Effect of Flooring Systems on Microarchitecture of the Bovine Hoof Horn

Abstract

Introduction and aims: Claw diseases in dairy cows not only lead to high economic losses, but also cause pain and reduce animal welfare. Former studies pointed out that flooring properties influence the microstructure of hoof horn. In this study, we looked for correlations between different flooring systems and horn quality. We obtained horn samples from an experimental farm in Alnarp/Sweden from cows that were first kept on slatted floor and subsequently on mastic asphalt respectively on rubber mats.Methods: Untreated horn samples were glued onto wooden blocks: 7 μm sections were prepared with a Polycut‐S (Leica) microtome and afterwards stained with the PAS reaction. For morphometrical analysis we used a Zeiss Axioskope, a digital camera (Progress 3012) and the Lucia 32 G software (Nikon). These data were exported into EXCEL (Microsoft) and statistical analysis was carried out with SPSS (SPSS Inc. [[Au: please provide manufacturer details for ‘SPSS’: city, state code (if USA) and country]]). We measured area, minimal and maximal diameter of medulla and cortex of the horn tubules. Statistical evaluation included number of tubules and tubular area per visual field, total area of medulla and cortex and the limiting diameters.Results: We found significant alterations of the hoof horn after moving the cows from hard to soft floor. The diameter of the horn tubules decreased significantly. The area of medulla and the ratio of medulla to cortex decreased as well.Conclusions: Our findings indicate a higher quality of claw horn and an increased resistance against mechanical, chemical and microbial environmental influences in animals kept on soft floors. The functional implications of these observations are discussed with regard to claw health as well as the arising consequences for dairy housing systems.This work was supported by the European Communities under the Lamecow project QLK5‐CT‐2002‐00969. The authors are solely responsible and the work does not necessarily represent the opinion of the European Communities.