Quantification and the Associated Costs of Lameness on Today's Dairies

Abstract

Quantifying the amount of lameness in a herd requires data from the observations of hoof trimmers, veterinarians and farm workers. The quality and accessibility of this data varies widely across dairies. Opinions and historical recall of past circumstances are of little value in management decisions. The incidence rates for treated cases can be determined from hard data, and are the only reliable means of quantifying herd problems. Three categories of disease, infectious or claw horn lesions or overwear/trauma, are important in formulating control strategies as each occurs from different risk factors. The prevalence of lameness is measured by locomotion scoring. Simple systems that classify cows as lame or not lame are preferred. Prevalence depends on both the incidence and the management of treated cases. Herds with aggressive detection and intervention practices may have low prevalence of lameness regardless of incidence. The financial losses associated with lameness have been estimated for current economic circumstances in the US, and are about $378 per case. Clearly different diseases result in differing costs. Insufficient data has been collected and analyzed to be much more specific in assigning losses to each disease. Sole ulcer and footrot appear to be the most costly common problems, and digital dermatitis the least costly on a per case basis.