Every tail tells a story Katherine DeWitt

Katherine DeWitt, Developer, Animal Care Team, DairyNZ.

Every tail tells a story

DairyNZ Developer Katherine DeWitt explains the thinking behind a new tail care pack available to dairy farmers, and how it might help veterinarians talk to their clients about this important topic.

The DairyNZ tail care pack is available online www.dairynz.co.nz NO FARMER WANTS their animals being harmed. And this includes tail damage. With this in mind, and our Dairy Tomorrow commitment to be worldleading in animal care, DairyNZ has developed a new tail care guide for use on dairy farms.

“Every cow has a tail to tell: On farm guidelines for preventing damaged tails” provides farmers with a resource for improving stocksense skills – the primary mitigation strategy to ensure tail damage doesn’t occur on farm.

The guide was piloted with both farmers and veterinarians to ensure the content was useful and relevant. Feedback was incorporated to create the final version. The pack includes guidelines and a template for farmers or veterinarians to use with their farm teams to help minimise tail damage.

Engaging in and completing the pack also stimulates the idea of a tail audit which veterinarians can leverage off to start a conversation with farmer clients about tail auditing.

It is acknowledged that tail damage is painful for cows and damage should be avoided. Research shows, however, that on average 20 percent of dairy cattle in New Zealand experience some form of tail damage in their lifetime. (Bryan et al. 2019).

In the process of creating the guide, we interviewed farmers to get a better understanding of the underlying beliefs and practices relating to tail handling on farm. A few key themes emerged.

Farmers often mentioned misadventure and gross negligence as reasons for tail damage across the sector. Very few mentioned poor handling as a cause.

The DairyNZ team observed “light bulb” responses in farm teams when they highlighted the anatomy and many purposes of the tail. We realised that people working with cows may not understand the tail itself is made up of vertebrae, or that tails have several functions.

It also became clear from the comments made by farm teams that they watch and follow what they see veterinarians and managers doing. This includes lifting tails. However, they may not have the skills to do so without causing damage. And if the farm manager twists tails as a way of moving or restraining cows, they may believe this is standard practice.

Farm teams admitted that ego comes into play at times when trying to move or restrain cows. They talked about feeling like they want to “win” against cows. The pack includes a section on the safe handling of cows, the importance of taking breaks, and knowing when to step away from a job.

In the tail care pack, we encourage farmers to only handle tails as a last resort. We ask the question, “What would you do if she didn’t have a tail?” If tails must be handled, we stress the importance of doing so in a way that doesn’t cause pain or damage to the cow. This includes not putting the tail in a position the cow couldn’t herself, holding the tail at the base to lift it, not lifting it higher than spine height, and not grabbing, bending or twisting the tail.

We also advocate having a tail policy and communicating this to everyone who comes into contact with cows on farm, including veterinarians. Asking your farmer clients if they have a tail handling policy on their farm that you should be aware of could be a good way to initiate a conversation about this important topic.

Talking with farmers, it became clear that many of them are simply not aware of the amount of tail damage in their herds. Some tail damage, especially around the switch, can be hard to see, and unless a tail audit is carried out, may go unnoticed. As one farmer said, you can’t measure what you aren’t aware of.

A tail audit is a good start to reducing the incidence of tail damage on farm. Veterinarians can provide a valuable service to their farmer clients by doing tail audits. Once the tail audit has been carried out, the farm team are the best group to identify where the challenges are, and can work with you, their vet, to find solutions to avoid more

Encourage your farmer clients to have a tail audit carried out after changes in the farm team as a way of creating a benchmark to identify any handling issues. Having accurate records also allows them to track whether tail damage occurs on-farm or at off-farm grazing.

Encourage your clients to create written, agreed on procedures and policies which cover animal handling skills, including tails – vets can use our DairyNZ procedure form from the tail care pack

Work with them to find alternatives to tail handling – asking what they would do if the cow didn’t have a tail is a good way of starting a discussion around what can be done before resorting to using tails to restrain or move cows. The tail care pack has good suggestions for alternatives to handling.

Encourage your clients to train their heifers to reduce stress on their team and their animals and minimise situations where they may be tempted to handle tails.

Some tail damage, especially around the switch, can be hard to see, and unless a tail audit is carried out, may go unnoticed.

injuries. This includes finding alternatives to tail handling. How can you move or restrain a cow without handling the tail?

Reporting a potential tail breaking concern within a farm business can seem like a confronting step for a farmer. Records such as tail audits and stock handling policies and trainings may be useful in the process. The pack provides details on how to report a potential tail handling problem.

REFERENCE:

Bryan MA, Fruean SN, Moono P. Tail damage and tail scoring in NZ dairy cows - what is normal? Newsletter of the Society of Dairy Cattle Veterinarians of the New Zealand Veterinary Association 36 (4). 10-11, 2019