Haemorrhages of the sole horn of dairy cows as a retrospective indicator of laminitis: an epidemiological study.

Eleven herds with clinical laminitis problems and 11 control herds were studied for 2 consecutive years. All the claws were trimmed and photographically recorded once each year, 2 to 6 months after the cows had calved. The haemorrhages of the sole horn were evaluated and scored for each digit, and data relevant to the factors associated with an increased risk of laminitis for each herd were collected and related to these scores for sole haemorrhages. It was found that the laminitic herds were more prone to the sole lesions than the control herds, the hind claws were more prone than the front claws, the primiparous cows were more prone than the multiparous cows and the Swedish Friesian cows were more prone than the Swedish Red and White cows. High scores were also correlated with hard floors (ie concrete) in the cow stalls, with fewer than 4 daily feedings of concentrates, with a short time allocated for the cows to eat concentrates, with feeding concentrates only at the first meal in the morning and in the afternoon and with the interaction between these last 2 variables.