foot baths to prevent dd

[jpastars]

Good evening,

It looks like our farm might have to deal with digital dermatitis in the future therefore it would be great to hear your experience with tackling this problem.

What kind of footbaths do you use (any pictures)? Where are they located? What is the procedure? and are you satisfied with results? Do you change the procedure in winter? Any dos and donts?

In my farm the only place where to locate them are on return lane which is narrow ( one cow at a time), furthermore this part of barn is not heated ( we have about 1 month of temperatures around minus 10 C.)
Additionally I would prefer it to be mobile - so that I can remove it easily when not used.

Given all these criteria it seems that simple plastic footbaths would be the best, but do they work? I have heard negative reviews, but anything else would also be complicated. (A permanent foot bath would interfere with cleaning and farm tractor movement.)

 

[vantage]

Sorry,you had better re design your lay out to have a permanent footbath,plastic is rubbish,make the permanent one easy to fill and empty and the job will be done with out any hassle or excuses.Lame cows don't make any money to pay for your tractors!

 

[jpastars]

Sorry,you had better re design your lay out to have a permanent footbath,plastic is rubbish,make the permanent one easy to fill and empty and the job will be done with out any hassle or excuses.Lame cows don't make any money to pay for your tractors!

What are the main drawbacks of plastic footbaths? I don't see any difference in filling or emptying ( unless you compare with automated systems) .

 

[vantage]

What are the main drawbacks of plastic footbaths? I don't see any difference in filling or emptying ( unless you compare with automated systems) .

Too small or rather too short,cows don't like walking on uneven surfaces (baths with raised bits in them to " splay " the foot) and you have to tip them out where as permanent ones can be built with a plug or bung.

 

[ploughman1963]

DD and lameness is too big an issue to compromise. You need a proper bath - talk to John at Cowcare systems and you will get a bells and whistles footbath for a lot less than you think and a lot less than the cost of treatments and lost milk production.

 

[Beef farmer]

@COWCARE SYSTEMS

 

[jpastars]

DD and lameness is too big an issue to compromise. You need a proper bath - talk to John at Cowcare systems and you will get a bells and whistles footbath for a lot less than you think and a lot less than the cost of treatments and lost milk production.

What about this one:

?

 

[meekers]

I had a Delaval auto empty/fill footbath and used to bath every day with formula and use copper sulphate once a a month. Always controlled it but still had to lift occasional cows and treat. Six months ago I replaced it with a precast bath. It is 4m long. What a difference the extra length has made. I no longer footpath every day- I only bath alternate weeks. I have only had to lift one foot with DD all winter.

 

[rusty]

We have used 3m long plastic footpath in the exit race for 15 years. The plastic baths usually last about 4-5 years before they crack and have to be thrown away. We use about 15kg of copper sulphate and 15 litres of formalin in 200 litres of water once a week for 300 cows and just about keeps on top of DD.
Current bath has just split and it will probably be replaced with a 4 m long concrete bath outside the parlour.

 

[davidroberts30]

Do you mix the formalin and CuSo4 together?

 

[jpastars]

We have used 3m long plastic footpath in the exit race for 15 years. The plastic baths usually last about 4-5 years before they crack and have to be thrown away. We use about 15kg of copper sulphate and 15 litres of formalin in 200 litres of water once a week for 300 cows and just about keeps on top of DD.
Current bath has just split and it will probably be replaced with a 4 m long concrete bath outside the parlour.

There is a video on youtube where it is argued that foot bath should not be longer than 3 meters, otherwise cows are more likely to defecate in it. This in turn makes the solution ineffective and increases mastitis risks.

 

[ploughman1963]

Our vets and others advice was clear - 3m is too short. Depth and overall capacity is also v important. Cow counting by magic eye is important so the liquid gets changed before it gets too dirty. We found that dista from the Parlour had major effect on crapping in the bath. We moved ours further away so that there was less stress on them as they leave Parlour as a group. They can walk through at their own pace and not being stressed they don’t crap.

 

[rusty]

Yes

Do you mix the formalin and CuSo4 together?

we do. Was advised at an Arla workshop that would be better keeping separate but when we tried this we think DD started to creep back in so went back to using together. If it ain't broke don't fix it!

 

[Maxxum-man]

Yes

we do. Was advised at an Arla workshop that would be better keeping separate but when we tried this we think DD started to creep back in so went back to using together. If it ain't broke don't fix it!

How much are you buying copper sulphate at? 25kg bags? Seems pricey

 

[dazza b]

Why not put foot bath before parlour? Be less risk of mastitis as the teats are still sealed not open like after milking

 

[DF123]

We had a dd problem a few years back so we went in hard! Footbathed 6 days a week for 3 months solid, then went 3 days a week after the 3 months and still on 3 days a week at present. We use formalin mon tue then wed we either use antibiotic footbath ie. tylan powder or we either use FAM 30 or copper sulphate depending on price then thur fri sat back to fomalin. Sundays we have a break for church obviously!
Also formalin footbath the drys and heifers once a week.
It is a pain but hard work is worth it as we had a real problem spreading and we saw a real result within 2 months. I was initially worried about the feet becoming hard with the formalin but havent seen a problem. Will put up 40+cows every month for footrimmer and he may find 1 dermi just creeping in but very rare. We use 2 plastic foot baths pre bath (just water) and then solution in next.

 

[multi power]

What about this one:

?

Very disappointed with that bath

 

[DF123]

Why not put foot bath before parlour? Be less risk of mastitis as the teats are still sealed not open like after milking

The buggers dont come in!

 

[DF123]

Very disappointed with that bath

Me too!

 

[rusty]

How much are you buying copper sulphate at? 25kg bags? Seems pricey

Can't remember off top of my head, but yes it is pricey!