Lameness is one of the main reasons for a dairy farmer to dispose of a cow. Not just because the cow is lame, but also because of the further issues that can arise, like reduced feed intake, decreased milk production and reduced fertility.
These bring production losses and extra treatment costs. Since the majority of lameness is caused by hoof lesions, reducing those helps reduce many economic losses. Supporting claw health can easily be done with our Exolium range.
Exolium Hoofcare
Exolium Hoofcare products were developed by Kanters to support claw health and have been making a sustainable contribution to claw health for over 25 years. All products are free of antibiotics, formalin and copper sulphate. As a result, there is no risk of antibiotic resistance and the products are safe for animals, users and the environment.
Study design
With the help of our Chinese partner Inner Mongolia Veterinary Services, we evaluated the effect Exolium Hoofclear and Exolium Hoofgel have on infectious hoof lesions. The lesions were classified according to the criteria below:
| M0 | M1 | M2 | M3 | M4 | M4.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No lesions | Presence of small ulcers (0-2 cm Ø) | Presence of large ulcers (>2 cm Ø) | Ulcers are healing | Ulcers in the chronic stage | Presence of chronic ulcers |
| Pain when touched | Covered with small pieces of skin tissue | Hardening of the skin | Bacteria are encapsulated | Pain when touched | |
| No pain at the ulcer | Any transmission |
On claws with lesions above M2, Exolium Hoofgel and a bandage were applied. The bandage was removed after two days. After this, all cows were treated with Exolium Hoofclear during milking for 3 periods of 3 consecutive days with 2-day intervals. After these two weeks, the whole heard of cows was evaluated again.
Results
Before treatment, infectious lesions were present in 31.3% of the total 2085 dairy cows. Further subdivision of classes M1-M4.1 are presented in the graph below.
After treatment, incidence rate of infectious hoof lesions declined to 10.9%. Further subdivision is shown in the graph below. The increase in M3 incidence can be explained by that M3 is part of the healing stage.
Conclusion
During this trial, by applying Exolium Hoofclear, plus Exolium Hoofgel in severe cases, the incidence of infectious lesions dropped from 31.3% to only 10.9%.
Although there are more causes for lameness than the one focussed on in this study, this shows that Exolium Hoofcare products support claw health and therefore aid in the reduction of one cause of lameness in your herd.
Do you want to know more about Exolium Hoofclear and other Exolium products?
