Risk (Predisposing) Factors for Non-Infectious Claw Disorders in Dairy Cows Under Varying Zero-Grazing Systems

Indicators of Poor Welfare in Dairy Cows Within Smallholder Zero-Grazing Units in the Peri-Urban Areas of Nairobi, Kenya

“…Both lame and non-lame cows of any of the breeds were included in the study group. Selection of the cows meeting the inclusion criteria was performed as previously described [50]. Briefly, in each smallholder unit, cows that met the selection criteria were isolated from the rest and serially numbered as 1, 2, 3, to S, where S was the last serial number depending on the total number of cows isolated in that unit.…”

“…About 70% (n=211) of the cows had laminitis, which was either sublinical laminitis in 49% (n=148) diagnosed by presence of sole haemorrhages seen after trimming a thin layer of the horn of the sole, or chronic laminitis in 21% (n=63) diagnosed by presence of extensive diffuse sole haemorrhages coupled with various degrees of claw deformities. The Pictorial description of the claw lesions and the associated predisposing causes was detailed in a previous publication [50]. In study 2, lame cows were encountered in 73% (n=58) of the 80 zero-grazing units, for which the total prevalence was 35% (n=107) among the 306 cows examined.…”

“…Moreover, these automated facilities are expensively unaffordable to the poor smallholder farmers in developing countries such as Kenya. Claw disorders particularly those related to laminitis are highly prevalent in smallholder zero-grazing dairy units and subunits in the peri-urban areas of Nairobi, Kenya and probably in other parts of Kenya with similar production systems [50]. These have been found to be highly associated with housing and management factors within the zero-grazing units [17,50].…”

“…Claw disorders particularly those related to laminitis are highly prevalent in smallholder zero-grazing dairy units and subunits in the peri-urban areas of Nairobi, Kenya and probably in other parts of Kenya with similar production systems [50]. These have been found to be highly associated with housing and management factors within the zero-grazing units [17,50]. This high prevalence of claw lesions together with a high prevalence of injuries or signs of injuries in specific parts of the body as well as soiling and body condition scores of dairy cows in the smallholder zero-grazing units in the peri-urban areas of Nairobi, Kenya [51,52] was thought to be reliable indicators of the state of welfare of dairy cattle particularly when correlated with the prevailing zero-grazing conditions.…”

Macroscopic, Radiographic and Histopathologic Changes of Claws with Laminitis and Laminitis-Related Disorders in Zero-Grazed Dairy Cows

“…Laminitis tends to affect all the claws simultaneously in a single cow and when it advances to the chronic phase, there are obvious macroscopic claw deformities that make it difficult to reshape them to their normal anatomical appearance. These macroscopic deformities are often accompanied by irreversible damage to the internal structure of the claws [6][7][8][9]. Initially, laminitis occurs in a subtle clinically unrecognised state referred to as subclinical laminitis, which can only be discerned through claw trimming as sole and white line haemorrhages [6,10,11].…”