Results of monitoring studies of hoof diseases in cows

Abstract

In the period from May 2017 to June 2018, monitoring studies of orthopaedic diseases were conducted in some farms of Brest Dis trict in the Republic of Belarus. In the course of routine orthopaedic examination of 9368 heads of dairy cows there were registered cases of hoof affection and clinical lameness in 3438 dairy cows. The lameness was present only in 78,6% of dairy cows of the surveyed farms. Purulent pododermatitis (20.6%), Rusterholtz ulcers (16.9%), laminitis (14.5%), interfinger hyperplasia (13.2%), hemorrhages and bruises on the sole part (11.3%) were the most common among all identified cows. Less common are cracks and fractures of the hoof - 7.7%; abscesses -(5.9%), phlegmons of the corolla - (5.5%), bursitis - (3.1%), tendovaginitis - (1.3%). It was shown that lameness and hoof affection are a serious health problem in dairy cows under conditions of industrial intensification of dairy industry in the farms of the Republic of Belarus. Economic losses from this pathology consist of premature selection of animals, reduced reproductive function, reduced productivity and live weight, lack of calves. Therefore, the development and introduction of new methods of treatment, as well as wide application of the latest achievements of science in the prevention and treatment of animals with surgical diseases, in particular with purulent skin lesions of the distal part of the limbs, will extend the period of economic use of cattle and increase the profitability of the industry, and leads to the growth of livestock production.