Vol. 9, Issue 12, Part B (2025)

The present investigation was undertaken to study the effect of flooring types on hygiene score of various body regions (lower limbs, udder, upper limbs and flank) of crossbred cows under loose housing system. All the 21 experimental crossbred cows were randomly allotted into 3 treatment groups (n=7 each) viz. T0 (Concrete flooring), T1 (Rubber floor), T2 (Asphalt/bitumen flooring). The cow cleanliness or hygiene score for different body regions such as lower legs, udder, upper legs and flank with the degree of manure contamination was observed fortnightly by using cook’s 4-point scale system. For lower limb score, there was significant (p<0.05) difference in overall mean between asphalt/bitumen floor with both concrete floor and rubber mat but no significant difference was seen between concrete and rubber mat floor. There was also significant (p<0.05) difference between asphalt/bitumen floor and both concrete floor and rubber mat but no significant difference was seen between concrete floor & rubber mat floor groups in overall mean of udder hygiene score. And lastly for upper limb & flank region hygiene score, there was significant difference (p<0.05) found in between asphalt/bitumen floor and both concrete floor and rubber mat. Therefore, cows kept on asphalt was cleaner when compared with concrete and rubber mat flooring in terms of hygiene score.