Abstract
Lameness in dairy cattle is well recognised as a painful and internationally endemic production disease affecting up to 0.60 of animals in contemporary dairy herds (Vermunt, 2004). It has been associated with the selection of cows predominantly for milk yield and the intensification of nutritional supply, housing environments and management systems. Negative outcomes of such practices are suggested to include claw horn lesions which cause the majority of cases of non-infectious lameness, and infections due to digital dermatitis. Current thinking recognizes lameness produced by these and other lesions (Lamecow, 2007) as having a complex aetiology with risk factors related to 'intrinsic' animal characteristics of physiology and behaviour interacting with those derived from the 'extrinsic' external physical environment (Greenough, Weaver, Broom, Esslemont and Galindo, 1997).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Recent Advances in Animal Nutrition |
| Editors | Phillip C. Garnsworthy, Julian Wiseman |
| Place of Publication | Nottingham, United Kingdom |
| Publisher | Nottingham University Press |
| Pages | 91-126 |
| Number of pages | 36 |
| ISBN (Print) | 1904761038 , 9781904761037 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Mar 2007 |
Keywords
- dairy cow
- lameness