New Products
Biodegradable hoof bath offers long-lasting protection
A new, innovative hoof care product for use in hoof baths offers a nonhazardous, biodegradable alternative to traditional copper sulfate or formaldehyde products. When mixed with water, T-HEXX Dragonhyde Hoof Bath Concentrate creates a long-lasting, highly visible environmental barrier that helps to promote normal hoof health for dairy cows.
Based on technology used in human medicine, the patent-pending product is a mixture of phenoxyethanol, dyes and other ingredients, says Megan DeRose, product manager for Hydromer, Inc., which makes the product. One gallon of the product is designed to make 50 gallons of finished hoof bath.
"The cost-effective concentrate contains no antibiotics or heavy metals and penetrates cracks in the hoof," she says. "Once it impregnates a cleaned hoof, the solution remains on the hoof for days to provide extra protection. It stays on for hours even after being exposed to mud, urine and manure slurry. A Cornell University study found that T-HEXX Dragonhyde HBC out-performed formaldehyde in terms of hoof hygiene."
The product eliminates the drawbacks of conventional hoof baths. Copper sulfate, for example, has minimal antibacterial activity and, when washed off the hooves can contaminate wastewater lagoons and pose a threat to soil and plants over time, DeRose says. Formaldehyde is a carcinogen.
"T-HEXX Dragonhyde HBC degrades naturally in the soil within 72 hours, according to in-house laboratory studies," she says. "Tests show it does not harm the environment, so there are no issues with digesters or waste disposal." The bright, blue-green color of the liquid product offers several benefits.
"You can readily see how deeply it has soaked into the hoof, and the intensity of the color indicates the status of the impregnation," she says. "The highly visible color also makes it easy to spot any lameness in treated cows and to identify any areas where the solution has splashed onto the cow, such as the udders, that need to be cleaned off."
DeRose recommends using the product at one milking three days a week. For best performance, she advises using T-HEXX Dragonhyde HBC in both a pre-bath, when removing manure and urine from the hoof, and in a main bath. When used at the maintenance rate only in a main bath, the product typically will treat up to 250 cows. When combined with a pre-bath, the hoof bath can be used on as many as 350 cows, depending on the amount of organic load, she says.
For the first two weeks of treating cows, she suggests mixing the concentrated product for a pre-bath at the rate of 1 gallon of product for every 50 gallons of bath capacity (2 percent solution). For the main bath, add 2 gallons of the product to every 50 gallons of bath capacity (4 percent solution). After two weeks of treatment, the recommend product/water ratio remains the same for the pre-bath and is reduced to 1 gallon for every 50 gallons of water for the main bath. "It costs about 15 cents to 20 cents per bath to treat a cow with the solution," she says. "That's similar to the cost of copper sulfate, which continues to increase in price."
T-HEXX Dragonhyde HBC is available in 5-gallon jugs, 15-gallon containers, 55-gallon drums and 275-gallon totes.
Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the International Agri-Center and Farm Press when reprinting this item.
T-Hexx Dragonhyde HBC |
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| COMPANY: | T-Hexx Animal Health |
| CONTACT: | Megan DeRose |
| ADDRESS: | 35 Industrial Pkwy, Branchburg, NJ 8876 |
| WEBSITE: | www.t-hexx.com |
| E-MAIL: | mderose@hydromer.com |
| PHONE: | 908-722-5000 |
| BOOTH SPACE: | 6009 |