The influence of housing on claw lameness in dairy cattle

Abstract

Lameness in dairy cattle remains an important issue because of economic losses and the negative effects on animal welfare. In the present study, the aim was to investigate the effects of housing parameters on claw lameness in dairy cattle. The Cow Comfort Scoring system of van Eerdenburg was used assessing housing parameters and cow comfort on 14 Dutch commercial dairy farms. The 14 farms were visited once between March and July 2011. A total of 1626 lactating dairy cows were individually scored with the locomotion score by Sprecher. The exorotation of the hindleg and claw measurements from the hindleg claw were also taken from those diary cows. It was expected that incorrect housing, especially cubicles and flooring, and insufficient cow comfort would lead to lameness. Additionally, the hypothesis was that claw measurements and exorotation of the hindleg had a good predictive value for lameness. The average lameness prevalence in this study was 39% (range=22-56%), while 14% (range=3-32%) of dairy cows had locomotion score 3 or higher according to the locomotion scoring system of Sprecher. The Cow Comfort Score (average 262 out of 500 range=169-334) had a significant predictive value for lameness when considering locomotion score 3 and higher (R2 = 0,282/P = 0,051). Furthermore, this study supports the hypothesis that exorotation of the hindleg and the length of the claw affect lameness. This study did not find a significant relation between lameness and cubicle conditions or cubicle dimensions. However, ‘Cows standing in idle,’ which is a sign of decreased lying comfort, did show a significant relation with lameness. Flooring was not significant, but the ‘Width of the alleys’ was. Possible explanation is that this study contained only a small amount of observed farms and only 3/14 farms had sufficiently good housing and cow comfort, which also leads to less variation and as a result it has proven to be difficult to statistically prove predictive parameters for lameness.