Prevalence of non-infectious claw disorders in Egyptian dairy farms in relation to the flooring system

Abstract

Lameness is one of the most prevalent and costly maladies affecting dairy cattle. It has been ranked as the third after mastitis and reproductive failure. One of the leading causes of lameness is corium tissue damage and hence claw horn lesions development. Flooring system was found to have an impact on the development of such lesions. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to study the effect of flooring system on the development of four non-infectious claw disorders in Egyptian dairy farms. Another objective was to study the effect of claw disorders on reproductive performance and total milk production. Four dairy herds with earthen floor (n=2) and desert floor (n=2) from Ash-Sharkia and Ismailia Provinces were included in this study. Results revealed that the prevalence of white line disease (WLD) was the highest among recorded lesions in earthen floor farms (2.7%) followed by sole ulcer (SU) 2.1% and sole abscess (SA) 1.7% then vertical wall fissures (VWF) 1.6%. While in the desert floor farms, VWF and SA were reported in 0.8% of animals followed by WLD and SU in 0.4% and 0.3% of animals, respectively. The non-infectious claw disorders were detected mainly in hindlimbs in earthen floor farms when compared to forelimbs (6.6% and 1.5%, respectively) while in the desert floor farms were nearly equal for the forelimbs (1.1%) and hindlimbs (1.2%). In conclusion, the animals housed in earthen floor farms were more susceptible to non-infectious claw disorders than those housed in desert floor.