Risk Factors for Clinical Lameness in Lactating Dairy Cows in the Midwestern United States
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21423/aabppro19926636Keywords:
clinical lameness, animal welfare, management practice, herd risk factors, body condition score, environmentAbstract
The importance of clinical lameness in dairy cows is receiving increasing recognition. In addition to treatment and prevention costs, culling, milk production, and reproduction losses may occur due to lameness. The moral cost of animal suffering during severe lameness episodes must also be considered. Despite this, recommended management practices for the purpose of lameness prevention at the cow and herd level are often based upon trial and error rather than sound research-based knowledge of causal mechanisms of lameness. This has been due in part to the sparcity of lameness research in cattle. In addition, much of the available literature on lameness has been based upon a subjective diagnosis of lameness without a standard case definition, and often using multiple observers (producers) leading to difficulty in interpretation. The result has been a scarcity of useful information for veterinarians and producers.
The objective of this study included evaluation of within herd risk factors (bodyweight, body condition score, dorsal claw angles, visible and palpable limb lesions, and antibody to Borrelia burgdorferi) and between herd risk factors (housing, flooring, dietary, and management practice) for clinical lameness in lactating dairy cows.
