Low body condition predisposes cattle to lameness: An 8-year study of one dairy herd

Abstract

Lameness in dairy cows is a multifactorial and progressive disease with complex interactions between risk factors contributing to its occurrence. Detailed records were obtained from one United Kingdom dairy herd over an 8-yr period. Weekly locomotion scores were used to classify cows as not lame (score 1 to 2), mildly lame (score 3) and severely lame (score 4 to 5). These outcomes were used to investigate the hypothesis that low body condition score (BCS) is associated with an increased risk of lameness in dairy cows. Mixed effect multinomial logistic regression models were used to investigate the association between prior BCS and repeat lameness events during the longitudinal period of the study. Discrete time survival models were used to explore the relationship between prior BCS and first lifetime lameness events. In total, 79,565 cow weeks at risk were obtained for 724 cows. The number of lameness events was 17,114, of which 8,799 were categorized as mildly lame and 8,315 as severely lame. The median BCS was 2.25 (range, 0.75 to 4.25) and the mean body weight (BW) and age at first calving were 619.5 kg (range, 355.6 to 956.4 kg) and 25.8 mo (range, 20.5 to 37.8 mo), respectively. Subsets of the data were used in the discrete time survival models: 333 mild and 211 severe first lifetime lameness events in heifers (first lactation cows), and 81 mild and 49 severe first lifetime lameness events in cows second lactation or greater. Low BCS 3 wk before a repeated lameness event was associated with a significantly increased risk of lameness. Cows with BCS<2 were at greatest risk of mild or severe lameness, and an increased BCS above 2 was associated with a reduced risk of mild or severe lameness. Low BCS 16 or 8 wk before a first mild or severe lifetime lameness event, respectively, also had a positive association with risk of lameness in cows second lactation or greater. This provides evidence to support targeting management toward maintaining BCS to minimize the risk of lameness. Low BW (independent of BCS) and increased age at first calving above 24 mo were also associated with increased long-term risk of repeated lameness events. Overall, the model explained 62 and 60% of the variability for mild and severe lameness, respectively, highlighting the importance of these variables as risk factors and hence where management could be targeted to significantly affect reducing the risk of lameness.

A prospective cohort study of digital cushion and corium thickness. Part 2: Does thinning of the digital cushion and corium lead to lameness and claw horn disruption lesions?

“…Descriptors of body condition score were not tested in the model because they were found to be unyielding by . Several similar models with different outcomes were tested to explore associations in different cohorts of animals [e.g., lactation 1 animals only because previous works have demonstrated differences in the content of the digital cushion (Räber et al, 2006) or the relationship between fat mobilization and lameness (Randall et al, 2015) in heifers] or where outcomes were taken at different AP.…”

“…Loss of body condition has been shown to precede the onset of lameness, measured by both visual detection (Lim et al, 2015;Randall et al, 2015) and lesion treatment (Green et al, 2014). A key hypothesis surrounding this association is that fat is lost from the digital cushion during negative energy balance, causing the digital cushion to become thinner, leading to a decrease in its force-dissipating capacity (Bicalho et al, 2009;.…”

“…Previous epidemiological research has found that both being thin and loss of body condition are risk factors for lameness and CHDL incidence (Green et al, 2014;Lim et al, 2015;Randall et al, 2015). One proposed explanation is that mobilization of adipose from the digital cushion decreases its force-dissipating capacity and leads to contusions within the germinal epithelium of the sole (Bicalho et al, 2009).…”

“…Claw horn disruption lesion is known to be a disease of higher producing cows (Amory et al, 2008;Bicalho et al, 2008), and as such, the link between body condition loss and CHDL may not be causal, but both could be predisposed by another common factor, such as genotype. Even small losses in body condition can increase the risk of lameness (Lim et al, 2015;Randall et al, 2015) and these losses could be part of the homeorhetic process that is not affected by caloric intake, which may be unpreventable ). However, genetic selection to improve energy reserve management is possible and has wide-reaching benefits for health and productivity of the dairy cow (Banos and Coffey, 2010;Bastin et al, 2012).…”

Sütçü İneklerin Laktasyon Pikinde Kronik Topallığın Risk Faktörleri Olarak Süt Üretimi, Vücut Kondisyon Skoru ve Metabolik Parametreler

“…Other studies have also revealed a connection between a lower BCS and lameness [6,10,12,21] , as well as a connection between a higher BCS and a higher LS [22] . In a prospective longitudinal study, Randall et al [23] found that a low BCS predisposes cows to lameness and that maintaining a BCS ≥2.5 is optimal for reducing the risk of a lameness event.…”