Effects of frequent functional foot trimming on the incidence of lameness in lactating dairy cattle

Abstract

A 36-month field trial was conducted to determine the effect of frequent functional foot trimming on lameness. Six hundred and thirty-eight (638) lactating dairy cattle in a southwestern Pennsylvania commercial herd were subjected to functional foot trimming either once a year (control group - CG) or three times a year (foot treatment group - FTG). FTG cattle were trimmed as a group in May, September and January; CG cattle were trimmed at dry-off. All cattle were managed the same during the trial period. The overall reduction in all foot lameness by treatment was 27% when controlling for a previous history of lameness and lactation number, but results were not significant (P=0.15). Cows in the FTG group were 52% less likely to develop a sole ulcer compared to CG cows (P=0.05). Overall, cows with a previous history of lameness were 6.4 times more likely to become lame and 3.1 times more likely to develop a sole ulcer. There was no difference in risk of being culled between FTG and CG cows. In addition, there was no difference in lameness for first-lactation heifers (prospective heifers) assigned to either the FTG or CG after the study began, suggesting that more research is needed to establish the benefit of a single functional foot trimming compared to an untreated control group in first-lactation heifers. Although results from this study and others suggest a reduction in lameness for cows trimmed more frequently than once a year, further studies with larger numbers of cows from multiple herds are needed to make definitive conclusions regarding the overall benefit of frequent functional foot trimming.