Lameness in Dairy Cattle: Prevalence, Risk Factors and Impact on Milk Production

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.