Cleaner feet thanks to the Magellan mat
For dairy cows, hoof cleanliness is an essential factor for their health. Soiling and humidity promote the appearance of hoof diseases and increase the risk of lameness. A cow with foot pain will move less and eat less, which negatively impacts its health and production. Often, hoof and lameness problems open the door to other issues, whether pathological or reproductive, due to a compromised immune status.
To ensure a hoof is clean, simply check that the horn is clearly visible. On the dorsal face, the thick crust should never exceed the hairline. On the palmar face, the accessory claws should remain clean. There should be no crust under the hoof.
More cleanliness, fewer slips
While soft flooring is recommended for hoof comfort and safety of movement, what about its impact on hygiene? To evaluate the impact of rubber mats on hoof cleanliness, the Institut de l'Elevage conducted a study on three equipped farms located in the Manche and Ille et Vilaine regions. These results were compared to those of the SOLVL study. This study evaluated the health, environmental, and economic impacts of different floor types present in dairy cow buildings to develop recommendations on the selection, renovation, and maintenance of floors.
The results of the SOLVL project confirm that hooves tend to be dirtier on mats in a slurry system compared to other types of flooring, with 27.4% of dorsal faces and 35.6% of palmar faces being very dirty, whereas it is recommended to be below 10%. This is partly due to poorly adapted floor maintenance for mats (lack of scraping, change in scraping frequency). For the 87 farms evaluated during the SOLVL study, it appears that slatted floors result in cleaner feet, with solid floors in a manure system being the worst rated.
« For our study, we evaluated the degree of soiling of several areas of the body in three farms, equipped with Magellan mats. The cleanliness of the feet was better than the references in the SOLVL study, presents Alice Elvinger, who was in charge of animal health studies at the Institut de l’Elevage. The percentage of clean feet was higher than with standard mats. This cleanliness of the feet is beneficial to the health of the limbs. In these three farms, more than 45% of the animals have good limbs, which limits the appearance of lameness. None of the three farms equipped with Magellan mats exceeded the alert threshold of 30% of cows suffering from lameness».
This is explained by the presence of slopes and drainage channels on the Magellan mat, which promotes the elimination of effluents. The floor is therefore drier. The cows' feet are less in contact with the effluents. To combine the walking comfort of rubber mats with the cleanliness of the legs, the success factor is to have regular and effective cleaning. The study showed that the most effective method is to have a scraper pass every 2 hours, or even every 1 hour 30 minutes. The scraper must also have been adapted to the mats, by the addition of rubber fingers. For areas where the scraper does not pass, sufficient manual cleaning must be ensured, so that the cows do not get dirty in these areas.
Up to more than 60% clean hooves
In the three farms equipped with Magellan mats, the proportion of clean feet is higher than that observed in farms equipped with standard mats. The reference from the SOLVL study is 10% of clean dorsal feet. Two of the three farms had between 50 and 60% clean dorsal feet, the 3rd had 30%. After adjusting his scraper, one of the three farms was even approaching an absence of very dirty feet.
