Relationship between Locomotion Scores and Lameness Lesions in Dairy Cattle

Abstract

To preserve and improve the perception that the dairy industry has among consumers, there is a need to be able to identify and act upon animal welfare concerns. Lameness is the dairy industry's most visible animal welfare concern. Unfortunately, dairy producers often underestimate the level of lameness on their farm. Bovine practitioners need to take a leadership role in assisting the dairy industry in monitoring and reducing lameness. To meet this challenge, accurate methods to diagnose lameness early is needed. A variety of locomotion scoring systems are used to assess lameness. However, few of these systems have correlated the score assigned to a cow with the lesion present in the claw. The objective of this project was to evaluate the association between locomotion scoring and lesions found at the time of foot trimming.