The old adage, ‘you are what you eat’, does not just apply to humans, and the diet you provide for your cows can have a big impact on their health, including the health of their hooves. A balanced diet, especially during transition, can strengthen hooves and boost resistance to disease, and feeding strategies can build resilience in your animals and support them throughout their lives.
The diet you feed your cows will help to support strong hoof growth and build resistance against infectious diseases, including those that damage the hooves. Read on for our top tips on optimising your feed regime.
Protecting your Cows in the Autumn
Paying careful attention to the diet your animals are fed can help you to meet their nutritional needs and maintain their health all year round. We recommend:
- Essential vitamins and minerals. There are many essential vitamins and minerals required for good horn quality, including calcium, phosphorous, copper, zinc and selenium. These are vital to enable cows to produce keratin, which is essential for strong hooves and also for skin, teeth and hair. The diets of dairy cows should include these nutrients, and you can also consider supplementation, although it is important not to exceed nutritional requirements.
- Biotin. Biotin is also known as Vitamin B7 or H and is becoming a common addition to the recommended diet of dairy cows. This is believed to improve hoof hardness in the long term, as well as improving milk yields. Biotin is an essential element for cell growth and for the production and metabolism of fatty acids, fats and amino acids, which are all required for healthy hoof production and maintenance.
- Focus on dry cows. Experts often recommend working to correct the diet of your dry cows, with the view that this will have an overall positive effect on your herd. Herds that are prone to laminitis have often been observed eating too many concentrates in their diet, creating an excess of starch that can trigger the condition. When the diet is too high in corn, for instance, it appears that many cows will prioritise eating the corn over other elements of the feed and this can lead to an imbalanced diet. Reducing the amount of corn in the feed can encourage cows to eat a better balance of nutrition and improve hoof health, ensuring a much healthier start to milk production.
- Look at conditions. The diet you feed your cows will need to take into account the conditions in which they live. For instance, if your animals are able to graze on fresh, abundant grass pastures, they are likely to have plenty of crude protein and fats in their diets. Similarly, in areas that have hard water, calcium in the diet is usually sufficient. There are many minerals that occur naturally in soil, although many of these are compromised by depleted soils and this means that supplementation may be necessary.
- Take a unique approach. Taking care of your cows means taking a good look at your farm, your practices and the health of your herd. All of these factors will vary, and you will need to design a feeding routine that is as unique as your set up. The conditions in which your cows live, and graze will impact their requirements, and you are likely to find that you can optimise their health and reduce the risk of lameness by taking a personalised approach to their nutritional intake.
Protect your Cows with HoofCare Direct
Here at HoofCare Direct, we understand how important it is to keep your dairy cows in good health, and we have a wide variety of products and supplements to help you achieve the nutritional balance you need. Our expert team can offer advice and support to help you choose the best options for your herd, and we also have an extensive selection of cleaning and disinfectant products to help you maintain good hygiene in your herd.
Hoof trimming is an essential way to protect your cows, and we have a comprehensive range of high-quality hoof care and maintenance products, including trimming knives, adhesives and blocks. Our hoof trimming crates are designed to make life easier for you, lightening your workload so that you can streamline essential hoof care tasks, as well as teat sealing and insemination. You can see the Inspect4 Mobile Hoof Trimming Crate in action on our website, or give us a call to find out more.