Claw health in dairy cows in The Netherlands

Sound feet and legs are important to the cow for optimal productivity, health and animal welfare (Brand et al., 1996). After infertility and mastitis, claw disorders are the third most common reason for involuntary culling of dairy cows and should be reduced (e.g. Kossaibati and Esslemont, 1997, Warnick et al., 2001; Green et al., 2002). Herdsmen usually underestimate the number of lame animals, compared with specially trained observers (Whay et al., 2002). Lesions not overtly causing lameness and/or affecting the production are often ignored (Nuss and Hassig, 2005). In spite of the fact that... Mehr ...