Animal husbandry and welfare team leader Nita Harding says cows prefer walking on level tracks – they don’t like slopes. Too much camber on tracks can lead to lameness.
“Farmers need to get advice from people who have built farm tracks, talk to neighbours and look at our information on the ‘healthy hoof programme’ for guidance on how tracks need to be built.
“They will need to put a bit of slope on the track for drainage otherwise you’ll get pooling of water and of course that’s not good for animals. But you need to be careful that the slope is quite small because cows don’t like to walk on a sloping surface; they prefer to walk on the flat. If you’ve got too much slope you’ll concentrate the cow movements in the middle of the race.”
Harding, a veterinarian, says the sloping surface will put pressure on the hooves which leads to problems predisposing the animals to lameness. “It puts pressure on the wrong places in the hoof. The cow’s hoof is designed to be used in a particular way by the cow. If you put pressure at odd angles then it will damage the hoof. You know what it’s like yourself if you walk on a sloping surface: it puts a strain on your legs and joints.”
According to Harding, the effects of lameness are felt on a farm’s bottom line. Lame cows produce less and have poorer reproductive performance; large numbers of lame cows in a herd will affect the productivity of the herd.
And numbers of lame cows can cause frustration for staff and lead to lower morale. “Lame cows are slower and more difficult to move. There’s time spent finding and treating cows and it’s a welfare concern as well.”
The materials used on races can also affect lameness. Harding says if the surface is too rough it will damage and bruise the hoof of an animal, and small stones caught between the claws can be an issue.
“We see a number of infections in cows’ feet, and physical damage which causes pain that can lead to abscesses…. You know if you have sore feet it’s very uncomfortable;.it’s the same with cows.”
Cows walking long distances do not necessarily get lame, Harding says. But cows walking on poor tracks will.
