Herd Health

In days past, before we learned the principles of good hoof care, we would see older, mature dairy cows with overgrown corkscrewed outer claws on their rear feet.

As of Jan. 1, 2017, the National Milk Producers Federation set a ban on tail docking.

By definition, lameness is any abnormality that causes a cow’s gait to change. However, within this broad term are very specific types of hoof lesions and injuries, and each requires specialized treatment for the best recovery opportunity.

All animals, including dairy cows, have four possible routes of exchanging heat energy with their environment. These are conduction, convection, radiation and evaporation. The first three are referred to as sensible routes of heat loss, and all require a thermal gradient. In other words, the cow must be hotter than the environment for heat to flow out of the cow into the surrounding environment.

Successful dairies have healthy cattle and consistent animal care. Dairy welfare audits aim to evaluate both and provide a structure for measuring performance of animal health and cattle care.

Advanced milking technology provides more data points than many dairies are able to use in their day-to-day routines and management decisions.