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Prevalence of lameness among dairy cattle in Wisconsin as a function of housing type and stall surface
1Department of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Objective:
To determine the prevalence of lameness as a function of season (summer vs winter), housing type (free stalls vs tie stalls), and stall surface (sand vs any other surface) among lactating dairy cows in Wisconsin.
Design:
Epidemiologic survey.
Animals:
3,621 lactating dairy cows in 30 herds.
Procedure:
Herds were visited once during the summer and once during the winter, and a locomotion score ranging from 1 (no gait abnormality) to 4 (severe lameness) was assigned to all lactating cows. Cows with a score of 3 or 4 were considered to be clinically lame.
Results:
Mean +/- SD herd lameness prevalence was 21.1 +/- 10.5% during the summer and 23.9 +/- 10.7% during the winter; these values were significantly different. During the winter, mean prevalence of lameness in free-stall herds with non-sand stall surfaces (33.7%) was significantly higher than prevalences in free-stall herds with sand stall surfaces (21.2%), tie-stall herds with non-sand stall surfaces (21.7%), and tie-stall herds with sand stall surfaces (12.1%).
Conclusions And Clinical Relevance:
Results suggest that the prevalence of lameness among dairy cattle in Wisconsin is higher than previously thought and that lameness prevalence is associated with season, housing type, and stall surface.
