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COW COMFORT
7
LIVESTOCK MATTERS
WORKING
TOGETHER
FOR A HEALTHIER FUTURE...
In addition, changes to the bedding material
were made; the ends of the cubicles were
built up with wooden board, so that they
could be filled with a 7” (18cm) depth of
sand, instead of using sawdust over the mats.
Fresh sand is added three times per week.
Andy adds: ‘Using sand has had a big
impact on reducing mastitis cases. However,
we are still working out how best to deal with
the sand in the slurry.’
Through the year, the farm receives weekly
visits from vet students, as the Royal Veterinary
College (RVC) has a field station near
Dorchester. As part of their studies, they
monitor different aspects of herd health, and
this has included assessing cubicle comfort,
enabling an objective measure of the
improvements to be made. Jim explains:
‘Cubicle Comfort Indices (CCI) are calculated
from the number of cows in the cubicles, and
the proportion of them that are actually lying
down. The target is at least 85%. In the old
cubicles with sawdust, the shed with the high
yielders scored 70%. But a recent scoring was
89%. Cubicles haven’t been altered in the
heifer sheds, but the change in bedding alone
increased the CCI from 78% to 93%. ‘With
better cubicle comfort, cows lie down for
longer, and this has a positive effect on milk
yields,’ says Jim.
Dry cows are loose-housed on straw. Jim
adds: ‘As part of the overall review of the
buildings, a concrete kerb was put down in
this shed, to better define the strawed-lying
area and the feeding area. It allows 30% of
the yard to be scraped clean on a daily basis
and has reduced mastitis cases.’
Reducing lameness
To reduce lameness, a more focused
approach has also been taken with
foot-trimming and foot-bathing. All in-milk cows
are foot-bathed in 5% formalin, once every
day, whilst dry cows and bulling heifers are
treated twice weekly.
This, combined with more cows lying down in
the extended cubicles, has reduced lameness,
as shown by the mobility scores (see Figure 2):
only 68% of cows had a good mobility score
(0 or 1) in autumn 2011. However, in July this
year, the figure had risen to 90% - beating the
average on-farm score, and the suggested
industry target of 85%.
Figure 2:
Mobility scores at
St Giles Farm
Mobility Scores at St
Giles Farm, relative to
the UK Median and
Target ranges (Archer,
Bell et.al., 2010)
Bedded on sand
Kerb defines laying area
Enlarged cubicles