Differences in hoof temperature between corresponding images recorded on the same day were typically small ( Figure 2b ) and did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) from zero for 13 (out of 19) animals. For six animals (animals 379, 762, 766, 768, 769 and 774), the median difference in repeated observations was significantly (P < 0.05) different from zero, though the median difference in each case was only a fraction of a degree (range: -0.3°C to 0.2°C). Eye temperature measured by IRT provided a reasonable proxy measure for body temperature, with eye temperatures approximately 2°C lower than rectal temperature ( Figure 2c) and not significantly affected by ambient temperature (P > 0.05).