Laminitis and production

Laminitis is the third most important factor in reducing production in dairy farms, and by reducing milk production and fertility in dairy cattle, it imposes costs on livestock. So having a free and easy-to-follow observation system, called motion scoring, is important. Being careful to find areas with laminitis will prevent future economic losses before the disease worsens, so it is important that check how cows walk to the milking parlor.

The emphasis of this scoring system is on examining factors such as observing the cow standing and walking – with particular emphasis on the position of the cow’s back, which is evidence of weight distribution.

Laminitis symptoms in herd

There are common symptoms that indicate laminitis in the herd.

– Unwillingness to walk (shakes his head or stays still when he hits the ground)

-The back or spine bends more when the animal has pain in the back of the foot.

– The length of the step is shortened and due to improper weighting of the limbs, the motor limb on one side of the cow sinks more and this indicates that the animal is transferred weight from the opposite side.

– The animal’s normal walking speed is reduced.

– The animal stops to rest the injured limb.

– Some cows become incapacitated when spinning or trying to get up.

Motion scoring basics

– Score animals regularly.

– Animals should be observed when standing and walking on a solid, smooth and non-slip surface. Animals naturally shorten their steps on the slippery surface, so scoring will not be accurate.

-If the animals are running, they should not get points.

– It is better to rate the cows of each spring or barn together, because if in many of the cows in it, laminitis is observed, it may help you to identify the cause.

– If possible, rate dairy cows before milking. When cows are forced to stand for a while, they may appear lame when they are not real.

– It is better to have regular people to be responsible for scoring the herd. Because they understand the movement of individual cows and can notice the signs of laminitis sooner.

– Performing hoof trimming at intervals of 3 to 4 months, which is very effective in controlling laminitis.

A motion scoring system can help record the history of laminitis, the type of injury or lesion that causes the disease, whether it is new or chronic, and the effectiveness of treatment.

To achieve this goal, all information must be recorded in each motion scoring and from this raw information, useful reports and outputs can be made for management decisions.

We suggest the use of dairy herd management software and hoof trimming sub-software, which provides the best facilities for farms in terms of recording information and easy access to movement score records and hoof trimming of herd.

Animal Husbandry Management Software