What percent of your herd is lame?

Chances are it’s more than you think. If so, what can you do to minimize the problem?

In a Minnesota survey of 17 herds, lameness scoring indicated that there were 2.5 times more lame cows than producers thought were present in their herds. Different surveys have reported the percentage of cows that scored lame averaged between 15 and 22.5%.

No one likes to see a lame cow. We know lameness typically results in a loss in body condition, less milk, more reproductive difficulties and an increased likelihood of culling compared to cows with healthy feet and legs.

Lameness is also an animal welfare issue. It’s painful for the animal, and a limping cow gives the public a negative impression of cow care. Since lameness is an animal welfare issue, it appears in each animal health audit that’s been developed:

■ The Animal Welfare Audit Program (AWAP) states that an acceptable level of lameness is less than 3% of cows in a herd. A cow is considered lame if her score is greater than 3. (See table for an example of scoring.)

Temple Grandin’s proposed audit considers foot and leg health to be excellent if less than 5% of cows have an obvious limp. Greater than 10% limping is unacceptable.

■ The Dairy Quality Assurance Five-Star program recommends that more than 90% of cows
score a 2 or lower. Less than 3% of the herd should score a 4 or 5. (The table combines scores 4 and 5.)

Clearly, there’s a huge gap between the 15 to 22.5% of cows determined as lame in studies and the acceptable levels of lameness presented in the audits. Dairies have some work to do.

Minimize lameness

Work with your dairy’s team of advisers to determine the most likely causes of lameness in your herd. Then take steps to help lame cows, minimize future lameness and improve cow welfare. Here are some ideas:

1. Recognize the condition and intervene early. Lameness scoring can help you detect the problem in its early stages before excessive tissue damage occurs. Any delays in addressing lameness can lengthen the healing time and increase pain for your cows.

Score freestall cows as they walk to or from the parlor and tiestall cows when they’re let out to exercise. Animals scoring a 2 and above should be recorded, examined and trimmed to prevent the problem from becoming more severe.

2. Properly trim lame and normal feet. Many lameness problems are caused by improper hoof trimming, such as trimming so too much weight is still carried by an injured claw. Also, inappropriate treatment of a foot lesion, such as cutting off a wart instead of wrapping it, can make it more painful and delay healing.

Just because a hoof trimmer or herd manager has trimmed feet for a long time doesn’t always equate to the most appropriate hoof trimming and balancing techniques. Is your hoof trimmer a member of the Hoof Trimmers Association and does the person stay current with hoof-related research and recommendations? Does the trimmer strive to trim feet correctly and use appropriate treatment techniques?

3. Strive to alleviate the pain associated with lameness. If a claw is sound, apply blocks to it whenever the lesion fully penetrates the sole or the affected claw can’t be trimmed enough to shift weight to the healthy one. Recheck blocks in four weeks, and either remove or replace if still needed. Retrimming the original lesion at this time often improves healing.

You can use aspirin or banamine (flunixin meglumine) to mitigate the pain caused by lameness. Aspirin needs to be administered at least twice daily. Review flunixin meglumine use with your veterinarian; remember to withhold milk and meat for the appropriate time.

Many foot problems are associated with the hoof’s environment. Hoof tissue absorbs moisture in wet environments, resulting in softer feet that are more prone to problems. Constant exposure to manure slurry can make hooves wetter and softer, and it improves conditions for some types of bacteria that cause hoof problems such as heel cracks and foot rot.

Foot baths help to clean and dry feet. And they can control the growth of organisms responsible for some hoof conditions.

Can you make the environment your cows’ feet are exposed to any drier? Does your footbath result in complete coverage of all four feet with an efficacious product at the appropriate concentration?

4. Prevent as much lameness as your facilities and management allow. Laminitis, generally the main cause of lameness on dairies, results from adverse environmental and/or nutritional conditions.

What can you do to get your cows off their feet and lying down? Environmentally, consider stall design and surface, parlor holding times, degree of overcrowding and heat stress abatement. In a 2003 study, cows housed on sand had about a 10-percentage-point decrease in lameness (18 vs. 27%) compared to those housed on non-sand surfaces such as mattresses or bedding. Rough, uneven flooring or grooving may also cause hoof lesions.

Nutritionally, both transition cow health and characteristics of the lactating cow ration can influence the occurrence of laminitis. As always, evaluate and reduce freshening and transition cow health disorders.

Evaluate ration nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) consisting of starches, sugars and soluble fiber and physically effective NDF levels (peNDF), derived primarily from forages. Rumen pH is a balance between the increased amount of volatile fatty acids produced by the more digestible NSC and the additional ruminal buffer and mixing contributed by peNDF. This balance can and should be shifted towards greater rumen health (less NSC, more peNDF) if environmental conditions are less favorable to the cows.

You should monitor ration sorting, a frequent cause of ruminal acidosis. Sorting can be reduced by adding water, liquid sugar or wet ingredients such as wet brewers grains to the ration.

Dairy cattle lameness is a nasty disorder with many causes and consequences. Frequent lameness scoring can detect lameness early, resulting in prompt intervention while the lesion is less severe and quicker healing.

Know the degree of lameness in your herd and the main types of lesions present. Then take steps, outlined here, to minimize future lameness.

Table 1. Lameness scoring sheet

	1 Normal	2 Mildly lame	3 Moderately lame	4 Severely lame
	• Stands/walks with a level back	• Stands with level back	• Arched back when standing/walking	• Arched back when standing/walking
	• Normal gait, long strides	• Walks with arched back	• Short strides with one or more legs	• One or more limbs favored
		• Strides are slightly shorter	• Walks slower, may stop to rest	• Frequent rest stops
			• Some difficulty turning	• Extreme difficulty turning
Tally
Number/score
Percent
Target, %	>70%	<20%	<10%	<3%

By Chuck Guard and Bill Stone
The Manager / PRO-DAIRY / Northeast Dairy Business
Animal Science at Cornell University

Dr. Chuck Guard, a member of the Production Medicine Group at Cornell University’s School of Veterinary Medicine, is a recognized expert on cattle hoof care.

Bill Stone, a veterinarian, is a herd management specialist with the Cornell PRO-DAIRY program.