Critical points assessment of hoof lesion manifestation in dairy cows: a preliminary study of a new scoring system

Lameness represents a serious animal welfare and production issue in the modern dairy herds. The development of a scoring system able to categorize the farm based on its hazard risk level may help the clinician and the farmer to identify potential issues and to reduce costs due to lameness. The aim of this study was to develop an easy and fast score for the evaluation of structural and managerial factors potentially involved in the pathogenesis of foot lesions and for the categorization of a dairy farm. A total of six free-stalls dairy farms were evaluated during a 3 months-period. The score developed in this study was composed by the evaluation of the housing system, flooring, the farm design, the use of footbaths, the frequency of hoof trimming and the continuing education of the employers. For each parameter, a score 0 to 2 was assigned; the score 0 means the least appropriate condition, the score 2 represents the best one. The Farm Score shows a significant relation with the foot lesions prevalence (p = 0.0011, R2 0.94) and with the theoretical assessment of additional cost/animal (p = 0.001, R2 0.95). The significant relation between the farm score, the foot lesions prevalence and the theoretical assessment of additional cost per animal may underline the potential usefulness of the score designed in this study. The Farm Score may be considered a cheap and fast way to evaluate the hazard risk level for claw health in a dairy farm.