WO2007058481A1

WO2007058481A1 - Bath for precaution against of cow's hoof

Info

Publication number: WO2007058481A1
Application number: PCT/KR2006/004821
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kwang Soo Baek; Jae Ki Kim; Hyun Seob Kim; Soo Bong Park; Sung Jae Park; Byung Soon Jeon
Original assignee: Republic Of Korea(Management: Rural Development Administration)
Priority date: 2005-11-16
Filing date: 2006-11-15
Publication date: 2007-05-24
Also published as: CN101304653A; KR200412795Y1; JP2009515517A

Abstract

A hoof bath for prevention of cow's hoof disorders is disclosed. The hoof bath includes at least one bottom plate, a plurality of embossings protruded from an upper surface of the bottom plate, and arranged in longitudinal and lateral directions while being uniformly spaced apart from one another, and front, rear, left, and right walls arranged along a periphery of the bottom plate, to prevent a cleaning solution from being leaked. The bottom plate may be made of an ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer (EPDM) material, taking durability, wear resistance, and acid resistance into consideration. The at least one bottom plate may comprise a plurality of bottom plates coupled together, taking into consideration a size of a given installation space. In this case, the front, rear, left, and right walls may be arranged along a periphery of a bottom of the hoof bath defined by the bottom plates.

Description

[DESCRIPTION] [Invention Title]

BATH FOR PRECAUTION AGAINST OF COW'S HOOF

[Technical Field]

The present invention relates to a hoof bath for prevention of cow's hoof disorders. More specifically, the present invention relates to a hoof bath for prevention of cow's hoof disorders, which is adapted to ensure favorable opening of cow's hooves while securing safety of Korean native cows (Hanwoo) or dairy cows and is thereby allowed to facilitate removal of foreign materials from cow's hooves and penetration of a sterilizing solution into the open volume defined broadly by the hoof bottom wall, resulting in sufficient cleaning effects of the cow's hooves.

[Background Art]

Generally, hoofed domestic animals such as Korean native cows (Hanwoo), dairy cows and the like may suffer from or may be susceptible to significant hoof disorders caused by inhabitation and growth of a variety of harmful bacteria in the open volume defined broadly by the hoof bottom wall.

Due to a large body frame and heavy weight of Korean native cows and dairy cows, there would be the heavy weight load imposed on the hooves and legs thereof. Therefore, hoof disorders may be fatal to survival of cows which usually keep standing all day long.

Hence, when animals are attacked with hoof diseases in breeding farms of Korean native cows and dairy cows, dairy farmers have taken a step to treat the animals by applying antibiotic ointments to the affected areas of the animal, followed by bandaging the lesion, or by spraying a copper sulfate (CuSO₄) solution to the affected lesions.

In addition, where beef cattle or dairy cows are at pasture, animals are frequently vulnerable to contagious diseases caused by infection of animals with various harmful bacteria which may be derived from outdoor environment such as a grazing land. Therefore, in order to prevent the occurrence of such diseases and bacterial infection, a sterilizing bath built and made of concrete was installed at a turn in a road where beef cattle or dairy cows enter the cowshed from the pasture.

[Disclosure of Invemtion]

[Technical Problem]

However, as the above-mentioned sterilizing bath made of concrete is largely installed outdoors, an inflow of rainwater into the bath full of a sterilizing solution, which may take place in case of rain, disadvantageously leads to dilution of the sterilizing solution, consequently bringing about deterioration and waste thereof.

Korean Patent Application No. 10-1999-0052841 discloses a sterilizing bath. The disclosed sterilizing bath includes a body including a bottom plate, and front, rear, left and right plates extending upwardly from respective sides of the bottom plate such that they are integrated with the bottom plate, to form a rectangular box structure. The body is made of a water-proof cloth coated with rubber. Top rims extend inwardly from respective upper ends of the front, rear, left and right plates such that they are integrated with the associated plates, respectively. A recess is defined in the interior of the body. A Velcro tape is bonded to the upper surface of the top rim in each of the front, left and right plates. The sterilizing bath also includes a protection net bonded, at one side surface thereof, to the upper surface of the top rim in the rear plate of the body. A Velcro tape is bonded to a peripheral portion of the lower surface of the protection net. The Velcro tape of the protection net is coupled with the Velcro tape of the body. The sterilizing bath further includes a protection cover made of a water-proof cloth, and bonded, at one side surface thereof, to the upper surface of the top rim in the rear plate of the body and to the upper surface of the protection net. A Velcro tape is bonded to a peripheral portion of the lower surface of the protection cover. The Velcro tape of the protection cover is coupled with the Velcro tape of the body. The sterilizing bath further includes a sponge received in the interior of the body, namely, the recess. A sterilizing agent is soaked in the sponge. However, the above-mentioned conventional sterilizing apparatus of animal hooves via sterilization may prevent tumbles or falls of Korean native cows and dairy cows within the sterilization bath, but has suffered from problems associated with very poor penetration of the sterilizing solution into the target area, i.e. the open volume formed by cloven hooves of animals, which is responsible for the incidence of hoof disorders, resulting in insufficient sterilizing effects.

Korean Utility Model No. 20-2004-29425 also discloses a sterilizing apparatus for domestic cattle's hooves. The disclosed sterilizing apparatus includes a body having a hollow rectangular box structure with an open bottom. The body includes a spraying path and a travel path formed on a top surface of the body, and support members respectively extending from opposite side surfaces of the body to the bottom of the body. The sterilizing apparatus also includes a sprayer installed in the spraying path of the body, to spray washing water and a sterilizing solution, a sensor installed in the spraying path of the body, to sense movement of domestic cattle, a controller for receiving a signal from the sensor, and controlling spraying of the washing water and sterilizing solution from the sprayer, and a power supply for supplying electric power to each constituent element of the sterilizing apparatus. The sterilizing apparatus sprays the sterilizing solution toward the hoofs of the domestic cattle during movement of the domestic cattle through the sterilizing apparatus, while enabling excretions of the domestic cattle dropped onto the sterilizing apparatus to be downwardly discharged into the bottom of the sterilizing apparatus, in order to achieve an enhancement in sterilizing effects. However, this sterilizing apparatus has also suffered from poor penetration of the sterilizing solution into the open volume formed by cloven hooves of Korean native cows and dairy cows, which in turn results in a difficulty to achieve desired sterilizing effects. [Technical Solution]

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a hoof bath for prevention of cow's hoof disorders, which secures the safety of Korean native cows (Hanwoo) or dairy cows, while being adapted to ensure favorable opening of cow's hooves by the optimal height, angle and arrangement of embossings protruded from an upper surface of the bottom plate even when a cow's hoof steps on any position, thereby facilitating removal of foreign materials from cow's hooves and penetration of a sterilizing solution into the open volume defined by the hoof bottom wall, consequently providing sufficient cleaning effects of the cow's hooves.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

[Advantageous Effects]

The present invention provides a hoof bath for prevention of cow's hoof disorders comprising at least one bottom plate, a plurality of embossings protruded from an upper surface of the bottom plate, and arranged in longitudinal and lateral directions while being uniformly spaced apart from one another, and front, rear, left, and right walls arranged along a periphery of the bottom plate, to prevent a cleaning solution from being leaked. The bottom plate may be made of an ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer (EPDM) material, taking durability, wear resistance, and acid resistance into consideration. The at least one bottom plate may comprise a plurality of bottom plates coupled together, taking into consideration a size of a given installation space. In this case, the front, rear, left, and right walls may be arranged along a periphery of a bottom of the hoof bath defined by the bottom plates. Therefore, such a configuration of the hoof bath according to the present invention enables prevention of cow's hoof disorders, which in turn results in early prevention of productivity reduction such as a low milk yield and a low breeding coefficient and avoidance of potential extreme situations such as cow culling, as well as achievement of great contributions to the promotion of cow's health and comfort.

[Description of Drawings]

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the overall configuration of a hoof bath according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a detailed structure of a bottom plate included in the hoof bath according to the illustrated embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a part of the hoof bath according to the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, illustrating a detailed embossing structure; FIG. 4 is a front view illustrating a state in which a cow's hoof steps on a general flat surface; and

FIG. 5 is a front view illustrating a state in which a cow's hoof steps on an embossed surface of the hoof bath according to the illustrated embodiment of the present invention.

[Best Mode]

It is an aspect of the invention to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide a hoof bath for prevention of cow's hoof disorders. In one aspect, the present invention provides a hoof bath for prevention of cow's hoof disorders comprising at least one bottom plate, a plurality of embossings protruded from an upper surface of the bottom plate, and arranged in longitudinal and lateral directions while being uniformly spaced apart from one another, and front, rear, left, and right walls arranged along a periphery of the bottom plate, to prevent a cleaning solution from being leaked. The bottom plate may be made of an ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer (EPDM) material, taking durability, wear resistance, and acid resistance into consideration. The at least one bottom plate may comprise a plurality of bottom plates coupled together, taking into consideration a size of a given installation space. In this case, the front, rear, left, and right walls may be arranged along a periphery of a bottom of the hoof bath defined by the bottom plates. Therefore, such a configuration of the hoof bath enables prevention of cow's hoof disorders, which consequently results in early prevention of productivity reduction such as a low milk yield and a low breeding coefficient and avoidance of potential extreme situations such as cow culling, as well as achievement of great contributions to the promotion of cow's health and comfort.

[Mode for Invention]

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The hoof bath for prevention of cow's hoof disorders according to the present invention has an opened box shape so as to receive a sterilizing solution therein. As shown in FIG. 1, the hoof bath includes a bottom plate 1, embossings

2 upwardly protruded from the bottom plate 1, and front, rear, left, and right walls

3, 4, 5, and 6 surrounding the bottom plate 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the bottom plate 1 is made of an ethylene- propylene-diene-monomer (EPDM) material, taking durability, wear resistance, and acid resistance into consideration. In order to secure a bottom length enabling generation of sufficient hoof cleaning effects for a cow passing through the hoof bath in a given installation space, the hoof bath may include a plurality of bottom plates 1 coupled together such that they have an integrated structure.

In this case, it is preferred that 10 (2 x 5) bottom plates 1 are coupled together to constitute one set.

As shown in FIG. 3, each embossing 2 has a truncated conical structure having an upwardly-decreasing cross-sectional area such that it has a narrow top and a wide bottom. Each embossing 2 has a diameter 11 of 35 to 45 mm at the bottom thereof and a diameter 12 of 20 to 30 mm at the top thereof, and has a height 13 of 15 to 25 mm. Since each embossing 2 has such a structure, the hoof of a Korean native cow or dairy cow is reliably diverged by the embossing 2 when stepping on the embossing 2, irrespective of the stepping position thereof on the embossing 2, so that effective sterilization of the hoof is achieved. As described above, the hoof bath for prevention of cow's hoof disorders according to the present invention has an opened box shape, and includes embossings 2 upwardly protruded from the bottom plate 1.

Also, the hoof bath may include a plurality of bottom plates 1 which are coupled together and each of which is formed with embossings 2 as described above. In accordance with this configuration, it is possible to secure a bottom length enabling generation of sufficient hoof cleaning effects for a Korean native cow or dairy cow passing through the hoof bath in a given installation space.

Since the bottom plate 1 is made of an EPDM material, taking durability, wear resistance, and acid resistance into consideration, and the front, rear, left and right walls 3, 4, 5, and 6 are coupled to the bottom plate 1 such that they surround the bottom plate 1, the cleaning solution contained in the hoof bath is prevented from leaking.

Also, it is preferred that 10 (2 x 5) bottom plates 1 are coupled together to constitute one set. Each embossing 2, which has a truncated conical structure having an upwardly-decreasing cross-sectiόnal area such that it has a narrow top and a wide bottom, has a diameter 11 of 35 to 45 mm at the bottom thereof and a diameter 12 of 20 to 30 mm at the top thereof, and has a height 13 of 15 to 25 mm. Accordingly, the hoof of a dairy cow is reliably diverged by the embossing 2 when stepping on the embossing 2, irrespective of the stepping position thereof on the embossing 2, so that effective sterilization of the hoof is achieved.

In order to demonstrate desired effects of the hoof bath according to the present invention, tests were carried out in a research institute. As a result, the following therapeutic and prophylactic effects on hoof disorders were obtained.

Table 1 below shows a recovery rate of dairy cows to a normal state.

Herein, the number (head) of animals studied was based on the initial point of the study.

According to the test results given in Table 1, although there is a difference depending upon the severity of hoof disorders of dairy cows, the cows with a relatively mild hoof disorder (walking behavior index of 2) exhibited 100% recovery to a normal state, the cows with a more severe hoof disorder (walking behavior index of 3) exhibited 33% recovery to a normal state, and the cow with a severe hoof disorder (walking behavior index of 4) exhibited no recovery to normal state. Table 2 below shows the number of days taken to achieve a recovery of the cow with hoof disorders to a normal state, through the above tests.

[Table 2]

As can be seen from the test results given in Table 2, the recovery of the dairy cows having hoof disorders to a normal state took 55 days for mild hoof disorders (walking behavior index of 2), and 118 days for more severe hoof disorders (walking behavior index of 3), respectively.

After treatment of animals with the hoof bath having an embossing structure, the rate of disorders continuing until 120 days was 66.7% for more severe hoof disorders (walking behavior index of 3) and 100% for severe hoof disorders (walking behavior index of 4), respectively.

Further, the walking behavior index of 3 involved culling of one cow due to the hoof disorder. Table 3 below shows an incidence rate of hoof disorders before and after installation of the hoof bath according to the present invention. [Table 3]

Herein, "Before installation" refers to 4-month duration prior to installation of the hoof bath, and "After installation" refers to 4-month duration after installation of the foot bath.

Fifteen head out of dairy cows studied, that already had hoof disorders at the time of installing the hoof bath, were excluded from the study following the installation of the hoof bath.

According to the above test results, the incidence rate of hoof disorders was 18.8% before application of the hoof bath, and 1.5% after application of the hoof bath, respectively, thus representing that the hoof bath of the present invention can also be significantly effective from a prophylactic point of view. That is, when a cow's hoof 10 steps on a general flat surface, the cow's hoof 10 is maintained in the same state without being opened, as shown in FIG. 4. However, when a cow's hoof 10 steps on the embossing 2 of the hoof bath according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 5, the hoof 10 of a dairy cow is guided to be opened by the embossing 2 which has a truncated conical structure having an upwardly-decreasing cross-sectional area, and as a result, the sterilizing solution contained in the hoof bath is easily penetrated into the cloven hooves, thereby achieving therapeutic and prophylactic effects of cow's hoof disorders.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

[CLAIMS]

[Claim 1 ] A hoof bath for prevention of cow's hoof disorders comprising: at least one bottom plate (1); a plurality of embossings (2) upwardly protruded from the bottom plate

(1); and front, rear, left and right walls (3), (4), (5) and (6) surrounding the bottom plate (1), to form an opened box structure.

[Claim 2] The hoof bath according to claim 1, wherein each embossing

(2) has a narrow top and a wide bottom.

[Claim 3] The hoof bath according to claim 2, wherein each embossing (2) has a diameter 11 of 35 to 45 mm at the bottom and a diameter 12 of 20 to 30 mm at the top, and has a height 13 of 15 to 25 mm, to secure a safety of a cow passing through the hoof bath, and to effectively diverge a hoof of the cow, irrespective of a stepping position of the hoof on the embossing, such that removal of foreign matters adhered to the hoof and penetration of a sterilizing solution into the hoof are easily achieved.

[Claim 4] The hoof bath according to claim 1, wherein the at least one bottom plate (1) comprises a plurality of bottom plates (1) coupled together to define a bottom of the hoof bath corresponding to a size of a hoof cleaning room, and installed on a bottom of the hoof cleaning room after being coupled with the front, rear, left and right walls (3), (4), (5) and (6).

[Claim 5] The hoof bath according to claim 1, wherein the bottom plate (1) is made of an ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer (EPDM) material having durability, wear resistance, and acid resistance.