Validating Gait Scoring to Detect Lameness in Dairy Cows

Lameness is a major welfare problem for dairy cows and measures of lameness prevalence can be used to assess animal welfare within a herd. Dairy producers underestimate the prevalence of lameness showing the need for better detection methods.
Gait scoring can be validated by testing the ability to detect hoof lesions or to detect the effect of lameness on the cow’s activity. Using a gait scoring method that describes specific components of the cow’s gait (asymmetric stepping, reluctance to bear weight, joint flexion, tracking, arched back, head movement, rear leg abduction), we correlated gait scores of 67 cows with the presence of hoof lesions.
The cows were fitted with loggers that automatically measured time spent standing or lying per 24h. Cows with sole ulcers had higher gait scores than cows with no lesions but showed no difference in walking speed. Cows with sole hemorrhages only had intermediate gait scores. Changes in all gait components except rear leg abduction and tracking were more evident in cows with ulcers.
Cows with digital dermatitis did not differ from cows with no lesions ...