Lameness: its cause and appropriate treatment strategies

Ger Cusack and Ned Dunphy join Emma-Louise Coffey on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to discuss common lameness conditions, its cause and appropriate treatment strategies. Ger explains that white line disease and sole bruising are the most common lameness conditions in grazing dairy cows which are generally caused by poor walking surfaces and cows being rushed on roadways. Ned documents the introduction of mortellaro to Ireland in the late 1980s when animals were imported into the country. The disease has increased with increasing cow numbers and potential lack of increased facilities provision on farm. Mortellaro is generally spread during the housed period through slurry. A foot trimmer or vet can is a good starting point to help with relevant treatment plans and identifying cows with sub-optimal locomotion. For more episodes from the Dairy Edge podcast go to the show page at: https://www.teagasc.ie/animals/dairy/the-dairy-edge-podcast/ The Dairy Edge is a co-production with LastCastMedia.com