Continuous claw health monitoring in dairy herds using a computerized claw data base program

摘要

Continuous claw health monitoring in dairy herds using computerized claw data base programs by hoof trimmers is not yet widely established. The aim of this report is to demonstrate how claw data can be analyzed by computerized claw data base programs in a comprehensive manner in regard of the herd and well as the single cow. Electronically documented claw data of five subsequent hoof trimming visits in one herd were used. The prevalence of current lameness, the prevalence of claw lesions, and of their severity scores were analyzed automatically. These and the mathematically calculated parameters Cow Claw Score (CCS), Farm Claw Score (FCS) and Farm Zone Score (FZS) proved to be very informative for a detailed comparison of claw data of a current claw health status and the chronological progression of the claw health of a herd. In addition, the graphical presentation of the CCS values and the graphical presentation of claw lesion prevalences of a herd using boxplot and radarplot graphs respectively enable a clearly understandable overview of claw health progression for the farmer, hoof trimmer and the vet.