Association between lameness risk assessment and lameness and foot lesion prevalence on dairy farms in Alberta, Canada

Abstract

Lameness is a detrimental health and welfare concern of dairy cattle with high prevalence in North American herds. As a practical and farm-specific approach toward its mitigation in Alberta, Canada, a score-based lameness risk assessment questionnaire (RAQ) was developed for veterinarians to conduct with their clients; however, its accuracy in identifying risk for lameness and hoof lesions has not been evaluated. Our objectives were to (1) provide an update on prevalence of lameness and hoof lesions in Alberta freestall herds, (2) validate the RAQ by determining the association between RAQ scores and the prevalence of herd lameness and herd lesions, and (3) determine the association between presence of common hoof lesions and lameness. For the first 2 objectives, 65 Alberta dairy farms were visited between March and October 2018 to collect a completed RAQ, hoof trimming records from their hoof trimmer, and video footage of the entire lactating herd. For the third objective, 10 participant herds were visited twice between November 2013 and June 2014 to take video footage of the entire lactating herd and collect hoof trimming records from their hoof trimmer within 48 h after video footage collection. Median herd-level lameness prevalence was 20% (range = 2-56%), infectious lesion prevalence was 10% (range = 0-49%), and noninfectious lesion prevalence was 15% (range = 2-39%). Of cows that were lame, 93% had a lesion, whereas 21% of cows with a lesion were lame. Cows with an infectious and noninfectious lesion were, respectively, 1.5 and 3.1 times more likely to be lame than cows with no lesion. Total RAQ score and herd lameness prevalence were correlated (r = 0.26) and noninfectious RAQ score and noninfectious lesion prevalence were correlated (r = 0.45), whereas infectious RAQ score and infectious lesion prevalence were not. Cow-level mixed logistic regression models indicated no associations between any of the RAQ scores and presence of lameness or a hoof lesion. Lameness prevalence in Alberta remains high, indicative of a low adoption rate of mitigation strategies by producers. Improvement of the RAQ could allow for better reflection of lameness and lesions on farm and can be achieved through further risk factor analysis within the RAQ, which may result in removal or addition of questions as well as the adjustment of scores based on risk factors' strength of association with lameness and lesions.

An observational study on the management of digital dermatitis through a repeated risk assessment on 19 Dutch dairy herds

“…We found moderate agreement between the 2 students for Mscores. With dichotomization of the M-score into the presence or absence of DD, which has almost perfect inter-observer agreement (Vanhoudt et al, 2019), we likely kept the effect of this bias to a minimum.…”

Producer Perceptions Toward Prevention and Control of Lameness in Dairy Cows in Alberta Canada: A Thematic Analysis

“…Dairy producers participating in the 2018 UCVM lameness study ( 3 ) comprised the sample for the current study. To capture a variety of perspectives, purposive sampling was used for recruiting; based on lameness prevalence and RAQ results, a scatterplot was created ( Figure 1 ).…”

“…In the 2018 study, it was hypothesized that farms with a high score on the risk assessment also have more risk factors present for lameness. Unexpectedly, the correlation between risk factors and lameness prevalence was only modest ( 3 ), suggesting a complex association between identified risk factors and the presence of lameness. However, human factors influencing on-farm decisions and management were not included in this RAQ.…”

“…Canadian dairy producers identified lameness as the most important dairy cattle health issue ( 1 ). However, lameness prevalence has remained ~20% over the last decade in Alberta, Canada ( 2 , 3 ). The negative effects of lameness include decreases in farm profitability ( 4 ), cow longevity ( 5 ), productivity ( 6 ), and reproductive performance ( 7 ).…”

“…To investigate this issue, two quantitative studies were conducted at the University of Calgary, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM). Risk factors for lameness were evaluated in 2011 and 2012 ( 2 ), followed by a 2018 study to elucidate associations between lameness and these risk factors, using an on-farm risk assessment questionnaire (RAQ) on 65 dairy farms in Alberta, Canada ( 3 ). Lameness prevalence was determined by assessing gait in videos.…”