Engineering, Energy, Transport AIC

Anatolii HRYTSUN – Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of "Labor protection and biotechnical systems in livestock breeding" of the Vinnytsia National Agrarian University (Str. Sonyachna, 3, Vinnytsia, 21008, Ukraine, e-mail: gritsun@vsau.vin.ua, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9732-384X).

Olena SOLONA – Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department "Labor protection and biotechnical systems in animal husbandry" of the Vinnytsia National Agrarian University (Sonyachna St., 3, Vinnytsia, 21008, Ukraine, e-mail: solona_o_v@ukr.net, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4596-0449).

The current conditions of keeping cattle in specialized industrial complexes and large farms often lead to traumatism of the hooves, which can ultimately lead to pathology of the limbs. This negatively affects the productivity of animals and, as a result, causes significant economic losses in the livestock sector.
Several reasons have been identified that cause trauma to cattle limbs and lead to their pathology. Yes, hard surfaces, slotted floors, and conveyor-type conveyors for removing manure have a negative effect on the animals' hooves. Up to 40% of animals suffer from limb diseases when cows are tethered, while up to 90% in monoblock cowsheds of the untethered type. In dairy enterprises, among all mechanical injuries to cows, from 60% to 80% are limb diseases caused by trauma to the hooves and toes.
In order to prevent and successfully treat horn diseases in cattle on specialized farms and dairy complexes, it is necessary to improve treatment methods, animal care rules, and methods of cleaning and trimming horn growth of hooves.
Trimming and cleaning of hooves are quite time-consuming operations, which are among the mandatory measures for the prevention of diseases of the limbs of animals. This operation is performed 2-3 times a year. At the same time, the excess layer of horny growth is cut off, and the legs are given an optimal shape. This ensures uniform distribution of the load over the entire support surface of the limb.
The used mechanical means for trimming hooves have some disadvantages. Such a large mass and the lack of regulation of cutting modes depending on the physical and mechanical properties of the horn growth do not contribute to high-quality processing of hooves.
The review of systems and equipment for cutting hoof horn growth in cattle, especially cows, shows that this direction of research is relevant and promising.
To increase the productivity of trimming hooves and ensure their natural geometric shape and the necessary roughness of the treated surface, it is advisable to conduct further research on the justification of structural and technological parameters and modes of operation of mechanical equipment for effective care of cattle hooves.

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