| UK Dairy Day
Comfort Slat Mats: Preventing lameness=more
£’s for the farmer
The Green Floor System by Comfort Slat Mat is designed to prevent
lameness in cows as a result of standing on concrete slats.
n addition, the suppleness of
the product simulates the
normal grassland surface on
which animals graze and allows
the animal to stand-up or lie-
down in a more natural manner.
The profiled design of the slat cover
encourages urine and faeces to move through
the gaps between the slats and into the storage
tank below the floor resulting in cleaner floors
and so cleaner animals.
Preventing Lameness – enabling growth and
productivity
Throughout the dairy industry there is an
issue with lameness and there are many
studies linking lameness on concrete slats to
animal welfare/productivity/farm profitability. No
one should underestimate the impact of
lameness on performance, profit and welfare as
shown above. The Green Floor System by
Comfort Slat Mats have been designed as the
solution to prevent lameness issues occurring
as a result of the concrete slatted floor Irish
dairy cows are subjected to. The science in
designing the Green Floor System for dairy is
to prevent lameness caused by the slats by
tackling the problems of –1. Wet floors – a
causal factor in digital or hoof lameness 2.
Lack of grip 3. Un-hygienic & Un-healthy floors
- a causal factor in digital or hoof lameness
1. Curved - for the speedy removal of urine
I
from the floor creating a dry walking area.
2. Dynamic/Cushioned core - designed to
allow the claw to "grip" into the floor and
3. Snap-Lock - Encapsulates the slat rib
preventing the build-up of faeces under the mat
and the speedy removal of faeces off the floor.
Lameness in Irish Dairy Herds
The incidence of lameness on dairy farms
varies ranges greatly. In the average Irish dairy
herd, 20 out of every 100 cows are affected in
any given year, while each affected cow will
have a lameness occurrence rate of 1.4,
meaning in a typical 100 cow herd there will be
28 episodes per year. Based on work done by
Eoin Ryan MVB and Luke O’Grady BVMS of
UCD (Economics of Infectious and Production
Diseases in Irish Dairy Herds) estimate the
costs of lameness have been calculated at
€300 per affected cow. Many of the direct costs
are easy to identify – treatments, vet call-outs,
farmer’s time, milk discarded and loss of milk
sales. The indirect costs are more subtle and
often not appreciated as a significant effect that
lameness can have on farm profitability.
Lameness reduces the cow’s mobility and
causes loss of body condition through reduced
feed intake. It affects the cow’s fertility in a
number of ways:
• Loss of body condition;
• Inability to show sign of heat;
• Increased likelihood of being hurt during
32 | Farming Monthly | September 2017
bulling activity
The reduction in fertility is related to the
severity of the lameness and manifests itself in
a number of ways. Cows require more services
and typically one in five cows with a mild
lameness require an additional service. In
severely lame cows, almost three out of four
require an additional service.
The cost to a typical 100-cow herd are :
No. Cows affected: 20
1.4 episodes of lameness @£296.61 per cow
20 x £296.61 = £5932.20
Cost per cow across herd £60
Losses associated with lameness are a
significant drain on the profits, with farmers
often unaware of the scale of these losses.
However, farmers are often of the opinion that
large scale lameness “goes with the territory”
and is something to deal with as it occurs.
A study conducted by Dutch Hoof health in
The Netherlands into lameness in Dairy Herds
on Comfort Slat Mats shows the near
elimination of lameness on cows which live in
total confinement conditions.
Through near prevention of lameness using
Comfort Slat Mats as seen in the above report,
this enables farmers achieve increased
productivity/efficiency (of the cows and the
farm er’s time) and profitability through
improved animal health and welfare.
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