Lameness – Economic Loss

HERE ARE THE REAL DATA ON HOW MUCH MONEY YOU LOSE PER COW DUE TO LAMENESS

Why is it important to talk about lameness?

Basically for three reasons:
• it is a relevant topic after summer;
• in the stables it has a significant economic impact not to be underestimated;
• from the feeding point of view, it is possible to reduce the incidence of the cases and help the healing process.
We all know that it is a disorder that is present in farming, but sometimes we find it difficult to quantify the numbers: discover
the average incidence that is found on a farm and the real perception we may have of the phenomenon.
The average prevalence found in breeding is highly variable, from 21 to 55%, while the perception that the human eye has about the phenomenon is much lower, about 2.5 – 4 times less than what has been found through research studies.

What are the consequences on the cattle?

• The wellness drops drastically: the animal struggles to walk, hardly gets up and is reluctant to go to the manger; therefore they tend to eat less with consequences linked to the production of milk and their health.
• Change of posture and movement.
• Change of the shape of the foot.
• On the culling rate: within 95 days of lactation, the 30.8% of the lame cows is eliminated against the 5.4% of the normal ones.
• The decrease of reproductive performance: Increase of 2.6 times the risk of developing cysts, mainly because the cow goes less to the manger, consumes less energy and has difficulties keeping the energy balance under control.

The consequences translated in euro!

Among the various factors of economic loss related to lameness the one that has the greatest impact is CULLING. Other factors
worsening the economic balance sheet are the loss of milk production, the death of the cattle and the decrease of fertility.
Specifically, death has a low impact, 2% (representing a loss of 39€ if we take the average value of a cow as 1950€).
On average a lame cow loses 430kg of milk and if we assume a milk price of 35cents per litre, the total loss is around 150€.
In the reproduction period it has been demonstrated that lactation days extend therefore we have an increase of Days Open and consequently, for a daily cost of 2.65€ multiplied by 20 days, the total loss is 53€.
The treatment, which includes in principle the levelling and dressing of the foot, costs about 30€.
Finally, the highest cost, as already said, is culling: on average the percentage of culling in the case of lameness is around 12%, consequently, if you deduct the value of the cow to that of the abattoir we have an impact of about 168€.

To sum up – Costs of Lameness:

Calculate your own loss

NUMBER OF ANIMAL SUFFERING OF LAMENESS     ->                      ____________

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ANNUAL AVERAGE LOSS PER ANIMAL                         ->                      ___€440,00___

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YOUR LIVESTOCK’S AVERAGE ANNUAL LOSS            ->                      ____________