Analysis of foot and claw diseases/disorders in Czech Holstein cows

Foot and claw diseases/disorders from 24 545 lactations of 10 340 Holstein cows were recorded on 7 farms in the Czech Republic from 1999 to 2018. There were defined a three groups of foot and claw disorders/diseases: diseases of skin (SD), which cover digital, interdigital dermatitis and interdigital phlegmon; then disorders of the claw horn (CH) including ulcers, white line disease, horn fissures, together with double sole and overall claw diseases (OCD) ingluding all the recorded disorders. The OCD ratio observed during 1th and 305th days of lactation was 52.56% of all evaluated lactations. The observed ratio of SD and CH were 28.61% and 27.15%, respectively. A foot and claw disorders were defined as 0/1 occurrence per lactation, for the purposes of analyses,. Genetic parameters were estimated using by linear animal models for evaluated traits. Models included the random additive genetic effect of animal (A), the permanent environmental effect of cow (PE), fixed effects of parity, farm, year and season of calving, and age at calving as discreet variables in classes. The estimated heritability were 13.84%, 12.64% and 9.83%, 8.73% and 9.97%, for OCD, CH, SD, ulcers (U) and for dermatitis digitalis and interdigitalis (DD), respectively. Genetic correlation was 17.66% between SD and CH, whereas traits SD and DD equal high genetic similarity (98.4%). Also correlation between CH and U traits was high (92.62%). The presented results indicate to possibility of selection against foot and claw disorders/diseases for Czech Holstein population. The work was supported by the project QJ1510144 and the institutional support MZE-RO0718 of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic.