Britten Nick, Blackie Nicola, Reader Jon, Booth Richard E, Mahendran Sophie Anne
Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield AL9 7TA, UK.
Synergy Farm Health, Rampisham Down DT2 0HS, UK.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Mar 13;15(6):829. doi: 10.3390/ani15060829.
The UK has a high incidence of lameness in cattle, which is costly in terms of economics and welfare. Most causes of bovine lameness originate in the foot but there are several different conditions causing lameness. Quantifying the relative prevalence of different lameness causing lesions allows for the focus of preventative measures and research on the most common conditions.
This study analysed trimming records from 23 professional foot trimmers working in the Southwest of England. A total of 97,944 recorded lesions over a 5-year period were analysed for lesion identity, lesion severity, repeat presentation, foot affected, claw affected and whether they were from dairy or beef cattle.
The most frequently recorded lesions were digital dermatitis (32%), white line disease (21%), sole ulcer (19%) and sole haemorrhage (13%). White line disease had the highest percentage of lesions requiring veterinary attention and most frequently re-presented. Most lesions were in hind feet and there was a small but significantly greater number recorded in right feet. Beef cattle had a higher percentage of digital dermatitis and lower percentage of sole ulcer compared with dairy cattle.
Digital dermatitis was the most common foot lesion of all cattle types. Most feet with lesions only appeared in the data set once, suggesting broadly that foot trimming was largely effective at resolving new foot lesions. More white line lesions were re-presented, along with having more severe grades compared with other lesions. Therapeutic trimming of chronic lesions appeared to be less successful, with re-presentations, on average, every 93 days, compromising welfare for extended periods, and requiring consideration of different veterinary treatment options.
英国牛群跛足发病率很高，在经济和福利方面代价高昂。大多数牛跛足病因源于足部，但导致跛足的情况有几种不同类型。量化不同导致跛足病变的相对患病率有助于将预防措施和研究重点放在最常见的情况上。
本研究分析了在英格兰西南部工作的23名专业蹄修整师的修整记录。对5年期间共97944条记录的病变进行了分析，包括病变类型、病变严重程度、重复出现情况、受影响的蹄、受影响的蹄爪以及它们是来自奶牛还是肉牛。
记录最频繁的病变是指皮炎（32%）、白线病（21%）、蹄底溃疡（19%）和蹄底出血（13%）。白线病需要兽医处理的病变百分比最高，且最常再次出现。大多数病变在后蹄，右脚记录的数量虽少但显著更多。与奶牛相比，肉牛的指皮炎百分比更高，蹄底溃疡百分比更低。
指皮炎是所有牛类型中最常见的蹄部病变。大多数有病变的蹄只在数据集中出现一次，这大致表明蹄修整在解决新的蹄部病变方面基本有效。与其他病变相比，更多的白线病变会再次出现，且等级更严重。慢性病变的治疗性修整似乎不太成功，平均每93天再次出现一次，长期影响福利，需要考虑不同的兽医治疗方案。
