Using footbaths is recognised as a preventive measure, improving animal welfare and herd activity, by helping control contagious hoof problems such as digital dermatitis.  Most cattle experts advocate the benefit of regular foot bathing, indeed recommending that this is incorporated as part of the daily routine when moving dairy cattle around the milking parlour. Accounting for direct and indirect costs lameness per cow is estimated at £330 per year, reducing fertility levels and milk yields.

Our Footbath is suitable for use on either a solid floor or as a component within a suspended floor. The Footbath features a 100mm (4″) bung to facilitate rapid emptying.

Footbath Key Benefits

• Precast concrete footbaths a very robust.
• Concrete footbaths create a permanent fixture that do not move when the cows walk through them, or create any excessive hoof noise comparison to plastic or metal options.
• Precast concrete footbaths are designed to be suitable when used with corrosive chemicals.
• A curved inner wall design is a feature of our Footbath which helps prevent the loss of valuable solution.
• Each Footbath can include a slightly roughened floor as standard, providing secure footing for livestock.
• Footbaths are designed for use on a solid floor or suspended flooring, allowing emptying directly into the slurry tank below.
• Footbaths are designed with a quick emptying mechanism, to aid speed when cleaning.
• Drainage holes can either be cast on the bottom or side of the footbath.
• Bespoke footbaths can be manufactured to fit into various locations within the parlour, with research from AHDB showing ‘a footbath is most effective when incorporated into the normal routine for cows’.

Footbath Applications

• Footbaths can be used on a stand alone basis or in conjunction with another unit.  A combination of two footbaths is often used the first filled with water as prewash to remove excess muck with the second filled with the chemical cleaning solution. This approach ensures that the second bath containing the active solution will be more effective over a longer period of time.
• Footbaths can designed to be located at numerous different locations with the farm buildings
  • At the drinking tough – where cows are actually standing in footbath solution while drinking.
  • At the entry or exit of the milking parlour – research confirms pre or post milking are equally effective.
  • Cubicle walkways
  • At the mouth of the collecting yard.

Footbath Design

• Standard Footbath dimensions 4000mm (13’2″) long x 1100m (3’7″) wide x 300mm (1′) deep.
• AHDB recommend footbaths should be able to allow for
  • a cow to take 3-4 steps in the bath requiring it to be 3-4m long
  • enough width for a cow to pass another
  • a depth to provide a minimum of 4″ of solution to cover the heels and recommends using 6″ to 8″.
• Footbaths can be manufactured to specific customer sizes and requirements, and it suit specific locations.
• Footbaths are supplied with a 100mm (4″) bung to facilitate emptying.

Footbath Example Projects

• Keith McNeill, Stranocum
  
• George Bingham