Lameness Treatment Rates in Wisconsin Dairy Herds

Few studies have documented lameness treatment rates in North American dairy herds. Case definition, ability to detect lame individuals and frequency of delivery of the hoof trimming program significantly affect the incidence of new and recurrent cases.

Materials and Methods
Treatment records for lame cows were kept on 10 Wisconsin dairy herds for 12 months using records obtained from the farmer and hoof-trimmer. Six herds were free stall housed and four herds were tie stall housed. Half used sand bedded stalls and half used a rubber mat or mattress. Stall base types were equally distributed by housing type. Each herd was visited twice during the recording period and lameness prevalence ...