Controlling foot diseases and effective utilisation footbaths in dairy farming
Posted on: 28 August 2014
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Footbaths are crucial structures in dairy farms. Critical knowledge of their importance and usage minimises loss in your farm in terms of treating your cows and cost of replacing the footbaths. Putting in mind the following considerations will not only help you in treating and preventing foot diseases like foot rot and hairy heel warts that might affect your cows in your farm but also make your footbaths last longer.
Important considerations
Design
The design of the footbath is very crucial since it determines its effectiveness in treating your cow' infected feet. Long footbaths are the most effective since the infected feet stays in the treatment solution substantially longer. This increases chances of the chemical application on the wounds. Ideal footbaths for cows should be 3 metres long.
Since clean feet get the treatment chemicals better, it is advisable for you to have a two-stage footbath. The first footbath is filled with soap, water and rock salt debris to clean the feet before getting in the treatment solution in the second footbath.
By designing the footbath this way, one reduces the frequency of its usage since the treatment exercise is made more successful and rates of foot infections are greatly brought down. This makes it last longer since its wear and tare in reduced.
Proper chemical solution
When treating foot infections in cows, it is imperative for one to choose the most effective disinfectants, right mixture and the correct depth. The best disinfectants are those containing copper sulphate, zinc sulphate or formalin. The correct depth of the disinfectant in the footbath should be 12 centimetres.
Minimizing footbath usage
As a daily farmer, you can minimize the usage of the footbath by controlling foot infections in cows through other ways. Maintaining high levels of hygiene is one of the best initiatives. These infections are prevalent in cow pens that are riddled with dung or manure. It is hence very important for you to keep pens free from manure, dung or any filth. Usage of the footbath can even be done weekly when the cow pens are kept clean.
When to use the footbaths
Although treating of foot diseases in cows is effective through disinfecting them in footbaths, it should not be the only cure procedure applied when a large population is infected. When more than 10% of the animals are infected, a veterinary officer should be consulted to supplement the treatment. Other additional options of treating the foot infections are smearing or dusting the feet with disinfectants or injections.
Critical planning of footbath construction, like with Kent Excavations, should be done to make sure that it last longer and it achieves the best results in your farm.