut. It comes as a 1 litre flexi pack so you can attach your normal dosing gun for easy administration - each affected ewe will need 100ml by mouth.
Calcibel:
Blue Calciject had been widely used to treat low blood calcium in sheep around lambing but has been out of production now for a couple of years.
Calcibel is our alternative for treating low calcium in sheep so get in touch if you need to get stocked up for lambing time.
Feeding calves in a cold snap
Newborn calves are not great at maintaining their core body temperature and have a "thermoneutral zone" between 14°C and 25°C.
When it's below 14°C calves use energy from their milk which was intended for growth, and divert it to keeping themselves warm. As the calf gets older, the temperature range they can tolerate widens - which means by 4 weeks old they are able to tolerate temperatures down to freezing point.
The traditional way of feeding 2 litres of 20/20 milk replacer twice a day just doesn't meet the nutritional needs of a newborn calf any more, and especially not during the winter months. Using a higher solids milk replacer, or pasteurised whole milk, definitely helps buffer the calf when temperatures drop - and although never a very popular suggestion, adding in a third feed can make a huge difference to growth rates and disease levels in a prolonged cold snap.
If calves are fed twice a day at 8am and 4pm then the newborn calf is going 16 hours over night when temperatures can be at their lowest. When they are short on calories they start to use protein in their bodies as an energy source - in particular albumin and globulin from the blood and both of these are needed for their immune response. So not only are these calves nutritionally stressed, but their ability to fight off infections can be affected too.
Most farmers are now using calf coats on newborn calves which definitely help core temperatures stabilise without the calf excessively dipping into the energy in its milk to keep warm - but don't forget the need for a 24/7, deep, dry straw bed which allows them to nest and insulate themselves with warm air too.
Get in touch for prices for Cosy Calf Jackets from HFV - prices from £20/coat
Any poorly draining areas need to be addressed to stop damp spots forming which steal body heat away from the calf, increase humidity at the calf nose and allow bacteria and viruses to survive for longer, increasing the risk of spread. A 15 second knee drop test (without waterproofs!) in the calf pens is a quick way to assess how dry the beds really are!
Top tips for supporting young calves in a cold snap:
- Feed a good quality, high solids milk powder so they're getting at least 750-900g powder per day, or feed at least 6 litres of pasteurised whole milk
- If calves have a longer interval between feeds overnight, give them more of their daily allowance at the afternoon feed
- Make sure newborn calves have coats on and a deep, clean, dry bed
- Use bales to block drafts and for shelter - often prevailing winds change when the weather is coldest
- Make sure pneumonia vaccines go in on time
- Take their temperature at the first sign of them being off colour - anything over 39°C needs anti-inflam at least - make sure you're happy with your treatment protocols
Huskvac -protecting your youngstock against lungworm for 2025
It’s a lovely reminder that spring turnout is just around the corner when we see Huskvac start coming in and going out of the practice. Formerly known as Dictol, vaccination is our preventative tool when it comes to lungworm control.
Lungworm is caused by a parasite called Dictyocaulus viviparus which is found on a lot of cattle farms in the UK, but not all. Disease patterns can be unpredictable as weather affects how quickly the lifecycle progresses; lungworm like gut worms prefer warm wet weather.
Infected cattle pass live larvae, not eggs, in their muck and the larvae develop over a few days inside the cowpat before wriggling out onto surrounding grass or being fired out by a fungus called "Pilobolus". These larvae are eaten by other cattle and migrate through the gut, ending up in the lungs where they become adults and sit in the main airways producing eggs. These eggs are coughed up and swallowed into the gut where they hatch and are passed out in her muck.
In the UK we used to see disease from July to September but milder winters mean more extended grazing seasons and we now see disease as early as May and as late as December. Lungworm can be quite dramatic if the airways are full of adults - you can get severe coughing, head outstretched, mouth breathing and deaths, but in earlier cases you hear coughing, especially when being moved.
Huskvac Vaccination
Huskvac is one of the ways we can protect cattle from lungworm - the vaccine is an oral dose of 1000 larvae that have been damaged by radiation - this means the larvae are alive but harmless and exposure builds immunity safely. It's a two dose vaccine, given 4-6 weeks apart with the second dose at least 2 weeks before turn out.
Grazing & worming after vaccination:
Immunity to lungworm is short lived so it is vital that vaccinated animals are exposed to pasture larvae in that first grazing season - don't use slow release worming boluses or long acting wormers as this can stop the natural immunity boost that is needed.
What about sheep?
Sheep can become infested with a different species of lungworm called Dictyocaulus filaria. Unlike in cattle, this parasite is rarely of clinical significance but do get in contact if you have any concerns.
Get in touch
Paula: 07764 747855 paula@haywoodfarmvets.com
Tom: 07837 291097 tom@haywoodfarmvets.com
Katie: 07507 656747 katie@haywoodfarmvets.com
Els: 07980 487146 els@haywoodfarmvets.com
Open hours: M-F | 8:30 - 16:00
Out of Hours: 01630 810016