Preliminary Results of Prevalence's of and Correlation's between Major Rear Claw Disorders in 348 Dutch Dairy Herds

To improve claw health in dairy cattle the Dutch Animal Health Service has conducted a cross-sectional study to estimate the prevalence of claw-disorders and correlations between different claw disorders. After a training to achieve uniform assessment of diagnoses, 20 professional hoof trimmers registered their findings of 21,478 animals on 348 herds on the presence (yes/no) of major hind claw disorders. During an one-year period (May 2002-July 2003) each hoof trimmer visited on average 17 dairy herds (SD: 13.5; Median:15 ; min 1 herd; max 53 herds). From the Dutch Cattle Syndicate (NRS) information was provided on age, breed, last calving date and parity of each registered animal. The prevalence's of 7 claw disorders were calculated on herd and cow level. In addition, relations between claw disorders were estimated. Of all recorded animals (21,359), 69% had at least one claw disorders on the rear claws. Of all animals 13.8%, 3 or more disorders were present. Most prevalent claw ...