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Prevalence and risk factors for corkscrew claw syndrome in Upper Midwest dairy heifers
Nigel B. Cook, Adam Strebe, and...
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Objectives
The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors for an emerging hoof lesion in growing heifers and adult dairy cattle. Corkscrew claw syndrome (CCS) is the combination of corkscrew deformities of the medial claws of both the rear and front feet in combination, occurring in heifers predominantly from growing age upward into adulthood. This contrasts with the traditional corkscrew claw seen in the lateral outer claw of older cattle. The condition can be so severe by the time that the heifer calves that the rear medial claw is the dominant weight bearing claw. The anatomical changes that result in this condition appear to be permanent and unrepairable. The pedal bones are irreversibly changed, developing bony exostoses and becoming narrower and rotated within the claw capsule.
Materials and methods
A convenience sample of Upper Midwest dairy herds was recruited using the expertise of hoof trimmers from the Dairyland Hoofcare Institute (Baraboo, WI) who were asked to identify dairy herds that they trimmed that had a high and low prevalence of CCS. From an initial list of 83 dairy producers contacted, 43 herds agreed to be visited by 2 observers trained to score the rear medial claws for the lesion in heifers and cows. Breeding age, pregnant and prefresh heifers were surveyed, along with the high yielding mature cow group of cows. At the visit, details of a variety of environmental and management risk factors were captured and entered into a purpose-built Microsoft Access database. The data were exported into Excel and analyzed using SAS (SAS version 9.4; SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC). Univariate linear regression models were built for the square root transformed prevalence of CCS for breeding, pregnant and prefresh heifers using PROC MIXED, weighted by the surveyed population of heifers. Using variables of significance (P<0.15) for each heifer group, multivariate models were built through the process of backwards elimination of non-significant effects (P>0.05), with graphical evaluation of residual plots, to explain the prevalence of CCS. A final model was built in similar manner for the prevalence of CCS across all heifer groups using effects significant (P<0.15) from the univariate analyses from the heifer sub-groups. [...]
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