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The objective of this study was to investigate the use of infrared thermography (IRT) for detection of foot lesions in dairy cattle. Thermal images of the rear feet of 139 lactating dairy cows were taken with a thermal camera and evaluated using imaging software. Foot lesions identified in the study included white line disease (WLD), sole ulcer (SU) and digital dermatitis (DD). Temperatures at the coronary band (CBT) and the skin (ST) were recorded. Cows were scored for locomotion on a scale of 1-5 (1=normal and 5=severely lame). CBT was higher for all types of foot lesion (34.1 +/- 2.3, 33.8 +/- 1.6 and 33.1 +/- 1.6 degrees C for WLD, SU and DD, respectively) than for healthy (32.6 +/- 1.9 degrees C) feet. ST was higher only for WLD (33.2 +/- 2.0 degrees C) compared to healthy feet (31.5 +/- 1.7 degrees C). T (temperature difference between CBT and ST) was higher for SU (2.1 +/- 0.8 degrees C) than healthy feet (1.1 +/- 0.9 degrees C). Locomotion scores (LSs) were similar between healthy cows (2.2 +/- 0.7) and DD (2.4 +/- 0.7) but greater for SU and WLD cows (3.0 +/- 0.9, 3.0 +/- 0.8) than healthy cows. The threshold values established for CBT and ST were 33.5 degrees C (sensitivity=77.8%, specificity=65.2%) and 33.7 degrees C (sensitivity=44.4%, specificity=92.9%) for SU, and 34.4(o)C (sensitivity=28.1%, specificity=88.6%) and 31.8 degrees C (sensitivity=60.7%, specificity=55.4%) for overall lesion, respectively. These results indicate that IRT can be a useful tool for detection of SU, but not WLD and DD. In addition, CBT and T were the best indicators for the detection of foot lesions.

Foot disorders are an important health problem in dairy cattle, in terms of economics and animal welfare. The incidence, severity, and duration of foot disorders account for their importance. Prevalence of both subclinical and clinical foot disorders is high. More insight into the economic consequences could increase awareness among dairy farmers and could be an incentive for them to take action on this problem of animal welfare. The objective of this research was to estimate the economic consequences of different types of foot disorders, both clinical and subclinical. A dynamic stochastic Monte Carlo simulation model was used, taking into account the different types of foot disorders. The economic consequences of the foot disorders modeled were costs due to milk production losses, culling, prolonged calving interval, labor of the dairy farmer and the foot trimmer, visits of a veterinarian, treatment, and discarded milk. Under the milk quota system in the Netherlands, costs due to foot disorders for a default farm with 65 cows averaged $4,899 per year (ranging from $3,217 to $7,001), an annual loss of $75 per cow. This calculation implies that the costs due to foot disorders are more substantial than farmers might think. The costs of subclinical foot disorders account for 32% of all costs due to foot disorders. The costs due to foot disorders that are present without treatment or detection by the farmer are considerable. This finding implies that farmers might underestimate the benefits of taking action earlier and more thoroughly. A clinical foot disorder costs, on average, $95, and a subclinical foot disorder $18. The highest costs classified by foot disorder were those due to digital dermatitis, which has a high incidence and relatively high clinical prevalence. The highest costs classified by cost factor were those due to milk production losses and culling. Sensitivity analysis showed that variables regarding milk production were important for economic costs due to foot disorders. Furthermore, the probability of getting a foot disorder and probability of cure were important for estimating the costs due to foot disorders. Farmer awareness concerning dairy cow foot health and taking action more thoroughly, therefore, could reduce the economic consequences and improve welfare simultaneously.

This study describes the effects of floor system, digital dermatitis (DD) and interdigital dermatitis and heel-horn erosion (IDHE) on locomotion performance in 225 dairy cows of 12 commercial dairy herds. Nine herds were kept in cubicle houses with concrete passageways (either solid, slatted, or grooved concrete) and three herds were kept in straw yards. Animals were at most five times examined at monthly intervals for lesion severity of DD and IDHE and for locomotion score. Locomotion score was rated on a scale ranging from 1 to 5 (from normal to severe) and disturbed locomotion (lameness) was defined as a scoreor =3. A logistic regression model was used to analyze the 943 observations using lameness (yes/no) as outcome variable. The proportion of observations scored as lame (locomotion scoreor =3) increased from 18% 1 month after trimming to 29% at 4 months after trimming. Severe lesions of DD and IDHE were associated with a significantly higher proportion of lame cows. The proportion of animals with disturbed locomotion increased from 16% to 40% as the severity of DD increased and from 17% to 30% with increasing severity of IDHE lesions. Locomotion performance highly differed between the cubicle house and straw yard group. Only 1% of all gaits in straw yard cows were scored as lame, while in cubicle housed cows these percentages varied from 24% to 46% with grooved floors showing the highest average locomotion score. Due to the extreme low incidence of lameness in straw yards, the statistical analysis had to be restricted to observations on concrete floors (n=744). The logistic regression model with lameness (yes/no) as dependent variable and random effects of cow and herd resulted in Odds Ratios for severe DD and IDHE of, respectively, 3.2 and 3.2, both significantly larger than unity. Cows housed at grooved concrete floors showed the highest OR of 6.5 compared to solid concrete floors. Recovery of lameness was poor as disturbance in gait lasted several months.

The effects of four different intervention strategies on the incidence of severe lesions of digital dermatitis in an experimental dairy herd were compared with the effects of a control strategy consisting of walking the cows twice through a footbath containing 4 per cent formaldehyde on one day a week for 24 weeks. The four alternative strategies were the same treatment every other week; standing for 30 minutes in a footbath containing a 2 per cent multicompound solution on days 0, 7, 28 and 90 after having had their hooves cleaned indirectly with a medium pressure spray of water; walking twice through the multicompound solution on one day a week for 24 weeks; and, walking twice through a footbath containing 3 per cent sodium carbonate on one day a week for 24 weeks. The cows' hooves were inspected every three weeks by one trained claw trimmer who graded the lesions of digital dermatitis. None of the alternative strategies significantly reduced either the number or severity of the lesions in comparison with the control strategy. In the groups treated by the third and fourth strategies there were outbreaks of digital dermatitis in which more than 30 per cent of the cows suffered the most severe type of lesion, and there was a continuously high rate of new infections in the group treated by the fourth strategy.

The automated, reliable, and early detection of lameness is an important aim for the future development of modern dairy operations. One promising indicator of lameness is a change in the feeding behavior of a cow. In this study, the associations between feeding behavior and lameness were evaluated. A herd of 50 cows was investigated during the winter season in a freestall barn. Feeding behavior, feed intake, milk yield, and body weight were monitored using electronic feeding troughs and an automated milking system. Gait scoring every second week was used as a measure of lameness. To analyze the effect of lameness on feeding behavior and milk yield, linear mixed models were used. Cows with more severe lameness spent less time feeding per day (104 ± 4, 101 ± 4, and 91 ± 4 min/d for lameness scores 2, 3, and 4, respectively). An interaction between parity and lameness score was detected, with severely lame primiparous cows spending the least time feeding. Severely lame cows fed faster; however, their body weights were lower than for less-lame cows. Increase in lactation stage was associated with longer daily feeding time, longer duration of feeding bouts, and lower feeding rate. Worsening of gait was associated with lower silage intake and less time spent feeding even before severe lameness was scored. The results indicate that lameness is associated with changes in feeding behavior and that such changes could be considered in the future development of remote monitoring systems. It should also be noted that impaired feeding behavior along with lameness can put the welfare of especially early lactating primiparous cows at risk.

The objective of this review was to describe, compare and evaluate agreement, reliability, and validity of manual and automatic locomotion scoring systems (MLSSs and ALSSs, respectively) used in dairy cattle lameness research. There are many different types of MLSSs and ALSSs. Twenty-five MLSSs were found in 244 articles. MLSSs use different types of scale (ordinal or continuous) and different gait and posture traits need to be observed. The most used MLSS (used in 28% of the references) is based on asymmetric gait, reluctance to bear weight, and arched back, and is scored on a five-level scale. Fifteen ALSSs were found that could be categorized according to three approaches: (a) the kinetic approach measures forces involved in locomotion, (b) the kinematic approach measures time and distance of variables associated to limb movement and some specific posture variables, and (c) the indirect approach uses behavioural variables or production variables as indicators for impaired locomotion. Agreement and reliability estimates were scarcely reported in articles related to MLSSs. When reported, inappropriate statistical methods such as PABAK and Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were commonly used. Some of the most frequently used MLSSs were poorly evaluated for agreement and reliability. Agreement and reliability estimates for the original four-, five- or nine-level MLSS, expressed in percentage of agreement, kappa and weighted kappa, showed large ranges among and sometimes also within articles. After the transformation into a two-level scale, agreement and reliability estimates showed acceptable estimates (percentage of agreement = 75%; kappa and weighted kappa = 0.6), but still estimates showed a large variation between articles. Agreement and reliability estimates for ALSSs were not reported in any article. Several ALSSs use MLSSs as a reference for model calibration and validation. However, varying agreement and reliability estimates of MLSSs make a clear definition of a lameness case difficult, and thus affect the validity of ALSSs. MLSSs and ALSSs showed limited validity for hoof lesion detection and pain assessment. The utilization of MLSSs and ALSSs should aim to the prevention and efficient management of conditions that induce impaired locomotion. Long-term studies comparing MLSSs and ALSSs while applying various strategies to detect and control unfavourable conditions leading to impaired locomotion are required to determine the usefulness of MLSSs and ALSSs for securing optimal production and animal welfare in practice.

Manual locomotion scoring for lameness detection is a time-consuming and subjective procedure. Therefore, the objective of this study is to optimise the classification output of a computer vision based algorithm for automated lameness scoring. Cow gait recordings were made during four consecutive night-time milking sessions on an Israeli dairy farm, using a 3D-camera. A live on-the-spot assessed 5-point locomotion score was the reference for the automatic lameness score evaluation. A dataset of 186 cows with four automatic lameness scores and four live locomotion score repetitions was used for testing three different classification methods.The analysis of the automatic scores as independent observations led to a correct classification rate of 53.0% on a 5-point level scale. A multinomial logistic regression model based on four individual consecutive measures obtained a correct classification rate of 60.2%. When allowing a 1 unit error on the 5-point level scale, a correct classification rate of 90.9% was obtained. Strict binary classification to Lame vs. Not-Lame categories reached 81.2% correct classification rate.The use of cow individual consecutive measurements improved the correct classification rate of an automatic lameness detection system. © 2014 IAgrE. publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Automatic lameness detection based on consecutive 3D-video recordings journaltitle: Biosystems Engineering articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2014.01.009 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2014 IAgrE. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ispartof: Biosystems Engineering vol:119 pages:108-116 status: published

Dairy farming in western countries with cubicle housing is an efficient way of dairy farming. Though, a disadvantage is the high prevalence and incidence of foot disorders (clinical and subclinical), which cause high economic losses and also seriously impair the welfare of dairy cattle. To point out the importance of reducing the amount and severity of foot disorders, advice to farmers should include information about the scale of the problem and the consequences in terms of economics and animal welfare. To provide support in making decisions on implementing intervention measures, insight into costs and benefits of different measures should be available. The objective of this study, therefore, is to provide more insight into the costs and benefits, for farmer and cow, of different intervention measures to improve dairy cow foot health. Intervention measures were modeled when they were applicable on a dairy farm with cubicle housing and when sufficient information was available in literature. Net costs were calculated as the difference between the costs of the measure and the economic benefits resulting from the measure. Welfare benefits were calculated as well. Cost-effective measures are: improving lying surface (mattress and bedding, €7 and €1/cow per year, respectively), reducing stocking density (break even) and performing additional foot trimming (€1/cow per year). Simultaneously, these measures have a relative high welfare benefit. Labor costs play an important role in the cost-effectiveness of labor-intensive measures. More insight into cost-effectiveness and welfare benefits of intervention measures can help to prioritize when choosing between intervention measures.

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of grazing (G) vs. zero-grazing (ZG), level of milk production, and quality and type of housing system [free stalls (FS) and straw yards (SY)] on the prevalence of lameness and leg injuries in dairy cows. Observations were made on 37 commercial dairy farms across Great Britain. A single visit of 5 d duration was made to each farm. During this visit, lameness scores and the incidence of swellings, rubs, and injuries to hocks and knees were recorded on all the peak- or mid-lactation cows. Aspects of the quality of housing and management that were likely to affect foot and leg health were recorded. There were more lame cows on ZG farms (39 +/- 0.02%) than on grazing (G) farms (15 +/- 0.01%), and lameness scores were higher on FS farms compared with SY farms (0.25 +/- 0.01 vs. 0.05 +/- 0.01). Cows on SY farms had fewer hock and knee injuries compared with FS farms. The frequency of knee swellings was higher on ZG farms (0.31 +/- 0.02) than on G farms (0.15 +/- 0.01). Aspects of the free-stall design affected foot and leg health. The number of hock swellings increased with increasing stall gradient (0.16 +/- 0.01 with no slope vs. 0.39 +/- 0.02 at a 0 to 1.5% slope). There was an interaction between the length of the free-stall lunging space and the hip width of the cow, indicating that the incidence of lameness is generally highest on farms with small free stalls and heavy cows. High levels of milk production did not affect lameness or leg injury. The results indicate that housing cows throughout the year potentially has a detrimental effect on foot and leg health. However, good free-stall design may reduce lameness and leg lesions.

Impaired claw health is one of the major problems causing production loss and reduced animal welfare in dairy cattle. In response, the Dutch Animal Health Service (GD) Ltd. initiated this study, in which claws of lactating and near-term cows and heifers in 430 herds were trimmed by hoof trimmers and the health status of the rear claws recorded. Only herds with75% of the animals having feet trimmed were considered, resulting in records on 21,611 animals. Eight claw disorders were scored: digital dermatitis (DD), interdigital dermatitis/heel horn erosions (IDHE), sole hemorrhage (SH), chronic laminitis (CL), sole ulcer (SU), white line disease (WLD), interdigital hyperplasia (HYP), and interdigital phlegmona (IP). The prevalence varied from 0.6% (IP) to 39.9% (SH). More than 70% of the animals had at least one claw disorder. Conformation traits and locomotion were recorded once during the animal's first lactation by trained classifiers of the Royal Dutch Cattle Syndicate and completely independent of the moment of claw trimming. Heritabilities were estimated using a sire model, and ranged from0.01 (IP) to 0.10 (DD and HYP). Genetic correlations of incidences of claw disorders with locomotion were variable, ranging from 0.13 (SH) to -0.91 (CL). Genetic correlations with the rear leg conformation traits were lower, ranging from 0.04 (ID with rear leg side view) to -0.69 (IP with rear leg rear view).