A higher risk of being lame was found for the presence of claw overgrowth , the first 120 days in milk , larger herd sizes , and increasing parity .
Background Lameness in dairy cows has been an ongoing concern of great relevance to animal welfare and productivity in modern dairy production .
Many studies have examined associations between various factors related to housing , management , and the individual animal and the occurrence of lameness .
The objective of this systematic review was to answer the research question “ what are risk factors associated with lameness in dairy cows that are housed in free stall barns or tie stall facilities ” .
Furthermore , we performed a synthesis of current evidence on certain risk factors by means of a meta- analysis to illustrate the strength of their association with bovine lameness .
The effect of claw trimming on the hoof health of Swedish dairy cattle.
A 2-year experiment on the effect of claw trimming on hoof health was performed in 77 Swedish dairy herds ( 3444 dairy cattle ) selected on herd size , breed composition and membership in the official milk-recording scheme . In the autumn , cows within each herd were blocked according to breed , parity and stage of lactation and allocated to two treatments : autumn trimming ( AT ) or no autumn trimming ( NAT ) . Outcome variables were claw measurements and prevalence of hoof lesions and lameness ( measured at spring trimming ) and the need for hoof treatments between scheduled trimmings . At spring trimming , NAT cows had longer and shallower claws than AT cows . The average net growth of the toe wall was greater for AT than for NAT cattle , with a marked variation between housing systems . Most hoof lesions present at AT had disappeared at the subsequent spring trimming . Controlled for clustering by herd-within-year and for the effects of individual- and herd-level covariates , AT cattle at spring trimmings had significantly lower odds of lameness ( OR=0.66 ) and of haemorrhages of the sole or white-line ( OR=0.86 ) , sole ulcer ( OR=0.59 ) and white-line fissure or double sole (OR=0.71)-but not of moderate-to-severe heel-horn erosion or dermatitis ( OR=0.96 ) . Acute hoof treatments between claw trimmings were more common in the NAT group ( OR=2.02 )
A higher risk of being lame was found for the presence of claw overgrowth , the first 120 days in milk , larger herd sizes , and increasing parity .
Background Lameness in dairy cows has been an ongoing concern of great relevance to animal welfare and productivity in modern dairy production .
Many studies have examined associations between various factors related to housing , management , and the individual animal and the occurrence of lameness .
The objective of this systematic review was to answer the research question “ what are risk factors associated with lameness in dairy cows that are housed in free stall barns or tie stall facilities ” .
Furthermore , we performed a synthesis of current evidence on certain risk factors by means of a meta- analysis to illustrate the strength of their association with bovine lameness .