Lamecow 2002-2006 a Multidisciplinary Approach to the Reduction in Lameness and Improvement in Dairy Cow Welfare in the European Community

Lameness in dairy cows is well recognised globally to the extent that it is now the subject of this dedicated international bi-annual conference. Lameness is the major farm animal welfare problem in Europe. It is an unacceptable condition which causes severe pain, decreased milk yield, reduced reproductive performance, high culling rates and increased cost of veterinary intervention. There is general consensus that lameness has multi-factorial causes including management, housing, genetics, breeding, nutrition and physiological state, all of which can influence the incidence of hoof related lameness in dairy cattle. Some commercial dairy farmers are far more successful in maintaining claw health than others. This is exemplified by a recent report which surveyed 340 UK dairy farms and showed that the best quartile of farms had a lameness incidence of 5.8% compared with 50.3% in the worst. While cubicle housing was shown to produce a mean incidence of 25.5% compared with 17.7% in straw yards, lameness occurred with an incidence of 6.6% in the best quartile of cubicle houses compared with the ...