Severity of foot lesions in relation to calving in Sahiwal-HF crossbred cattle

Lameness is one of the three costliest diseases of the dairy industry including mastitis and fertility problems (Hernandez et al. 2000). The pain and distress caused to the animals make it an important issue of animal welfare (O’ Callaghan 2002). About 90–99% of lameness incidents in cattle all over the world occur due to claw lesions, irrespective of breed, use or housing (Hernandez et al. 2002, Van Amstel and Shearer 2006). The time around calving is critical in the initiation of claw lesions but the physiological reasons for this are not known (Peterse 1980, Bradley et al. 1989). Calving and onset of lactation causes non-inflammatory changes in the connective tissue of the corium that impair resilience of the claws to external stresses, mediated through activation of certain gelatinoproteases (Knott et al. 2007). The combined effects of calving, housing and the introduction of lactation diets result in insults to the claw corium (Chaplin et al. 2000, Tarlton et al. 2002). The occurrence of claw lesions in one lactation is likely to affect the claw health in subsequent years (Peterse 1980) and first calving heifers are more prone to claw lesions than cows in third or fourth lactation (Webster 2001). Studies in relation to calving were undertaken in pure Holstein Friesian cows (Capion et al. 2009) but hardly any information is available on how parturition changes affect claw lesions in crossbred cattle. So the present study was undertaken to evaluate the affect of calving on the severity of foot lesions in 3 groups of Sahiwal-Holstein Friesian crossbred cows. The study was conducted at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) dairy farm located at Ludhiana. Herd consisted of 200 SahiwalHF crossbred cows and 250 Murrah buffaloes both maintained independently by segregating according to different age groups. Hoof trimming was not a routine Short Communications Indian Journal of Animal Sciences 83 (2): 159–163, February 2013/Short Communication