A compositional study of biochemical and haematological factors involved in calf lameness

Abstract

Lameness in beef and dairy farming has become a big economical and animal welfare problem. In this master thesis, we analyse the problem of calf lameness through data provided by the Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology in Catalonia, containing biochemical and haematological measurements of calves from feed lot farms in Argentina. The aim is to provide different statistical methods in order to classify the disease or lesion causing the lameness. Logistic and multinomial logistic regression as well as linear, quadratic and distance-based discriminant analysis have been used for the construction of classification models.