Acción Carro, AntíaÁlvarez Torres, JacoboHolgado, RaquelVidal, LucíaBarrionuevo, RenatoGonzález, RománBecerra González, Juan JoséPeña Martínez, Ana IsabelGarcía Herradón, Pedro JoséQuintela Arias, Luis ÁngelYáñez, Uxía2026-01-122026-01-122026-01-01Acción, 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/agriengineering80100132624-7402https://hdl.handle.net/10347/45035Prompt 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.eng© 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.Attribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Animal welfarePrecision livestock farmingInfrared thermographyAutomated systemSustainable livestock productionHoof pathologyNew management technologiesjournal article10.3390/agriengineering8010013open access