Factors contributing to the incidence and prevalence of lameness on Czech dairy farms

Dembélé, Ibahima Amadou; Špinka, Marek; Stěhulová, Ilona; Panamá, José L. Arias; Firla, P.

doi:10.17221/3916-cjas

Cited by 22 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Those farmers are likely to be less interested and less educated in the recognition, assessment and prevention of lameness. Poor animal care, farmers' attitudes, and herd health planning on farms were found to be important factors in cattle lameness (Mill and Ward, 1994;Bell et al, 2006;Dembele et al, 2006). Some of the DS assessed in our study were not of purulent character but had already drained.…”

Section: Importance Of Claw Healthmentioning

confidence: 63%

Lameness and foot lesions in Swiss dairy cows: II. Risk factors

Becker¹,

Steiner²,

Köhler³

et al. 2014

Schweizer Archiv für Tierheilkunde

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The objective of this study was to evaluate risk factors associated with foot lesions and lameness in Swiss dairy cows. Potential risk factors were recorded by means of examination of 1'449 Swiss cows and the management systems of 78 farms during routine claw-trimming, and during personal interviews with the associated farmers. Statistical analysis of animal-based and herd level risk factors were performed using multivariate logistic regression models. The risk of being lame was increased in cows affected by digital dermatitis complex, heel-horn erosion, interdigital hyperplasia, Rusterholz' sole ulcer, deep laceration, double sole and severe hemorrhages. Cleanliness, BCS, affection with other foot lesions, breed, importance of claw health to the farmer, frequency of routine claw-trimming, producing according to the guidelines of the welfare label program RAUS, and silage feeding were shown to be associated with the occurrence of some of the evaluated foot lesions and lameness. The identified risk factors may help to improve management and the situation of lameness and claw health in dairy cows in Switzerland and other alpine areas with similar housing and pasturing systems.

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Section: Importance Of Claw Healthmentioning

confidence: 63%

Lameness and foot lesions in Swiss dairy cows: II. Risk factors

Becker¹,

Steiner²,

Köhler³

et al. 2014

Schweizer Archiv für Tierheilkunde

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“…Farms conducting routine CT only when cows were observed to have overgrown claws had higher levels of lameness [34]. In contrast, Dembele et al [35] observed no significant difference in the prevalence of lameness and overgrown claws between farms that practiced and those that did not practice continuous trimming. Likewise, the number of months that elapsed before whole herd trimming had no influence on the prevalence of overgrown claws and lameness [35].…”

Section: Claw Overgrowthmentioning

confidence: 93%

Claw Trimming as a Lameness Management Practice and the Association with Welfare and Production in Dairy Cows

Sadiq

Ramanoon

Mansor

et al. 2020

Animals

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Lameness resulting from claw lesions remains a pressing welfare issue in dairy cows. Claw trimming (CT) is a common practice for prevention and management of clinically lame cows. This review summarizes the results of studies that have investigated various claw trimming (CT) methods, their application in lameness management, and associations with the welfare and production of dairy cows. The papers included in this review fulfilled the following inclusion criteria: published in peer review journal or book chapter within the last 20 years (1999–2019), written in English, and focused on the application of CT for lameness management and the association with either welfare or production variables. Databases used included Google scholar, Web of Science and PubMed. A total of 748 records were assessed and 61 papers were eligible for inclusion and the main objectives and results were used to categorize the results under six topics: CT techniques, association between CT and claw overgrowth/specific claw lesions, timing and frequency of CT, association between CT and behavioral variables, association between CT and physiological parameters, and association between CT and production. The literature findings showed the existence of various CT methods with the common types including the Dutch Five-step, White Line, White Line Atlas, and Kansas techniques. There is data paucity on the efficacy of these techniques in lameness management; however, the slight procedural difference yields varying sole thicknesses and presentations which may influence their prophylactic use. Results regarding the impact of CT on welfare and production were discussed in relation to potential short and long-term benefits. Depending on the lesion type and severity level, CT may induce immediate painful sensation, stress, changes in lying down activities and reduction in milk yield, but the positive impacts were more evident at later stages of lactation following improvement in locomotion score. The majority of the reviewed studies were lacking a detailed description of CT techniques and claw health of the studied animals; thus, reducing the strength of demonstrating CT-related benefits. However, electronic recording of claw health data during every CT visit provides the basis for monitoring hoof health and could assist in curtailing some of these challenges. To elucidate CT-related benefits, certain areas requiring further research were highlighted such as ascertaining the appropriate timing for preventive CT and identifying cows that will benefit more from such intervention during lactation.

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“…In addition, the management factors associated with increased lameness included not treating lame cows within 48 h of detection; insufficient time given to detecting lameness across the entire herd; and the common occurrence of severe heel erosion, interdigital growths, or toe necrosis as reported by the farmer. Other studies have shown that lameness or claw lesions were associated with comfort in the lying area (Barker et al, 2007;Fregonesi et al, 2007), quality of walking surfaces (Chesterton et al, 1989;Dembele et al, 2006), and exposure to slurry in the housing environment (Gregory et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating an intervention to reduce lameness in dairy cattle

Main

Leach

Barker

et al. 2012

Journal of Dairy Science

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Lameness in dairy cattle remains a significant welfare concern for the UK dairy industry. Farms were recruited into a 3-yr study evaluating novel intervention approaches designed to encourage farmers to implement husbandry changes targeted toward reducing lameness. All farms completing the study were visited at least annually and received either monitoring only (MO, n=72) or monitoring and additional support (MS, n = 117) from the research team. The additional support included traditional technical advice on farm-specific solutions, facilitation techniques to encourage farmer participation, and application of social marketing principles to promote implementation of change. Lameness prevalence was lower in the MO (27.0 ± 1.94 SEM) and MS (21.4 ± 1.28) farms at the final visit compared with the same MO (38.9 ± 2.06) and MS (33.3 ± 1.76) farms on the initial visit. After accounting for initial lameness, intervention group status, and year of visit within a multilevel model, we observed an interaction between year and provision of support, with the reduction in lameness over time being greater in the MS group compared with the MO group. Farms in the MS group made a greater number of changes to their husbandry practices over the duration of the project (8.2 ± 0.39) compared with those farms in the MO group (6.5 ± 0.54). Because the lameness prevalence was lower in the MS group than the MO group at the start of the study, the contribution of the additional support was difficult to define. Lameness can be reduced on UK dairy farms although further work is needed to identify the optimum approaches.

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Factors contributing to the incidence and prevalence of lameness on Czech dairy farms

Cited by 22 publications

References 27 publications

Lameness and foot lesions in Swiss dairy cows: II. Risk factors

Lameness and foot lesions in Swiss dairy cows: II. Risk factors

Claw Trimming as a Lameness Management Practice and the Association with Welfare and Production in Dairy Cows

Evaluating an intervention to reduce lameness in dairy cattle

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