Abstract:
The importance of lameness has increased as it became one of the greatest insults to the productivity
of dairy cattle and took the third place in causing economic loss to dairy farmers next to infertility and mastitis.
However, it is among the most neglected and least studied dairy problems in Ethiopia. This observational and
repeated cross-sectional study was carried out on 432 dairy cattle that belonged to 23 randomly selected farms
from Hawasa town to determine the prevalence of lameness, identify the associated risk factors and assess the
effect on milk production. The result showed an overall lameness prevalence of 3.5%. Lameness of one or more
animal was detected in 11 (47.83%) of the 23 visited farms. Milking status, pregnancy, feeding, floor type, length
of rough track, frequency of floor cleaning, age, sex and herd size were considered as risk factors and
statistically tested. All the risk factors except milking status were not significantly associated with lameness
(P>0.05). Lameness was more frequent in hind limbs (2.8%) than in forelimbs (0.7%). In milking dairy cows, the
mean daily milk yield was significantly reduced after the onset of lameness. The study showed that lameness
is an economically important dairy herd problem. Therefore, prevention or early diagnosis and treatment of
lameness in cows at all stages of lactation should be part of dairy farm management practice.
