Rating Lame Cattle
Lameness is studied extensively in the equine species, it’s a huge heath issue, hard to diagnose, even with the most advanced technology but lame dairy cattle? I was surprised to learn how important this issue is for the dairy industry as well. Some vets I know use a numeric scale when diagnosing a horse that is off and Marina Van Kyerlink an animal welfare professor at the University of British Columbia recently explained a new numbering system designed to help dairy farmers determine the severity of lameness. We recently caught up with Marina at the Dairy Producers annual meeting in Reno and she had this to say” Lameness has been a huge priority for us . It is probably the number one welfare issue facing the dairy industry. One of the challenges we have (and research has substantiated this) is that producers are unable to identify the 3s. So the scale is 1 to 5 . 1 and 2 are essentially sound while 3 is clinically lame and 4 and 5 are severely lame. Nobody wants to see a lame cow. She’s not good for the bottom line and it’s not good for her welfare so that’s why the COW Program that has been launched by Novus has focused on the lameness scale.” Thanks Marina, it will be interesting if this program is quickly adopted by our NW producers but her words serve as a good reminder that lameness impacts productivity, be it beef, dairy even our working cow horses. I’m Susan Allen for more insights and stories visit Susan Allen’s Open Range on Facebook.
