Relationship Between Barn Hygiene and Lameness Prevalence in Thirty-Five Transylvanian Dairy Farms
Abstract
The aim of this work was to study the relationship between hygiene and lameness prevalence in dairy cattle kept in tie-stall barns in Transylvania (Romania). The barns’ hygiene was assessed based on the body hygiene of the housed cattle. The prevalence of lameness was determined and the cleanliness of the two body areas of the cows in 35 dairy farms with tie-stall housing was assessed over the period of November – December 2009. A total number of 2028 dairy cows were evaluated. The percentage of hygiene scores of 3 and 4 for the upper leg and flank with a mean value of 41.35% and for the lower leg with a mean value of 33.12% showed statistically significant differences (Mann-Whitney Test, p < 0.01) between the hygiene of the two body areas. The prevalence of lameness varied between 3.57% and 58.33% with a mean value of 20.79%. We found a positive correlation between leg hygiene and lameness prevalence, both with respect to lower leg hygiene (rs = 0.63, p < 0.0001) and upper leg and flank hygiene (rs = 0.65, p < 0.0001), respectively. The obtained results showed that the poor hygiene of barn represents a risk factor associated to lameness prevalence in tied dairy cattle
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