5 factors that influence hoof health

Hoof health problems can be divided into two categories. Infectious diseases (skin-related) and Non-infectious diseases (horn-related). 

Skin-related diseases in particular are affected by barn hygiene and barn climate. Bacterial growth thrives under dark, humid and warm conditions. So to keep the infection pressure of skin-related diseases low, we should aim for a fresh light and well-ventilated barn environment. 

We can influence the climate by choosing a smart design in new buildings that provides optimal ventilation and takes into account future expansion. 

In existing barns, we often face size limitations because buildings are outdated and do not meet current insights and requirements. In such cases, modifications to the existing ventilation system can offer a solution and this does not always have to be complicated. 

Light can be achieved with artificial lighting or with as much light as possible from outside. 

Thanks to our Discovery Scraper and Discovery Collector manure robots, we can clean the cow's walkways in the barn and ensure that the barn floor is dry and as clean as possible. 

So it is important that the whole picture is right and fits together: ventilation, clean and dry floor and ample light. 

In addition, managing good hoof health is a matter of maintenance. Maintaining a low infection pressure by controlling the barn climate and maintaining good skin health in the transition area skin to horn on the hoof with resistance to infectious diseases. This can be done through frequent foot baths and or deployment of the Meteor Spraybar. 

The success of applying hoof baths comes with choosing the right remedy and applying it weekly. Thus, the right remedy for maintaining the right skin condition is to choose skin-friendly conditioners and not harsh ones like Formalin.  

Regular (weekly) application of the bath allows animals to build and maintain habituation to walking through the bath without experiencing pain or irritation due to aggressive agents. A weekly application ensures that the routine is included in the working film of the farm, tools like the right setting in Horizon can be useful here.  

A quickly forgotten group of animals here are those that are (temporarily) away from the dairy cows: dry cows and highly pregnant young stock. If these animals do not receive attention on maintaining hoof health, these groups can quickly turn into breeding ponds of mortaroo from which recontamination to the dairy cows will occur regularly.  

A textbook example was a farm that kept hoof health perfectly under control through footbaths. The aim was to increase scale. A new (larger) spacious barn with a low-emission floor was built. A Discovery Scraper was installed in the new barn, which kept the floor clean. The old barn was used as a new location for the young stock. Over time, the dairy cows started to suffer more and more from infectious diseases (mortelaroo) and the footbath protocol previously applied in the new situation no longer helped adequately. During a herd trimming session, it emerged that heifers in particular showed an increased incidence of mortelaroo, including animals that had only been with dairy cows for a short time. Eventually, it turned out that the animals which were in the old barn, together with the dry cows, were the source of infection of the animals in the dairy barn. It was a case of 'mopping the water off'. So the necessary foundation with the four pillars for good hoof health also applies to young cattle and dry cows. Whereby when it comes to the Meteor approach, weekly application with a Care spray or other skin-friendly product using, for instance, the Mobile Sprayer is a requirement. So don't forget this group!