This is a major issue on dairy farms. I went to a farm a little while ago to trim 20 -30 cows. For some reason the farmer had started doing some cows before I got there. When I turned up he came out and greeted me and helped me set up. There was a cow lying down in the vet race. She had gone down as the farmer was trimming her feet. She was still down by the time I left and as far as I know she never got up again. This is not uncommon and I would like to raise this topic to help you avoid such accidents.
There is a right way and a wrong way to restrain cows. When a cow is being restrained there are some principles that always apply:
1. The cow needs to be comfortable
2. The operator needs to be safe at all times
3. The operator needs to be in control at all times.
In this article I will be dealing with point one. If the cow is not comfortable she will be a lot more unsettled. This seems common sense but is often overlooked.
Consider the surface the cow is standing on. Obviously a slippery surface is not good but an equally or maybe even more important point is that the cow must be standing on a flat or sloping up surface. No matter what crush you use, a cow does not like it if she is facing downhill and you are lifting her back feet. She will fight you all the way.
Purpose built hoof trimming crushes have belly straps to support the cow when she loses her grip and falls over. An added effect of this belly strap is that it calms the cow down. Cows relax when you put pressure on their belly. That is why you always see a cow hanging in a sling rather than standing up. Some well known crushes in NZ have two belly straps – one under the brisket and one just in front of the udder. The brisket one is good but if a cow sits down on the second one she will be very uncomfortable as there is no rib cage there to support her and all the pressure is going straight on the gut. Cows tend to kick at it but are not standing up so they can’t release the pressure.
Another thing I would like to mention is the fact that most people like to have a leg tied up just above the claw against a bar. It makes the leg sit more rigid but if the cow should go down, for whatever reason, there is a very high risk of injuries such as broken legs or dislocated hips - this is what happened to the cow I mentioned earlier. Lifting from the hock is much more comfortable for the cow and because she can still lean on the raised leg there is very minimal risk of injury.
In the next article I will discuss points two and three. If you would like to discuss these issues further with us please call us on 0800 833 463.
Fred HoekstraHoof Care Expert
Veehof Dairy Services
0800 833 463
