Benefits of a weekly bath
Benefits of a weekly bath
By Jessica Buss
ROUTINE footbathing for dairy cows will lessen the severity of slurry heel or heel erosion, reduce foul-in-the-foot and lower the water content of the horn making it stronger.
So says Glos vet Roger Blowey, who advises a weekly footbath of a 5% solution of formalin, copper sulphate or zinc sulphate.
"Formalin dries out the foot better, actually absorbing moisture from it. But producers must be careful with it, as it can be a human health hazard." Formalin is also cheap and is quickly degraded when discarded in a slurry store, he says.
Copper and zinc sulphate are more pleasant to handle, but copper can be toxic to sheep, he warns. And both products are more difficult to dispose of in an environmentally friendly way, because they do not break down in slurry.
Zinc sulphate tends to be more expensive, but there is some evidence that it promotes foot health rather than just acting as a disinfectant, adds Mr Blowey.
But curing digital dermatitis needs antibiotic footbath solutions which penetrate the foot tissue and attack the organism, which is just below the skin surface, he advises.
A US study, reported recently, found no other treatment as effective for this disease, he adds. "Formalin is not ideal for digital dermatitis treatment because it kills off the surface layers of the foot tissue resulting in temporary improvement, but the organism remains in deeper layers of horn, so can reoccur.
"Antibiotics are better because they penetrate the surface layers of the skin without killing the tissue," says Mr Blowey. Lincomycin, lincospectin, oxytetracycline, tetsol or erythomycin can be used.
Disposal concerns
There are concerns about disposal of these products because of the variable time taken for antibiotics to degrade in slurry. But most degrade quickly. Lincomycin degrades within 24 hours, he adds.
Mr Blowey advises careful footbathing for digital dermatitis once a month with antibiotics, or once a fortnight for herds with high incidence. He also suggests using a spray jet to reduce antibiotic costs. A 5ml dose on the heel of each animal in the parlour can be effective. *
Roger Blowey… Formalin is good for cows feet, but for digital dermatitis antibiotics are needed.
EFFECTIVE TREATMENT
Foot bathing dairy cows is far less effective when the bath is dirty or cows return to uncleaned yards where reinfection occurs, warns Roger Blowey.
"Cows should enter the footbath with clean feet. Either keep cows feet clean, try to hose off feet in the parlour and let them drain off during milking, or install two footbaths, one for washing cows feet in, then 2-3m of clean concrete before the treatment bath," he says.
There are many footbaths available and choice will depend on the circumstances. But the bath must be at least 2.5m (8.3ft) long to ensure cows put all four feet in, he advises.
Minimal solution footbaths, where a pad is used, can save on antibiotic use, but they are more expensive to buy. They also need to be topped up more often, so perhaps are not as easy to use in large herds.