Bovine Claw and Limb Disorders at Claw Trimming Related to Milk Yield

Prevalence of lameness in dairy cows: A literature review

Lameness in dairy cows has major negative impacts on animal welfare and production economy. While previous studies have evaluated the prevalence of lameness in single countries, the present literature review is the first overview of the prevalence of lameness in dairy cows globally. This literature review identified 53 studies reporting prevalence of lameness among representative samples of dairy cows and fulfilling a number of specified inclusion criteria (e.g., at least 10 herds and 200 cows, and locomotion scoring by trained observers). A total of 414,950 cows from 3945 herds were included in these 53 studies, which spanned a 30-year period (1989-2020) and included herds from six continents, with the majority from Europe and North America. Across the studies, the mean prevalence of lameness (typically defined as score 3-5 on a 1-5 scale) was 22.8% with a median of 22.0% and a range between studies from 5.1% to 45%, and a within herd range from 0% to 88%. The mean prevalence of severely lame cows (typically defined as score 4-5 on a 1-5 scale) was 7.0% with a median of 6.5% and a range between studies from 1.8% to 21.2%, and a within herd range from 0% to 65%. Over time, it appears that the prevalence of lameness has changed very little. Several different locomotion scoring systems and definitions of (severe) lameness were used across the 53 studies, and this may have affected the reported lameness prevalence. Sampling of herds and cows, inclusion criteria and representativeness also differed between studies. This review offers recommendations for the future capture of information on lameness in dairy cows and identifies potential knowledge gaps.

Cost of lameness in dairy herds: An integrated bioeconomic modeling approach

Foot disorders are costly health disorders in dairy farms, and their prevalence is related to several factors such as breed, nutrition, and farmer's management strategy. Very few modeling approaches have considered the dynamics of foot disorders and their interaction with farm management strategies within a holistic farm simulation model. The aim of this study was to estimate the cost of foot disorders in dairy herds by simulating strategies for managing lameness. A dynamic and stochastic simulation model (DairyHealthSim) was used to simulate the herd dynamics, reproduction management, and health events. A specific module was built for lameness and related herd-level management strategies. Foot disorder occurrences were simulated with a base risk for each etiology [digital dermatitis (DD), interdigital dermatitis, interdigital phlegmon, sole ulcer (SU), white line disease (WLD)]. Two state machines were implemented in the model: the first was related to the disease-induced lameness score (from 1 to 5), and the second concerned DD-state transitions. A total of 880 simulations were run to represent the combination of the following 5 scenarios: (1) housing (concrete vs. textured), (2) hygiene (2 different scraping frequencies), (3) the existence of preventive trimming, (4) different thresholds of DD prevalence detected and from which a collective footbath is applied to treat DD, and (5) farmer's ability to detect lameness (detection rate). Housing, hygiene, and trimming scenarios were associated with risk factors applied for each foot disorder etiologies. The footbath and lameness detection scenarios both determined the treatment setup and the policy of herd observance. The economic evaluation outcome was the gross margin per year. A linear regression model was run to estimate the cost per lame cow (lameness score ≥3), per case of DD and per week of a cow's medium lameness duration. The bioeconomic model reproduced a lameness prevalence varying from 26 to 98% depending on the management scenario, demonstrating a high capacity of the model to represent the diversity of the field situations. Digital dermatitis represented half of the total lameness cases, followed by interdigital dermatitis (28%), SU (19%), WLD (13%), and interdigital phlegmon (4%). The housing scenarios dramatically influenced the prevalence of SU and WLD, whereas scraping frequency and threshold for footbath application mainly determined the presence of DD. Interestingly, the results showed that preventive trimming allowed a better reduction in lameness prevalence than spending time on early detection. Scraping frequency was highly associated with DD occurrence, especially with a textured floor. The regression showed that costs were homogeneous (i.e., did not change with lameness prevalence; marginal cost equals average cost). A lame cow and a DD-affected cow cost €307.50 ± 8.40 (SD) and €391.80 ± 10.0 per year on average, respectively. The results also showed a cost of €12.10 ± 0.36 per week-cow lameness. The present estimation is the first to account for interactions between etiologies and for the complex DD dynamics with all the M-stage transitions, bringing a high level of accuracy to the results.

Treatment protocols for claw horn lesions and their impact on lameness recovery, pain sensitivity, and lesion severity in moderately lame primiparous dairy cows

This study aims to investigate the effects of routine treatment protocols for claw horn disruptive lesions (CHDL) on lameness recovery rates, pain sensitivity, and lesion severity in moderately lame primiparous cows. A cohort of first parity cows was recruited from a single commercial dairy herd and randomly allocated to five treatments, comprising four lame groups (LTNB, LTN, LTB, and LT) and a single group non-lame group. Eligibility criteria for the lame cows included a first lameness score (score 3/5), presence of CHDL on a single foot, good body condition score of 3.0 to 3.5, and no history of previous lameness. LTNB received a combination of therapeutic trim, administration of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID; Ketoprofen) for 3 days, and hoof block on the healthy claw. Both LTN and LTB received the same treatment as LTNB without hoof block and NSAID, respectively. LT received only a therapeutic trim, whereas non-LT (negative control) received either a therapeutic or preventive trim. Pain sensitivity was assessed using the limb withdrawal reflex while lesion severity was recorded using the International Committee Animal Records (ICAR) Atlas guide. The enrolled cows were observed at weekly intervals, and the primary outcomes were assessed 28 days after treatment. The number (%) of recovered cows was 15 of 20 (75%), 13 of 21 (61.9%), 6 of 14 (42.9%), and 6 of 15 (40%) for LTNB, LTN, LTB, and LT, respectively. LTNB had significantly higher odds of successful treatment (OR = 4.5; 95% 1.1-19.1) compared to LT. Pain sensitivity based on limb withdrawal reflex was absent in a significantly higher number of cows (15/20; 75.0%) in LTNB compared to LTB and LT. LTB had a significantly lower lesion severity score in comparison to LTN. Overall, cows with limb withdrawal at day 28 after treatment were less likely (OR = 0.06; 95% CI 0.01-0.24) to develop a non-lame score. In conclusion, the treatment with therapeutic trim, hoof block, and NSAID led to better recovery and reduced pain sensitivity in moderately lame primiparous cows with good BCS compared to those that received only therapeutic trim. Further research on the changes within the hoof capsule following various treatment protocols is needed to elucidate the clinical benefits observed in this study.

Comparison of claw horn disruption lesions in four dairy herds using two different trimming techniques: A case study

Claw disorders are a major problem for health, welfare, and economy in dairy production. This retrospective observational study investigated the association between cow-level prevalence of claw horn disruptive lesions and two different trimming methods - the traditional Danish Method (DAM) and the White Line Atlas Method (WLAM). Trimming records from four herds in Denmark over a 4-year period were analysed. Within each herd, claw trimming was performed with the WLAM for the first 2 years, and the DAM for the next 2 years. The data comprised 3316 claw trimmings of 1027 cows with the WLAM and 3898 claw trimmings of 1080 cows with the DAM. The association between claw trimming method and claw lesions was determined using binominal logistic analysis. There were significant differences between trimming methods for sole haemorrhage (odds ratio = 0.44), sole ulcer (odds ratio = 0.42), and white line separation (odds ratio = 0.64), with a lower prevalence during the period of trimming with the WLAM. No significant difference between trimming methods could be found in the occurrence of white line abscess or double sole. The lower prevalence of claw horn disruption lesions found in this study when cows were trimmed with WLAM justifies and necessitates further experimental studies of claw trimming methods to validate these findings.

Foot and leg conformation traits have a small effect on genomic predictions of claw disorders in Norwegian Red cows

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the predictive correlation of genomic breeding values (GEBV) for claw disorders increased by including genetically correlated traits as additional information in the analyses. Predictive correlations of GEBV for claw disorders were calculated based on claw disorders only and by analyzing claw disorders together with genetically correlated foot and leg conformation traits. The claw disorders analyzed were corkscrew claw (CSC); infectious claw disorder, including dermatitis, heel horn erosion, and interdigital phlegmon; and laminitis-related claw disorder, including sole ulcer, white line disorder, and hemorrhage of sole and white line. The foot and leg conformation traits included were hoof quality, foot angle, rear leg rear view new, and rear leg rear view old. The data consisted of 183,728 daughters with claw health records and 421,319 daughters with foot and leg conformation scores. A 25K/54K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data set containing 48,249 SNP was available for the analyses. The number of genotyped sires with daughter information in the analyses was 1,093 including claw disorders and 3,111 including claw disorders and foot and leg conformation traits. Predictive correlations of GEBV for CSC, infectious claw disorder, and laminitis-related claw disorder were calculated from a 10-fold cross-validation and from an additional validation set including the youngest sires. Only sires having daughters with claw health records were in the validation sets, thus increasing the reference population when adding foot and leg conformation traits. The results showed marginal improvement in the predictive correlation of GEBV for CSC when including hoof quality and foot angle, both in 10-fold cross-validation (from 0.35 to 0.37) and in the validation including the youngest sires (from 0.38 to 0.49). For infectious claw disorder and laminitis-related claw disorder, including foot and leg conformation traits had no effect on the predictive correlation of GEBV. Claw disorders are novel traits with a limited amount of historical data and, therefore, a small reference population. Increasing the reference population by including sires with daughter information on foot and leg conformation traits had small effect on the predictive correlation of GEBV. However, the small increase in predictive correlation of GEBV for CSC shows a possible gain when including moderate to high genetically correlated traits.

Study of progesterone and cortisol concentrations in the Italian Friesian claw

The present research was conducted to study progesterone and cortisol concentrations in the claw of cattle and to verify whether the cattle claw could be considered an efficient matrix to provide retrospective information regarding progesterone and cortisol concentrations related to pregnancy and peripartum periods. These 2 steroids are involved in hoof growth. The study was performed on 32 calves and 24 pregnant milking cows of the Holstein breed, which were clinically healthy and lacking any claw disorders. Samples of at least 0.5cm in thickness were taken from the sole. Progesterone and cortisol concentrations were determined by RIA. The cortisol concentration in the horny shoe of calves from 0 to 30 d of age was significantly higher than the concentration at 31 to 60 and 61 to 120 d of age. Conversely, the progesterone concentration showed no statistically significant difference in relation to age. The horn progesterone concentrations recorded in the milking dairy cows at 7 mo of pregnancy showed high variability in the horizontal sections of the sole (the individual coefficient of variation ranged between 0.09 and 1.11). In 6 cows, genuine extreme values (genuine outliers) of the progesterone level were found. Moreover, significant differences existed among the progesterone concentrations of the sole's transverse sections. We detected a significant positive correlation between the weight of the horn samples after freeze-drying and their weight after hydration. The cortisol and progesterone levels in soaked horn samples were found to be significantly lower than in the same dry samples. These results show that cortisol and progesterone can be measured in the cattle claw horn. The claws of mature dairy cows could not be used as a matrix to provide a retrospective measure of cumulative hormone secretion, whereas the analysis of the calves' claw horns showed retrospective hormonal information similar to hair samples.

Relationship between somatic cell count and milk yield in different stages of lactation

The association between somatic cell count (SCC) and daily milk yield in different stages of lactation was investigated in cows free of clinical mastitis (CM). Data were recorded between 1989 and 2004 in a research herd, and consisted of weekly test-day (TD) records from 1,155 lactations of Swedish Holstein and Swedish Red cows. The main data set (data set A) containing 36,117 records excluded TD affected by CM. In this data set, the geometric mean SCC was 55,000 and 95,000 cells/mL in primiparous and multiparous cows, respectively. A subset of data set A (data set B), containing 27,753 records excluding all TD sampled in lactations affected by CM, was created to investigate the effect of subclinical mastitis (SCM) in lactations free of CM. Daily milk yields were analyzed using a mixed linear model with lactation stage; linear, quadratic and cubic regressions of log(2)-transformed and centered SCC nested within lactation stage; weeks in lactation; TD season; parity; breed; pregnancy status; year-season of calving; calving, reproductive, metabolic and claw disorders; and housing system as fixed effects. A random regression was included to further improve the modeling of the lactation curve. Primiparous and multiparous cows were analyzed separately. The magnitude of daily milk loss associated with increased SCC depended on stage of lactation and parity, and was most extensive in late lactation irrespective of parity. In data set A, daily milk loss at an SCC of 500,000 cells/mL ranged from 0.7 to 2.0 kg (3 to 9%) in primiparous cows, depending on stage of lactation. In multiparous cows, corresponding loss was 1.1 to 3.7 kg (4 to 18%). Regression coefficients of primiparous cows estimated from data set B were consistent with those obtained from data set A, whereas data set B generated more negative regression coefficients of multiparous cows suggesting a higher milk loss associated with increased SCC in lactations in which the cow did not develop CM. The 305-d milk loss in the average lactation affected with SCM was 155 kg of milk (2%) in primiparous cows and 445 kg of milk (5%) in multiparous cows. It was concluded that multiparous cows in late lactation can be expected to be responsible for the majority of the herd-level production loss caused by SCM, and that preventive measures need to focus on reducing the incidence of SCM in such cows.

Effects of plasmid growth hormone-releasing hormone treatment during heat stress

A gene therapy treatment with plasmid-based growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) delivered by electroporation (EP) was investigated during heat stress; 32 primiparous cows received 2.5 mg of a GHRH-expressing myogenic plasmid (pSP-HV-GHRH), while 20 were designated as controls. Offspring of treated animals showed a reduction in mortality (47%; p < 0.02), and survival from birth to 260 days was dramatically improved (0% mortality vs. 21% in controls) along with an increase in weight gain (p < 0.05). Milk production was increased compared to controls with an average yield gain of 421 kg/cow (p = 0.028). Prolactin (PRL) levels were also significantly increased compared to controls (p < 0.05). The second pregnancy rate was improved by GHRH treatment (53.3% vs. 30.8%). This study shows that the use of plasmid-mediated therapy delivered by EP can maintain health status during periods of heat stress, important for both animals and potentially humans in hot, challenging climates.