ICAR’s Hoof Health and Lameness Toolkit
- December 10, 2021
Since 2014, under the guidance of the International Committee for Animal Recording (ICAR), a group of international experts have been working to create various documents to better equip hoof trimmers, advisors, veterinarians, and producers around hoof health and lameness.
Tools available online
This group has developed a Guide to the Identification of Hoof Lesions (available in 22 languages), which was enhanced in 2020 with the addition of two appendices dealing with the stages of digital dermatitis and the lesions that may be associated with it. A poster on hoof lesions, derived from this guide, is available in several languages including French and English.
For organizations that would like to set up or find useful references for hoof health and/or lameness data collection, the group has also developed two technical sheets to help harmonize definitions, processes, and data collection. These sheets provide examples of how the data can be used for both herd management and genetic evaluations. Ultimately, this harmonization is desirable to share databases and work internationally to improve animal welfare. These sheets can be found by visiting the “Guidelines” tab on ICAR’s website, and by consulting section 7 of this page.
All of this information is available free of charge on ICAR’s website and the original documents can be shared if a hard copy is needed. These reference documents were developed with the volunteer work and input of nearly 50 experts from around the world.
What is ICAR?
ICAR is an International Non-Governmental Organization (INGO) with members from nearly 60 countries, of which Lactanet is a part of. The group shares their expertise and knowledge to improve sustainable and efficient animal production around the globe.
