Locomotion score and body condition shows a low relative contribution to the occurrence of foot disorders in dairy cows

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the occurrence and distribution of foot lesion and body condition scores to define which lesions are determinant for the manifestation of locomotion scores in dairy cows. A database from 482 Holstein cows was evaluated considering information on body condition scores (BCS), locomotion scores (LS), and cows with hoof lesions. Sole hemorrhage was the hoof lesion with the greatest occurrence (74.15%), followed by nail hypoplasia (11.35%). Most cows with LS 1 showed a 3 and 4 BCS, in contrast to most animals with 2.5 and 3.5 LS, which showed a 2 and 3 LS. Linear correlations indicate that a 0 LS is inversely associated with sole hemorrhage lesions (r = -0.19), and sole hemorrhage and digital dermatitis (r = -0.26), whereas LS 1 cows are inversely related to sole hemorrhage and digital dermatitis (r = 0.14). Regardless of the categorization between healthy and lame animals, most individuals in the system showed a BCS between 3.0 and 3.5. However, we found that locomotion and body condition scores showed a low relative contribution to the occurrence of foot disorders.