Effects of the Addition of Electrolyzed Water to a Footbath Solution on Digital Dermatitis Incidence

If not prevented or treated, DD can cause serious economic losses [1]. A footbath offers a low maintenance, low labor solution to the prevention and treatment of many hoof diseases, including DD [3]. On average, the cost per DD case is $132.96 [4]. Treating DD on an individual basis would be laborious and time consuming. Therefore, 59% of dairies housing more than 200 cows used footbaths to treat and prevent DD [5]. As operations are becoming larger, footbaths are being used more often. Between 1996 and 2007, the percentage of dairies using footbaths increased from 13.6 to 20.3 respectively [6].