A Postal Survey of the Incidence of Lameness and Claw Lesions in Dairy Cattle in the UK: a Preliminary Report

Lameness in dairy cattle reduces their welfare (Whay et al., 1997) and impacts on economic performance (Green et al., 2002). The incidence of lameness in cows in the UK has been estimated to be between 38 and 70 cases per hundred cow years (Clarkson et al., 1996; Hedges et al., 2001). Hoof lesions cause over 90% of lameness in dairy cattle (Murray et al., 1996) and UK studies have reported that sole ulcers and white line lesions are the most common hoof lesions in cows (Murray et al., 1996, Blowey et al., 2004). This paper presents interim results from the first nine months of the UK arm of an EU project (LAMECOW OLRT-2001-00969). The ultimate aim of this study is to minimise lameness in dairy cows. The paper presented here describes the lesions that 155 farmers have recorded in their cattle during hoof trimming since February 2003  ...