HEMORRHAGES OF THE SOLE HORN OF DAIRY-COWS AS A RETROSPECTIVE INDICATOR OF LAMINITIS - AN EPIDEMIOLOGIC-STUDY

Eleven herds with clinical laminitis problems and 11 control herds wer e studied for 2 consecutive years. All the claws were trimmed and phot ographically recorded once each year, 2 to 6 months after the cows had calved. The haemorrhages of the sole horn were evaluated and scored f or each digit, and data relevant to the factors associated with an inc reased risk of laminitis for each herd were collected and related to t hese scores for sole haemorrhages. It was found that the laminitic her ds were more prone to the sole lesions than the control herds, the hin d claws were more prone than the front claws, the primiparous cows wer e more prone than the multiparous cows and the Swedish Friesian cows w ere more prone than the Swedish Red and White cows. High scores were a lso correlated with hard floors (ie concrete) in the cow stalls, with fewer than 4 daily feedings of concentrates, with a short time allocat ed for the cows to eat concentrates, with feeding concentrates only at the first meal in the morning and in the afternoon and with the inter action between these last 2 variables.