RT Journal Article
T1 Days in Milk, Parity and Milk Production Influence on the Hind Hoof Skin Surface Temperature in Dairy Cattle
A1 Acción Carro, Antía
A1 Álvarez Torres, Jacobo
A1 Holgado, Raquel
A1 Vidal, Lucía
A1 Barrionuevo, Renato
A1 González, Román
A1 Becerra González, Juan José
A1 Peña Martínez, Ana Isabel
A1 García Herradón, Pedro José
A1 Quintela Arias, Luis Ángel
A1 Yáñez, Uxía
K1 Animal welfare
K1 Precision livestock farming
K1 Infrared thermography
K1 Automated system
K1 Sustainable livestock production
K1 Hoof pathology
K1 New management technologies
AB Prompt identification of clinical signs and early treatment of hoof problems are essential to effectively manage and reduce lameness in dairy farms. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of days in milk (DIM), parity, and milk yield (MY) on the mean temperature (MT) of the hind hooves in healthy cows, with the perspective of implementing infrared thermography (IRT) as an automated tool for early lameness detection. Thermal images were collected from 156 milking cows, capturing both cranial and caudal surfaces of each hind foot. Significant differences were found between primiparous and multiparous cows across all analyzed surfaces. Moreover, cows with higher milk production exhibited significantly higher MT in the caudal left hoof and on both cranial surfaces. The variable DIM (group 1 = cows with ≤202 DIM; group 2 = cows with >202 DIM) did not significantly affect MT on caudal surfaces; however, on the cranial view, MT of the right hoof was higher in group 2, while group 1 tended to show higher MT in the left hoof (p = 0.051). In conclusion, hoof MT increases in multiparous and high-producing cows. Additionally, during the first 200 days of lactation, cranial hoof surface temperatures tend to rise. Future studies should include continuous monitoring using automated systems to record variations throughout the day.
PB MDPI
SN 2624-7402
YR 2026
FD 2026-01-01
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/45035
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/45035
LA eng
NO Acción, A., Álvarez, J., Holgado, R., Vidal, L., Barrionuevo, R., González, R., Becerra, J. J., Peña, A. I., Herradón, P. G., Quintela, L. Á., & Yáñez, U. (2026). Days in Milk, Parity and Milk Production Influence on the Hind Hoof Skin Surface Temperature in Dairy Cattle. AgriEngineering, 8(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriengineering8010013
NO J.A. holds a predoctoral contract funded by the Fundacion Caixa Rural Tomas Notario Vacas (2024 call). U.Y. holds a postdoctoral contract funded by the Xunta de Galicia (Ref. ED481_033/2024). A.A. holds a predoctoral contract funded by the Xunta de Galicia (Ref. ED481A-2025-031).
DS Minerva
RD 7 jun 2026