ICAR Claw Health Atlas

ŠLOSÁRKOVÁ, Soňa, FLEISCHER, Petr and STANĚK, Stanislav. ICAR Claw Health Atlas. Náš chov, 2018, vol. 78(1), p. 63-66. ISSN 0027-8068.
Year2018
CathegoryPublication in specialized journals
Internal link18027.pdf
Abstract

Locomotor system disorders, especially claw disorders (i.e. foot and claw disorders) form a high proportion of total morbidity in dairy cattle. Because of high occurrence and painfulness, claw disorders are considered as the greatest problem concerning welfare, but the negative impacts on milk performance and reproduction are equally important. Regular, reliable and comprehensible electronic records of claw disorders findings are a basic prerequisite for the monitoring of claw health, and thus a significant help for the management of herd health and prospectively also for breeding purposes. The main present problems of this monitoring are e.g. inconsistency in disorders and disease determination and classification, which does not allow the regional, national and transnational data merging. Improvements can be achieved by a simple, illustrative picture atlas of pathological claw findings (ICAR Claw Health Atlas), which is now also available in the Czech language on the web sites of both VÚVeL and ICAR (International Committee for Animal Recording). It is an internationally standardized basis for the harmonization of health problems evidence concerning cattle digit. The transparent table of names and brief descriptions/definitions of individual disorders/diseases, including codes (abbreviations) for simple evidence is part of the presented atlas. The presentation of the white line fissure as the first stage of white line disease is the main benefit of ICAR Claw Health Atlas. Another benefit is an indication of sole hemorrhage as a separate trait, thereby the significance of this disorder is highlighted, especially if it occurs as multiple, and particularly in the mass occurrence in the herd.