Lameness is a painful disease that decreases cattle performance and is one of the most important health and welfare concerns in the dairy industry. Many researchers have reported behavior and production differences in lame versus sound cows.

We are lucky to have many fine hoof trimmers in the U.S. who do an outstanding job for their clients. Unfortunately, because the business of trimming is largely unregulated, there are trimmers who do not do a good job trimming our cows’ feet.

For about 15 years, I have been volunteering to help the Hoof Trimmers Association by manning the organization’s booth at World Dairy Expo. Each year, I strike up conversations with visiting trimmers and discuss trimming techniques.

Claw lesions, such as those due to digital dermatitis (DD, hairy heel warts, Figure 1), are a serious problem in dairy cattle herds worldwide and often cause lameness. Treatments for DD include a large variety of products, used at both the herd level and the individual level, and these often involve the application of antibiotics.

When hoof trimmer Rick Trinko of Middleton, Wisconsin, began seeing a large number of cows at one dairy with white-line hemorrhages in zone 2, he was alarmed. The typical site for a white-line hemorrhage is zone 3, and it can indicate the early stages of white-line disease.

Lameness is one of the most common and most economically destructive production diseases of dairy cows. It is associated with a reduction in milk yield and fertility and an increase in culling rate and medical costs. The prevalence of lameness in dairy cow herds is estimated within the range of 20 to 25 percent, but it could reach up to 80 percent in some herds.

Distracted. Ignorant. Complacent. Challenging. Just some of the reasons one might not make a change. We’ve all been there; motivating change is hard, period. It’s in these times when the saying, “You can lead a horse to water …” really rings true.

What is the best product to run in my footbath? How often should I run my footbath? These are questions I am often asked by dairy producers. It seems everyone is looking for that “silver bullet” to control digital dermatitis (DD).

The first time I remember singing the hymn of Thanksgiving, “Come Ye Thankful People Come,” written by Henry Alford, was at our eighth-grade Thanksgiving program for our parents back in 1963, the year President Kennedy was assassinated.

You rely on your TMR mixer each and every day to deliver a high-quality ration to your cows. But is your ration consistent each day? Are you routinely checking your mixer’s maintenance needs?