Summary of Reported Hoof Health Lesions –

What it May Mean to You

Dr. Shawn McKenna

Review of Tools

• Great data collection too• Important that the data going in is

consistent• Very user friendly to collect data• Intended primarily as a farm

specific tool• Not every herd has been

included….so it doesn’t tell the whole picture….

Alberta Dairy Hoof Health Project

• Completed in December 2012• Alberta, British Columbia and

Ontario• AB – 158 farms• BC – 85 farms• Ontario – 335 farms

• We have usable data on 106 herds

Cows with Lesions• These would be cows that have

been recorded to have significant lesions

• Not all trimmers rated if cows were lame…

• Not all cows had one diagnosis….AB BC ON NB

Cows with lesions 50.80% 59.80% 38.10% 68.50%

Digital Dermatitis• Hairy Heel Warts• Some farms have no signs of it,

but that number is low• 82% of farms have signs of HHW

AB BC ON NBDigital

Dermatitis 43.20% 37.90% 34.80% 44.60%

Sole Ulcers• Again, most farms reported to

have some sole ulcers, but a small proportion of farms have severe issues

AB BC ON NBSole Ulcers 17.20% 14.90% 13.10% 15.20%

Sole Hemorrhage and WLD

AB BC ON NBSole

Hemorrhage 6.40% 7.10% 22.40% 13.40%

AB BC ON NBWhite Line

Lesion 15.50% 14.30% 8.60% 13.80%

Toe Ulcers

AB BC ON NBToe Ulcer 4.90% 5.30% 1.70% 2.10%

• A lot of variation between herds– Seen very sporadically

Interdigital Dermatitis / Erosions

AB BC ON NBInterdigital Dermatitis 0.60% 11.20% 6.00% 16.20%

• Infected tissues at heels

• Due to wet feet

What does this mean?• A lot of variation between herds

– Need to work specifically on your herds

• In our region, we seem to have higher levels of infectious foot issues– Higher levels of humidity/moisture?

• Still seem to have a lot of issues with wet feet

Going Forward?• Spend more time using this data

within your own farm as a benchmarking tool

• Encourage getting this data and showing interest will drive continuing usage