Observational study evaluating the association of hoof trimming with dairy cattle behavior and milk yield in Canada and the United Kingdom

Abstract

The study describes associations between preventive hoof trimming (HT) of nonlesion dairy cows and resting time, step activity, and milk yield on 4 commercial herds. Differences between the baseline values (5-day average before HT) for all outcomes and values on the day of HT and the 7 days following HT were analyzed. Resting time and activity had an inverse relationship, with resting time decreasing and activity increasing on the day of HT compared with baseline. Average resting time across the 7-day post-HT was greater on most farms than baseline. Milk yield changes on the day of HT were highly variable by farm, but all farms had an average decrease in yield (0.6–1.3 kg/d) across the 7 days post-HT. Results were farm dependent, possibly due to differences in the HT process and time away from pen, requiring further study.