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X L V E T S N E W S
The event is described as a must for all
those that can make an impact on dairy cattle
mobility, including farmers, foot trimmers and
veterinary surgeons, and over 200 delegates
attended on the day. XLVets had a joint stand
in the main conference hall with member
practice, Lambert, Leonard & May and a
copy of the XLVets farm newsletter 'Livestock
Matters' was placed in every delegate pack.
The event began with a morning session with
two keynote presentations; Professor Nigel
Cook from the University of Wisconsin, spoke
about his research into dairy cattle lameness
in the USA. Professor Cook detailed how the
prevalence of dairy cow lameness has little
improved over the past decade, despite a
growing understanding of the important risk
factors, such as management, environment
and nutrition. As herd sizes continue to grow
and cows spend more time in buildings and
on concrete surfaces, he highlighted the
importance of getting the concrete surface
right, looked at sand beds versus
mattresses and detailed the FirstStep
®
programme that produces an action plan
to facilitate a reduction in lameness in
dairy herds.
'How genetics affect mobility and
locomotion', was discussed in the second
session, presented by Dr Mike Coffey, leader
of SAC's animal breeding group. Dr Coffey
described how an industry consortium has
come together to expand the traits in the
national index £PLI to make it broader and
to incorporate more traits known to influence
profitability. To do this, farmer recorded
lameness data has been collected from milk
recording organisations. This data shows that
the incidence of lameness has been rising in
recent years, as well as the number of herds
actively recording the trait. He detailed the
results from this national data and concluded
that it may be possible to eventually use this
data to aid genetic selection.
T
The afternoon session was held at the college
dairy unit; a series of workshops gave
delegates the opportunity to gain practical
tips in several areas of cow management:
l
Foot trimming and disease identification
l
Environmental factors affecting lameness
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Mobility versus locomotion - what's the
difference
?
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Parlour improvements and foot bathing
Following on from the successful events in 2008 and 2009, the third
National Cattle Mobility Event took place at Reaseheath College, near
Nantwich, Cheshire on Thursday, 8 April 2010.
3
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
National Cattle Mobility Event 2010
The National Cattle Mobility Event is a
registered charity, whose aim is to advance
the education and training of farmers and
allied professions in the subject of cattle
mobility, with the aim of reducing the
incidence of lameness in cattle in the UK,
and thereby improving animal welfare.