Risk factors for increased rates of sole ulcers, white line disease, and digital dermatitis in dairy cattle from twenty-seven farms in England and Wales

Abstract

Claw lesion treatment records were recorded by farmers on 27 dairy farms (3,074 cows, 36,432 records) in England and Wales between February 2003 and February 2004. These were combined with farm environment and management data collected using a combination of direct observations, interviews with farmers, and milk recording data. Multilevel models were constructed for the 3 most frequently reported lesions related to lameness, namely, sole ulcers, white line disease, and digital dermatitis. Risks associated with an increased incidence of sole ulcers were parity 4 or greater, the use of roads or concrete cow tracks between the parlor and grazing, the use of lime on free stalls, and housing in free stalls with sparse bedding for 4 mo or more. The risks for white line disease were increasing parity and increasing herd size, cows at pasture by day and housed at night, and solid grooved concrete floors in yards or alleys. Solid grooved flooring was also associated with an increased risk of digital dermatitis, and cows 6 or more months after calving had a decreased risk of a first case of digital dermatitis. These results improve our understanding of the specific risks for 3 important lesions associated with bovine lameness and could be used as interventions in future clinical studies targeted at the reduction of specific lesions.

Effects of cow-level and herd-level factors on claw health in tied and loose-housed dairy herds in Finland

“…The prevalence of infectious and non-infectious claw disorders increased together with parity in both herd types, a finding consistent with earlier studies (Bielfeldt et al, 2005;Somers et al, 2005b;Holzhauer et al, 2008;Barker et al, 2009;Kujala et al, 2009Kujala et al, , 2010. The cumulative effect of physiological stress caused by multiple lactations and previous diseases, especially claw disorders, might predispose older cows to new claw disorders (Liinamo et al, 2009).…”

“…Previous L studies have also suggested that claw health might improve with access to pasture because of the more comfortable surface for lying down or standing (Hernandez-Mendo et al, 2007;Barker et al, 2009). For example, Barker et al (2009) reported that cows kept indoors 24 hours a day had a higher risk of sole ulcer and white line disease than cows grazing 24 h a day.…”

“…Cow-level risk factors include parity, trimming season, stage of lactation and breed (Bielfeldt et al, 2005;Capion et al, 2008;Barker et al, 2009). Herd-level risk factors include flooring material, bedding material, feed composition, feeding system, cubicle design, access to pasture, hygiene and claw trimming routines (Vokey et al, 2001;Bielfeldt et al, 2005;Sogstad et al, 2005;Capion et al, 2008).…”

The contribution of previous lameness events and body condition score to the occurrence of lameness in dairy herds: A study of 2 herds

“…One hypothesis for this association is that underlying pathology carries over from one lactation to the next, making future cases more likely. The increase in lameness prevalence or risk with increasing parity that is widely reported would support this hypothesis (Barker et al, 2009;Randall et al, 2015;Solano et al, 2015). In addition, Newsome et al (2016) demonstrated that bone development on the caudal aspect of the distal phalanx at slaughter was positively associated with claw horn lesions during life, providing evidence for underlying pathology being associated with previous lameness.…”

Measures to improve dairy cow foot health: consequences for farmer income and dairy cow welfare

“…Different studies provided numbers on reduction of foot disorders by improving design and bedding of cubicles (e.g. Philipot et al, 1994;Barker et al, 2009). …”