Body lessions associated to sun ultraviolet radiation in cattle. A study in a dairy farm on Gran Canaria.

Abstract

In order to determine the risk of suffering from skin tumours according to the percentage of depigmented skin areas in Holstein cattle, 239 cows belonging to a dairy cattle farm located in Playa de Vargas (Agüimes), in the southeast of the island of Gran Canaria (Spain), were selected. Data (percentage of depigmentation and skin lesions) were taken from different body areas, as well as from the approximate shaded area of the cow stables where they were housed. Based on the results obtained, it was observed that most cows have a low risk of skin lesions, only a few of them presented lesions in depigmented areas, there is a greater presentation of lesions in the third eyelid when the body area with depigmentation corresponds to the left eye, dorsum and vulva, cow stables 2,3,5 and 9 presented eye lesions and the rest of cow stables had no lesions, in general terms, the higher the percentage of shade that could be justified by an insufficient permanence of cows in these cow stables, the higher the number of eye injuries. Finally, it was observed that there is a greater presentation of injury in the third eyelid associated with the risk value presented in the left eye, dorsum and vulva body areas.